An Experimental Investigation of Damaged Arresting Gear Tapes for the Langley Aircraft Landing Dynamics Facility

An experimental investigation was performed on damaged arresting gear tapes at the Langley Aircraft Landing Dynamics Facility. The arrestment system uses five pairs of tapes to bring the test carriage to a halt. The procedure used to determine when to replace the tapes consists of a close evaluation of each of the 10 tapes after each run. During this evaluation, each tape is examined thoroughly and any damage observed on the tape is recorded. If the damaged tape does not pass the inspection, the tape is replaced with a new one. For the past 13 years, the most commonly seen damage types are edge fray damage and transverse damage. Tests were conducted to determine the maximum tensile strength of a damaged arresting gear tape specimen. The data indicate that tapes exhibiting transverse damage can withstand higher loads than tapes with edge fray damage.