Magnetorheological landing gear: 1. A design methodology

Aircraft landing gears are subjected to a wide range of excitation conditions, which result in conflicting damping requirements. A novel solution to this problem is to implement semi-active damping using magnetorheological (MR) fluids. This paper presents a design methodology that enables an MR landing gear to be optimized, both in terms of its damping and magnetic circuit performance, whilst adhering to stringent packaging constraints. Such constraints are vital in landing gear, if MR technology is to be considered as feasible in commercial applications.