University of Bath
Group Design Project
2005/2006

Braking Systems in Microlight Air Planes

by: Christoph Gericke

Table of Contents

1. General requirements  2

2. Design of braking systems  3

2.1 Inducing the force into the system  3
2.2 Power transmission  3
2.3 Producing the braking force 7

2.3.1 Drum brake  7
2.3.2 Disc brake  10

3. Describing a braking process  12

3.1 Necessary deceleration:  12
3.2 Braking forces  13
3.3 Forces on the brake  13
3.4 Necessary friction between plane and runway 14

Bibliography 17
 

One approach for an improvement to microlight aircraft could be a change in the braking systems that are used. In order to understand where improvements can be made or what restrictions actually exist, it is necessary to have a closer look at the general requirements for all systems that could be used in microlight air planes.

1. General requirements

The main problem in every system used in aero space industry is the reliability. Every system relevant to safety requires in -built redundancies. In other wo rds, when one system fails, another one ensuring no risk to safety appears. Microlight regulations are not as strict as they are for other types of planes. This means that this redundancy cannot be found in all applications. It seems that keeping the weight of the microlight down, is sometimes considered to be more important than the risk of a failure. On the othe r hand, this means that a one circuit system must be designed very carefully so that a system failure is highly unlikely. As the weight of a microlight is limited to 300 kg for a single seater and 450 kg for a two seater plane, weight reduction is a very serious matter for every change in the design. A significant weight reduction would increase the range of the plane and would eventually allow for the use of other applications in the plane for possible commercial use in the future. The current design of the cockpit in an ultralight trike, the special kind of microlight that we try to improve, as it is now, does not allow for any seat adjustment that would allow people with a body height above or below average to use it comfortably. As almost every existing braking system uses foot pedals, it is impossible for some disabled people who do not have use of their legs to fly this type of plane. One aim of our research work is to find a better way to integrate braking applications into the cockpit of a microlight.

2. Design of braking systems

To understand how braking systems work and to see where the biggest improvements can be made, it is helpful to split the braking system into three major parts. The way the braking force is induced into the system, the way the power is transmitted and the brake itself.

2.1 Inducing the force into the system

Two major ways to actuate a brake exist. The first and most common way is the use of a pedal which is moved by the foot. The big advantage of actuating a braking system in this way is that a large force can be generated by the leg. According to ECE R13 which contains most of the regulations for car brakes, the maximum braking force generated by the foot must not be higher than 500 N. The average braking force should not be higher than 150 N. The second way to actuate a brake is by hand. A common way is using a handbrake similar to the ones found on bicycles. Design-wise, this syst em is more flexible than braking systems that use feet, but the maximum braking forces that can be generated by hand are of course less. The DIN 79100 defines, that the maximum braking force for bikes must not exceed 180 N. This value should only be used for an emerge ncy brake. In normal use, forces of about 50 – 80 N should be suitable. The values for both systems are of course taken out of standards for different applications, but should be very similar to the forces that are used in microlight airplanes.

2.2 Power transmission

The most common way to transmit the braking fo rce to the brake is probably by a bowden wire. This system is particularly robust and easy to repair. The necessary forces needed to use the brake are caused by friction between the inner wire and the coating and will be much higher than they would be without friction losses. As the friction increases with the number of bends in the wire, the flexibility of this technique is quite limited. Furt hermore, the friction is dependent on the operating time which makes regular maintenance necessary. Another problem of using a bowden wire to transmit the braking force is that this system is not very precise. On one hand, the large amount of friction does not allow good feedback of the brake; and on the other hand, the changing temperature has a large influence on the length of the wire.

One way to reduce some of the problems above mi ght be the use of different materials. Using a nylon wire instead of a steel wire for example could bring a significant reduction of the friction coefficient. However, most polymer materials have a very low Y-Module, which would cause a huge elongation when braking, resulting in reduced accuracy. Compound may might be a solution for this problem, but there are still very few manufacturers that make bowden wires out of advanced materials.

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