Fatigue Life Predictions of F-16 Main Wheels

This paper applies a wheel fatigue life prediction technique based on strain survey data to predicting the fatigue life of two F-16 main landing gear wheels. Parametric studies were performed on inflation pressure, tire type and loading condition. The results of this study indicate that for the block 30 wheel, the radial tire distributes the load to the wheel much differently than the bias tire. Also, the F-16 block 40 wheel is stressed much greater than the block 30 wheel for the same tire type during qualification testing.