Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology

The Determination of Orifice Parameters for Shock Absorbers: An Approximate Method of Evaluating the Area and Predicting Landing-Gear Performance from
Step-by-Step Calculations
J. Nightingale
Article information:
To cite this document:
J. Nightingale, (1951),"The Determination of Orifice Parameters for Shock Absorbers", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 23 Iss 9 pp. 261 - 262
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/eb032078
Downloaded on: 25 July 2016, At: 18:32 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 0 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 94 times since 2006*
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:
(1947),"The Explicit Determination of Orifice Parameters in Shock Absorbers: An Account, Received in October 1945, of a Tried Solution to this Undercarriage Problem", Aircraft
Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 19 Iss 8 pp. 258-262 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/eb031539
(1949),"Practice of Shock-Absorber Design: Steps in the Design of an Oleo-Pneumatic Undercarriage Leg", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 21 Iss 12 pp.
384-385 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/eb031839
(2002),"Pressures, problems and the PhD process: Tales from the ‘training ground’", Studies in Educational Ethnography, Vol. 7 pp. 119-134

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:138484 []
For Authors
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF BATH At 18:32 25 July 2016 (PT)

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write
for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book
series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS
initiative for digital archive preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

 The Determination of Orifice
Parameters for Shock Absorbers
An Approximate Method of Evaluating the Area and Predicting
Landing-Gear Performance from Step-by-Step Calculations
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF BATH At 18:32 25 July 2016 (PT)
By J. Nightingale
Introduction
T HE determination of orifice parameters
was discussed in great detail in an article
by G. A. Dirac, 'The Explicit Determina­
tion of Orifice Parameters in Shock Absorbers',
published in AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING, Vol. XIX,
August 1947, pp. 258-262. The methods there
suggested involve a great deal of numerical work,
and it has been felt that some rapid approximate
method for determining the orifice parameter
would be more satisfactory. The present article
represents an attempt to obtain a simple explicit
relation for this parameter.
No satisfactory method has yet been developed
for determining by direct calculation the form
of the reaction/displacement curve for an oleo-
pneumatic shock absorber, of the type used in
aircraft landing gear. This is due to the non-
linearity of the differential equations of motion
of the shock absorber. It is, however, possible to
predict the form of this curve using a 'step-by-
step' method of calculation.
The problem of determining the orifice area of
the shock absorber to satisfy a specified energy
absorption is not one which may be solved ex­
plicitly before the step-by-step prediction is
commenced. Instead, a value must be guessed
and the calculations worked through with this
value. If the resulting curve is unsatisfactory, the
value of the orifice parameter, which is a func­
tion of its area, must be adjusted and the calcula­
tions reworked until a satisfactory curve is
obtained. Since these calculations are somewhat
lengthy it is essential to obtain a close approxi­
mation for the orifice area before starting the first
prediction. A number of solutions have been
attempted by assuming that the reaction curve
takes a given form, but the determination of the
orifice area from these requires a certain amount
of manipulation.
Much useful information can be obtained from
the results of previous predictions and this article
represents an attempt to combine this experience
with a theoretical approach in order to obtain a
simple explicit formula for the orifice parameter.
Shock Absorber Principles
A number of types of oleo-pneumatic shock
absorbers are known, but for the purpose of
prediction calculations they can usually be
treated as variations of the simple shock absorber
shown in Fig. 1, and their equations of motions
are basically the same. We have spoken of the
energy 'absorption' of the unit, but this term does
not give a complete description of the unit since
most of the vertical kinetic energy of the aircraft
is dissipated by a dashpot reaction across the
main orifice. The air in the shock absorber and
tyres does absorb part of the energy in com­
pression and so provides the unit with its re­
silience. A dashpot reaction must also be pro­
vided to damp out the vibrations due to resilience
of the unit, and although rebound orifices are
normally fitted, the main orifice may also play
a part in this, and for this reason it is sometimes
described as a Damping Orifice.
September 1951
UNDERCARRIAGES
Notation
R = Dynamic reaction at ground—lb.
2=Air reaction in shock absorber—lb.
W=Landing weight on undercarriage—lb. (a
fraction of the aircraft landing weight)
Rm=Maximum landing reaction =λW—lb.
A=Landing reaction factor
s=Vertical displacement of point on aircraft
—in. Directly above shock absorber unit
xt=Tyre closure—in.
x=Vertical shock absorber closure—in. deflexion curves are very nearly linear, but it will
β = Orifice parameter be appreciated that the air load in the shock
xm=Maximum shock absorber closure—in. absorber does not vary linearly with closure. In
xs=Available stroke—in. practice it is found that this air compresses
k=Tyre stiffness—lb./in. adiabatically according to the law pv1.3=con-
Q0=Initial airload in shock absorber—lb. stant and we may therefore write
L=Equivalent length of shock 2
absorber—in.
A
a = Main orifice area—in.
c
=Effective piston area—in.2
a=Discharge coefficient of orifice The equation of motion of a point on the air­
p=Density of hydraulic fluid—lb./in.3 craft vertically above the shock absorber is
Kγ=MechanicaI advantage of ground reaction
to shock absorber load
γ=Ground angle of shock absorber
f= Velocity ratio (ratio of vertical axle The equation of the tyre curve is
velocity to shock absorber velocity)
Note: s, xt and x are all measured from the
instant of contact. Eliminating xt from Equations (2) and (3) we
obtain
In the preliminary calculation it is usual to
make the following assumptions:
(i) The landing is fully airborne (aircraft
landing weight is assumed balanced by but
aerodynamic lift).
(ii) The effects of friction can be ignored.
Therefore
Equations of Motion
Investigation of the equations of motion of the
complete landing gear may be simplified by con­
Consideration of the continuity of flow through
sidering the equivalent dynamical system, Fig. 2. the main orifice leads to the expression
The representation of the tyres by a spring of
stiffness k is justifiable, since most tyre load/
β is the orifice parameter which we wish to
determine, it is given by
We may write
and substituting this value in Equation (4)
This may be written
Integrating this expression over the total stroke
used xm
261
 The expression for the orifice parameter is
therefore

By assuming a form for the reaction curve

R=f(x), it would be possible to obtain an ex­
pression for β, but it seems most useful to in­
corporate the result of previous predictions into
the expression for β. For any particular unit we
may write

The above expression does not prove very

where C is a coefficient. Experience shows that C
does not vary a great deal for different units and
usually is about 0·27, so that the orifice para­
meter is given by
A typical reaction curve is shown in no. 3. It
will be seen that at the beginning and end of the
stroke R=Q, and so Equation (8) becomes It will be noted m the above work that the
shock absorber unit has been assumed vertical,
but the expressions may be suitably modified in
the event of the leg making an angle γ with the
ground. In this case we have
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF BATH At 18:32 25 July 2016 (PT)
satisfactory for articulated units since the
mechanical advantage and velocity ratio vary
considerably with closure. Fairly satisfactory
results may be obtained, however, if mean values
of Kγ and f are taken. There appears to be a
tendency for the reaction curve to take the form
of curve 'a' in FIG. 4. To eliminate this tendency
to peak it may be sufficient to use a slightly
larger orifice area. In the case of an articulated
unit, the orifice parameter is given with moderate
accuracy by '

262 Aircraft Engineering