Finite Element Method Used in the Mechanical Analysis of a Wheel for a Radio Controlled Aircraft Project

Brazil Society of Automotive Engineers (SA E Aerodesign Co mpetition) proposes to engineering, physical sciences and aviation design student the challenge of construct an Un manned Aerial Veh icle (UA V). In addit ion, this event aims to promote the exchange and dissemination of aeronautical engineering techniques and knowledge. Among them, there is simu lation softwares based on finite element method. This study presents the mesh influence in the mechanical analysis performance with contact for a radio controlled aircraft wheel. For this study, were used the aircraft TKV 2011 wheel made with Alu minu m 7075-T651, with mechanical properties were obtained by AlumiCopper® manufacturer. The linear static analysis results were co mpared with number's variation of mesh elements. The mesh refinement, which requires a large computational effort and time required to perform the calculations, becomes unfeasible when the maximu m size o f the edge element is less than 0.25 mm, result in pro ximal values.