Landing Gear Design for Blended Wing Body Flight Test Demonstrators

The Blended Wing Body (BWB) configuration is a hybrid shape with unique features capable to take benefits from both flying wing and conventional aircraft. The poof of an unconventional concept configuration requires flight tests and validation on small Flight Test Demonstrators, avoiding cost and risk related to the use of a full scale model. A first 7% scaled Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for a new generation BWB aircraft, has been designed and flight tested at the Center for Aerospace Research (CfAR), operating on unprepared grass runways (GRS). The need to evaluate the UAV, fully controlled with an autopilot, even in the critical phases of take-off and landing on concrete runways (CON), has required the design and integration of an undercarriage system. One of the main goals of the present thesis work is to carry out the design and development of a landing gear for FTV7%, including the integration of the system into the aircraft, ground testing and mock-ups preparation for a wheeled flight test campaign. In the process of scaling towards the faithfully representation of all the aspect that concern a full scale aircraft, the design of the landing gear has been started in parallel, even for a new 16.5% scale, involving some design similarities and the sizing of additional mechanical subsystems, such as dedicated suspension and braking systems. At last, the basic take-off and landing performance evaluation of the landing gears designed for both FTV7% and FTV16.5%, is presented highlighting the influence of some design parameters.