Development of adjustable landing struts for vertical take-off and landing vehicles

Abstract

For many Vertical Take-off and Landing vehicles, sloped landing surfaces have negative effects on their safety in the landing process. In this paper, a set of novel Adjustable Landing Struts containing actuators and absorbers are designed. The actuators can be used to change the attitudes of the landing struts relative to the fuselage of each Vertical Take-off and Landing vehicle, ensuring that all footpads of the Vertical Take-off and Landing vehicle touch the landing surface at the same time. Dynamic simulations and landing tests are performed to verify that the Adjustable Landing Struts can reduce the strut loads of the Vertical Take-off and Landing vehicle. Compared with conventional landing struts, the Adjustable Landing Struts not only reduce the peak loads of the absorbers but also enhance the efficiencies of absorbers. Landing performance shows that the Adjustable Landing Struts are suitable for different Vertical Take-off and Landing vehicles and landing surfaces in various landing conditions.