J-15 carrier-borne fighter thread

vincent

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Moderator - World Affairs
That would be bad design since you would need to re-enforced both the front and rear of the aircraft which would be a lot of additional weight.

A better way is to have the pulling/pushing force of the front-wheel /tail-hook transmitted (through re-enforcing structures/bars) to the stronger part of the re-enforced aircraft structure, which should be the area around the main landing gear, and from there the pulling/pushing forces spread out to the rest of the aircraft. It is this area which experiences the greater forces during a recovery or a catapult launch.

Simple test. Built two rectangular wireframes. Pull one hard horizontally at one corner and pull the other one vertically at one corner until both are out of shape. Please show us the results
 

Quickie

Colonel
No, this just doesn't even remotely sound right.

View attachment 42139

Look at the bottom right inset photo. The retraction actuator of the CATOBAR J-15 is massively overbuilt compared to the STOBAR J-15. The fuselage in the area where the retraction actuator attaches to the fighter and probably also the area where the shock strut of the nose gear attaches to the fighter (red) are going to be massively reinforced as well compared to the STOBAR J-15. The nose gear is nowhere near the main landing gear (orange), to speak nothing of the tail hook (yellow).

Boy, you're pesky. Who said anything about the nose landing gear NOT having to be re-enforced further for CATOBAR operation? Should not this be a given as all the stress forces originate from here in a catapult launch?

I was talking about reinforcement of the overall air-frame of the aircraft needed for STOBAR as well as CATOBAR operation, which unfortunately cannot be seen from the outside. Can you see the structural re-enforcement between the front nose gear and the main landing gear within the aircraft fuselage? I don't think so.
 
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Quickie

Colonel
Simple test. Built two rectangular wireframes. Pull one hard horizontally at one corner and pull the other one vertically at one corner until both are out of shape. Please show us the results

If the wire frame is light enough, the shape won't change much if any.
 

jobjed

Captain
The way I see it is that the stress forces from the tail hook will have be transmitted to the rest of the plane to slow it down to a stop. For this reason, re enforcement of the structure of the aircraft will have to be done longitudinally along the length of the aircraft from the tail-hook to at least until the front landing gear, to transmit the braking force to the rest of the aircraft.

Re-enforcing the structure around the tail-hook of the aircraft purportedly just for aircraft recovery won't do as the stress forces will be transmitted to the rest of the aircraft and possibly breaking the aircraft apart at the mid section.

That is why, to begin with even for STOBAR, re enforcement of the aircraft structure would already have to be done along the whole length of the aircraft (to wind-stand the stress of repeated aircraft recovery) and this, in my opinion, coincide with the requirement of catapult launching.
No, that's not how physics works. Only acceleration is transmitted to the whole aircraft, force varies along the length of the aircraft.

Here's an analogy:
Imagine a chain of five monkeys dangling off a branch. The monkey at the very top of the chain needs to support the weight of five monkeys. The monkey below him needs to support four monkeys, and so on and so forth until the last monkey which only needs to support its own weight.

Same logic with arrested recovery. The parts of the aircraft towards the rear needs to hold on to the force of the rest of the aircraft while the middle portion only needs to hold onto the front half of the aircraft, and the very tip of the aircraft only needs to hold onto the radome. This means an aircraft reinforced only for STOBAR has a decreasing amount of structural reinforcement as it progresses from the rear to the front.


The stress on the aircraft during recovery is even greater than that during a catapult launch, so this would even exceed the limits of the latter.
I doubt it.

An F-18 is catapulted to 165 knots while its landing speed for arrested recovery is 139 knots. The landing and takeoff distances are about the same but because takeoff requires a larger Δv, the forces involved are greater. Here's the
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class and here's
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so you can see that an F-18's landing distance is about the same as the takeoff distance.

Additionally, continuing on with the dangling monkeys analogy, the parts of the aircraft immediately around the front landing gear needs to hold onto the rest of the aircraft while the rear of the aircraft only needs to hold onto itself. Thus, the reinforcement scheme for catapult launch is the inverse of the scheme necessary for arrested recovery. In other words, the amount of reinforcements for catapult launch decreases as it progresses along from the front of the aircraft towards the rear.

For this reason, the same re enforced structure would be more than strong enough to transmit the pulling force to the whole of the aircraft during a catapult launch. Imo, the pulling force on the front wheel could be transmitted to the strongest part of the structure possibly around the area where the tail-hook is attached with the use of additional re enforcing structures/rods/bars.

Imo, solving the 2 problems in one go saves a lot time and provides the opportunity to come with the best solution for an aircraft that can do both STOBAR and CATOBAR.

As I said above, the reinforcement scheme for arrested recovery and catapult launch are inverses of each other. Thus, an aircraft designed for both will require reinforcements that satisfies both of those situations. A simplified model of what I'm talking about is below;

Y7R0qMi.png




It's unlikely that the J-15, based off the T-10K prototype, would have implemented the reinforcements necessary for catapult launch as the PLAN likes to minimise risk and take things slow. The PLAN would have first pursued simply achieving STOBAR and using what they'd have learnt as a solid foundation upon which to develop further. Now that STOBAR has been achieved, they have developed a prototype -- J-15A? -- that implements the additional reinforcements (the red line) necessary for catapult launch.



HOWEVER, we have digressed from my original objection, which is specific to the front landing gear. Simply put, a landing gear designed for ski-ramps primarily needs to deal with compression forces while a catapult-compatible landing gear requires a huge reinforcement against counter-clockwise bending moment.

You raised the point that simply reinforcing the landing gear would've solved the problem because the rest of the aircraft should be sufficiently reinforced for catapult-launch stresses but in this reply, I've told you why that is not quite so (hint: dangling monkeys).

To sum up, no. Your assertion that "CATOBAR is said to be already "deployed", albeit minus the CATOBAR equipment on the aircraft carrier" is incorrect for all the reasons I've just listed.
 

Iron Man

Major
Registered Member
Boy, you're pesky. Who said anything about the nose landing gear NOT having to be re-enforced further for CATOBAR operation? Should not this be a given as all the stress forces originate from here in a catapult launch?

I was talking about reinforcement of the overall air-frame of the aircraft needed for STOBAR as well as CATOBAR operation, which unfortunately cannot be seen from the outside. Can you see the structural re-enforcement between the front nose gear and the main landing gear within the aircraft fuselage? I don't think so.
LOL I'M pesky? The entire forum has clearly united together to repeatedly stomp on your ridiculous and humorously persistent pseudo-theory, and you have the gall to call someone else "pesky"? :D:rolleyes:

Reinforcement of the "overall air-frame" is certainly not the same as reinforcement of the nose gear attachments, but this is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the reinforcement of the fuselage itself right in the area where the nose gear attaches to the fuselage. As others have already pointed out, the additional and severe stress from a catapult applying enough force to accelerate a fully-loaded fighter from 0 to 150 knots is NOT the same stress that's designed into the airframe to withstand multiple traps, which means that STOBAR J-15 airframes will not be designed to withstand multiple launches. You are simplistically thinking of the airframe as some kind of ridiculously homogenous single metal bar so that you can equalize tensile stress acting on the rear of the fighter to tensile stress acting on the front of the fighter. Well the J-15 isn't a single metal bar, tough guy. It's a collection of cast, welded, and screwed-together parts that will stretch, squeeze, and torque all sorts of funny ways while taking off from a carrier, that are significantly different from the stretching, squeezing and torqueing that occurs while landing on a carrier. That you don't get this simple fact is a testament to your.... peskiness.
 
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Quickie

Colonel
LOL I'M pesky? The entire forum has clearly united together to repeatedly stomp on your ridiculous and humorously persistent pseudo-theory, and you have the gall to call someone else "pesky"? :D:rolleyes:

Reinforcement of the "overall air-frame" is certainly not the same as reinforcement of the nose gear attachments, but this is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the reinforcement of the fuselage itself right in the area where the nose gear attaches to the fuselage. As others have already pointed out, the additional and severe stress from a catapult applying enough force to accelerate a fully-loaded fighter from 0 to 150 knots is NOT the same stress that's designed into the airframe to withstand multiple traps, which means that STOBAR J-15 airframes will not be designed to withstand multiple launches. You are simplistically thinking of the airframe as some kind of ridiculously homogenous single metal bar so that you can equalize tensile stress acting on the rear of the fighter to tensile stress acting on the front of the fighter. Well the J-15 isn't a single metal bar, tough guy. It's a collection of cast, welded, and screwed-together parts that will stretch, squeeze, and torque all sorts of funny ways while taking off from a carrier, that are significantly different from the stretching, squeezing and torqueing that occurs while landing on a carrier. That you don't get this simple fact is a testament to your.... peskiness.


LOL I'M pesky? The entire forum has clearly united together to repeatedly stomp on your ridiculous and humorously persistent pseudo-theory, and you have the gall to call someone else "pesky"? :D:rolleyes:

Lol, you remind me of a-long-ago colleague with a very similar character.

You are simplistically thinking of the airframe as some kind of ridiculously homogenous single metal bar so that you can equalize tensile stress acting on the rear of the fighter to tensile stress acting on the front of the fighter.Well the J-15 isn't a single metal bar, tough guy

Did I ever make such a statement or imply such things?

I'm talking about the reinforcement of the fuselage itself right in the area where the nose gear attaches to the fuselage.

How do you suggest to build the re enforcement then?

You seem to suggest the idea of building additional re enforcement around the front of the aircraft to handle the pulling forces but this would entail adding additional weight which i think is not a good idea and unnecessary. My idea of it is in my earlier post which I will not repeat.


As others have already pointed out, the additional and severe stress from a catapult applying enough force to accelerate a fully-loaded fighter from 0 to 150 knots is NOT the same stress that's designed into the airframe to withstand multiple traps, which means that STOBAR J-15 airframes will not be designed to withstand multiple launches.

Why would the stress along the length the aircraft would be any much less during a trap than during a catapult launch, which in addition, is assisted by the engine thrusts?

Also, both are essentially longitudinal along the length of the aircraft. In any case the trapping of an aircraft would involve more complicated forces at play in more directions as the aircraft gets trapped while landing at an angle to the deck.

You are simplistically thinking of the airframe as some kind of ridiculously homogenous single metal bar so that you can equalize tensile stress acting on the rear of the fighter to tensile stress acting on the front of the fighter. Well the J-15 isn't a single metal bar, tough guy. It's a collection of cast, welded, and screwed-together parts that will stretch, squeeze, and torque all sorts of funny ways while taking off from a carrier, that are significantly different from the stretching, squeezing and torqueing that occurs while landing on a carrier. That you don't get this simple fact is a testament to your.... peskiness.

Look, I never said the aircraft air-frame is a single metal bar or anything in the rest of the above .

And I will not repeat again the points which I have already made a few times in my previous posts.
 

Quickie

Colonel
No, that's not how physics works. Only acceleration is transmitted to the whole aircraft, force varies along the length of the aircraft.

Here's an analogy:
Imagine a chain of five monkeys dangling off a branch. The monkey at the very top of the chain needs to support the weight of five monkeys. The monkey below him needs to support four monkeys, and so on and so forth until the last monkey which only needs to support its own weight.

Same logic with arrested recovery. The parts of the aircraft towards the rear needs to hold on to the force of the rest of the aircraft while the middle portion only needs to hold onto the front half of the aircraft, and the very tip of the aircraft only needs to hold onto the radome. This means an aircraft reinforced only for STOBAR has a decreasing amount of structural reinforcement as it progresses from the rear to the front.



I doubt it.

An F-18 is catapulted to 165 knots while its landing speed for arrested recovery is 139 knots. The landing and takeoff distances are about the same but because takeoff requires a larger Δv, the forces involved are greater. Here's the
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
class and here's
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
so you can see that an F-18's landing distance is about the same as the takeoff distance.

Additionally, continuing on with the dangling monkeys analogy, the parts of the aircraft immediately around the front landing gear needs to hold onto the rest of the aircraft while the rear of the aircraft only needs to hold onto itself. Thus, the reinforcement scheme for catapult launch is the inverse of the scheme necessary for arrested recovery. In other words, the amount of reinforcements for catapult launch decreases as it progresses along from the front of the aircraft towards the rear.



As I said above, the reinforcement scheme for arrested recovery and catapult launch are inverses of each other. Thus, an aircraft designed for both will require reinforcements that satisfies both of those situations. A simplified model of what I'm talking about is below;

Y7R0qMi.png




It's unlikely that the J-15, based off the T-10K prototype, would have implemented the reinforcements necessary for catapult launch as the PLAN likes to minimise risk and take things slow. The PLAN would have first pursued simply achieving STOBAR and using what they'd have learnt as a solid foundation upon which to develop further. Now that STOBAR has been achieved, they have developed a prototype -- J-15A? -- that implements the additional reinforcements (the red line) necessary for catapult launch.



HOWEVER, we have digressed from my original objection, which is specific to the front landing gear. Simply put, a landing gear designed for ski-ramps primarily needs to deal with compression forces while a catapult-compatible landing gear requires a huge reinforcement against counter-clockwise bending moment.

You raised the point that simply reinforcing the landing gear would've solved the problem because the rest of the aircraft should be sufficiently reinforced for catapult-launch stresses but in this reply, I've told you why that is not quite so (hint: dangling monkeys).

To sum up, no. Your assertion that "CATOBAR is said to be already "deployed", albeit minus the CATOBAR equipment on the aircraft carrier" is incorrect for all the reasons I've just listed.

Wow, a lot of stuffs which I think I don't have the time to read.

But just to comment on this line.

No, that's not how physics works. Only acceleration is transmitted to the whole aircraft, force varies along the length of the aircraft.

Actually, the force remains a constant along the whole length of the aircraft (assuming the force is applied across both ends). The stress changes though depending on the cross sectional area of the particular point along the length.
 
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jobjed

Captain
Wow, a lot of stuffs which I think I don't have the time to read.

....

Actually, the force remains a constant along the whole length of the aircraft. The stress changes though depending on the cross sectional area of the particular point along the length.
No, it doesn't.

Force = mass x acceleration. Mass changes, ∴ force changes.

The mass that requires anchoring decreases as the distance from the force transmission point (tail-hook/front landing gear) increases. Mass is not constant when you're analysing axial loading along length of aircraft. It's only constant when you're analysing the aircraft as a point mass within a larger system like the entire carrier. Read my reply to you and especially the dangling monkeys analogy.

It that's too simplistic and non-rigorous for you, here's actual lecture material from a few semesters ago that shows variability in axial force as a function of length. Notice that P(y), which is internal axial loading (force), is a function of 'y', which is length along the object. The length matters because at different lengths, different masses require supporting by their respective internal axial force. The rest of the equations are not relevant as we were finding strain and axial loading was just the first component of the question.

GG45j0r.png



So, no. What you've said here -- "the force remains a constant along the whole length of the aircraft" -- is incorrect.
 

Quickie

Colonel
....


No, it doesn't.

Force = mass x acceleration. Mass changes, ∴ force changes.

The mass that requires anchoring decreases as the distance from the force transmission point (tail-hook/front landing gear) increases. Mass is not constant when you're analysing axial loading along length of aircraft. It's only constant when you're analysing the aircraft as a point mass within a larger system like the entire carrier. Read my reply to you and especially the dangling monkeys analogy.

It that's too simplistic and non-rigorous for you, here's actual lecture material from a few semesters ago that shows variability in axial force as a function of length. Notice that P(y), which is internal axial loading (force), is a function of 'y', which is length along the object. The length matters because at different lengths, different masses require supporting by their respective internal axial force. The rest of the equations are not relevant as we were finding strain and axial loading was just the first component of the question.

GG45j0r.png



So, no. What you've said here -- "the force remains a constant along the whole length of the aircraft" -- is incorrect.

Did you edit the line that I wrote?

It was actually this

Actually, the force remains a constant along the whole length of the aircraft (assuming the force is applied across both ends). The stress changes though depending on the cross sectional area of the particular point along the length.

I specifically added the boded line to prevent any confusion.

If the force is a pushing or a pulling force at one end only, then of course the force along the length would be decreasing to zero at the free end, or increasing to the max force at the pulling or pushing end.

Let's move on before the mod....
 
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