What to Know About Bearings in Aircraft Landing Gear Systems

Aircraft landing gear bearings are engineered to support the controlled articulation of struts and joints while carrying substantial static and dynamic loads. Because these components are usually expected to operate through repeated taxi, takeoff, and landing cycles, their reliability can have significant implications for airworthiness. In this blog, we will examine how landing gear bearings are designed, which operating conditions influence their performance, and notable maintenance practices that have the capacity to sustain service life.

How Are Bearings Designed for Aircraft Landing Gear Systems?

Aerospace landing gear bearings are often manufactured with specialized features that allow them to withstand extreme loads and remain dependable over extended service intervals. Key design considerations that shape bearing performance include:

Material Selection: High-strength steels and protective surface treatments are routinely applied to bearings to enable them to endure all they are expected to.
Load Capacity: Raceway geometry patterns have the ability to diffuse contact pressure, minimizing localized overstress that can accelerate pitting and shorten bearing life.
Lubrication Features: Seals, grooves, and retention features are regularly incorporated into bearings to sustain a stable lubricant film to lower friction, slow wear progression, and stabilize operating torque over extended intervals.
Integration Points: Tight tolerances and alignment features are harnessed to ensure proper seating within struts and joints, promoting smooth articulation while limiting fretting.
Durability Considerations: Corrosion allowances can be built into bearing design to promote enhanced performance under repeated impact force, vibration, and temperature variations.

What Operating Conditions Influence Bearing Performance in Landing Gear?

During service, landing gear bearings experience a varied combination of mechanical forces and environmental exposures that gradually influence their integrity and long-term performance.

Impact Loads: Hard or high-rate touchdowns impose transient Hertzian contact stresses on bearings that can initiate subsurface fatigue, elevating the probability of early wear-out if margins are low.
Vibration: Continuous runway and taxi-induced vibration promotes micro-slip and fretting at interfaces, which can erode bearing raceway surfaces and destabilize running torque over time.
Thermal Variations: Temperature swings across climb, cruise, and descent phases can alter clearances and lubricant viscosities, which may accelerate bearing wear if not accounted for in design and servicing.
Contaminant Ingress: Water, deicing fluids, and particulates all have the ability to infiltrate housings, potentially creating corrosive or abrasive conditions that can accelerate surface damage on aircraft bearings.
Load Reversals: Alternating stresses generated during taxi maneuvers can impose fluctuating shear forces on rolling elements, promoting fatigue mechanisms that differ from steady load conditions.

How Are Landing Gear Bearings Inspected and Maintained?

Because landing gear bearings operate under repeated stress cycles, they routinely require proactive oversight to remain dependable throughout their service life. To achieve sustained reliability across extended service intervals, maintenance frameworks are commonly structured around systematic procedures like:

Routine Inspections: Bearings should be regularly checked for signs of wear, corrosion, or misalignment during maintenance intervals to enable technicians to detect problems before they escalate.
Lubrication Management: Operators are often required to follow established lubrication schedules for bearings, as upholding proper levels can reduce friction levels, preserve surfaces, and minimize the risk of premature deterioration.
Wear Detection: Surface pitting, spalling, and scoring are often identified through visual and non-destructive examination methods so that deteriorating components can be replaced before functional failures occur.
Replacement Criteria: Bearings should be replaced when thresholds outlined in service documentation are reached to minimize the chance of in-service malfunctions.
Lifecycle Monitoring: Flight hours and load cycles can be tracked to forecast remaining service life, enabling predictive maintenance planning.

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