Functional degradation reliability analysis for non-uniform wear of multi-rotating joints of mechanical structures

Failure of the aircraft landing gear lock mechanism can result in the inability of the aircraft to take off and land properly, and its failure can cause critical results. The aircraft lock mechanism is characterized by multiple joints. Based on the performance degradation phenomenon of the lock mechanism, a reliability analysis method of the lock mechanism with non-uniform wear of multiple joints is proposed, which takes into account the effect of non-uniform wear of multiple joints on the motion accuracy of the motion mechanism, and investigates the reliability analysis of the degradation of the angle of the lock hook and the calculation of the whole lifetime cycle. Firstly, the lock mechanism lock hook angle degradation eigenvolume model is established according to the functional principle of the lock mechanism. Secondly, the lock hook degradation angle is obtained by establishing the kinetic equations to calculate the non-uniform wear of each joint separately. Finally, the degradation path is fitted by the Wiener process to carry out the reliability analysis and the whole lifetime calculations. The results show that the proposed method is capable of providing maintenance strategies to meet the reliability requirements for the performance degradation of multi-joint kinematic mechanisms of mechanical systems.