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LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ v

LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. vi
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................... vii
SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................ viii
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 1
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................. 4
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6

BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................... 4
EYE-BAR THEORY .................................................................................................... 5
TIRE/WHEEL INTERFACE........................................................................................... 6
SHOCK ABSORBER .................................................................................................... 8
MATERIALS ............................................................................................................ 10
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD (FEM) ......................................................................... 11

Chapter 3: MODELING AND LOADING ANALYSIS................................................. 13

3.0 MODELING OVERVIEW ........................................................................................... 13
3.1 COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN .................................................................................... 13
3.2 FORCE DETERMINATION ........................................................................................ 14
3.2.1 Ground forces................................................................................................... !
3.2 SHOCK ABSORBER FORCES .................................................................................... 18
Chapter 4: FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS................................................................... 22
4.0
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4

BOUNDARY CONDITIONS ........................................................................................ 22

CONTACTS ............................................................................................................. 24
LOADING................................................................................................................ 25
MESHING ............................................................................................................... 28
MATERIAL SELECTION ........................................................................................... 32

Chapter 5: RESULTS ....................................................................................................... 34

Chapter 6: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS .......................................................... 40
!"! !#$!%................................................................................................................ 41
APPENDIX A................................................................................................................... 44
BASIC LANDING CONDITIONS ........................................................................................ 44

iv