Cornering and Wear Characteristics of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Nose-Gear Tire

Tests of the Space Shuttle Orbiter nose-gear tire have been completed at NASA Langley's Aircraft Landing Dynamics Facility. The purpose of these tests was to determine the cornering and wear characteristics of the Space Shuttle Orbiter nose-gear tire under realistic operating conditions. The tire was tested on a simulated Kennedy Space Center runway surface at speeds from 100 to 180 kts. The results of these tests defined the cornering characteristics which included side forces and associated side force friction coefficient over a range of yaw angles from 0° to 12°. Wear characteristics were defined by tire tread and cord wear over a yaw angle range of 0° to 4° under dry and wet runway conditions. Wear characteristics were also defined for a 15 kt crosswind landing with two blown right main-gear tires and nose-gear steering engaged.