Thermal Penetration of Aircraft Tyre Tread at Touchdown

Abstract

Most studies of friction and heat conduction in aircraft tyres at touchdown are limited to the tread surface. However, it is necessary to know the thermal penetration inside the tread to study the quantity of the potential decomposed and lost material by the frictional heat. Additionally, a high tread surface temperature does not necessarily guarantee a stronger thermal penetration inside the tread because of several factors. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a relationship between the tyre tread surface temperature and the internal heat penetration under the aircraft touchdown scenario. A model is established on MATLAB to simulate the aircraft tyre dynamics and tread heat conduction at touchdown. This model is capable of calculating the temperature increase in the tread, both on the surface and inside. It can also be used to determine the depth of thermal decomposition caused by frictional heat. Additionally, the study found that the Thermal Decomposition Depth to Surface Temperature Ratios (DTRs) are similar across the tread (the depth of thermal decomposition at each part of the tread surface is proportional to the surface temperature). Therefore, it can estimate the thermal penetration throughout the tread by simply calculating the surface temperature of the entire tread and the average DTR at several points of interest. The study provides a more straightforward approach for aircraft tyre thermal wear prediction and future research.