Abstract: Apparatus for aircraft brake thermal management including heat shields made of one or more insulating pouches of metallic foil having ceramic fibers or other appropriate insulation therein. The pouches are either vacuum sealed or provided with pin hole breathing apertures to eliminate expansion forces, while precluding the entry of cleaning fluids, moisture and the like into the cavity thereof. The invention further provides for brake rotor and stator disks having lugs of increased shear strength, while providing cooling apertures or slots therein. Finally, the invention includes a heat shield interposed between an aircraft wheel and the brake disk stack, and wherein the heat shield is flared at an end thereof to maximize the ingress and egress of cooling air to optimize aircraft turnaround time.

Abstract: A brake-by-wire control system for aircraft brakes is presented. The system includes a hardware based discrete component control path and a software control path, the two operating in parallel. Each of the paths monitors the same input, with the hardware path being configured to enable the shutoff valve driver and the software path being configured to inhibit the shutoff valve driver, depending upon the status of the inputs. As a consequence, a failure in a single path in the braking system cannot enable the brake system so as to allow for inadvertent braking.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for making carbon/carbon composite discs for an aircraft brake employs a continuous feeding of fiber strands into a mold. Water is then combined with the fibers and the fibers are compressed to form a moisturized mat or preform. The fibers are then needled such that the fibers within the mat or preform extend in radial, circumferential, and axial directions. The mat or preform is then subjected to densification. The resulting disc is of total carbon construction. The water introduced into the mat during the processing serves as both a sacrificial binder and a lubricant during the fabrication.

Abstract: A pressure balanced brake disc stack provides brake discs of greater thickness at the ends and center of the stack and of a lesser thickness at the areas in between the centrally disposed disc and the discs at the end of the stack. The increased thickness of the discs at the end of the stack prevent deflection or distortion of those discs to more evenly distribute the braking pressure applied thereto throughout the stack so as to provide a higher braking coefficient. Additionally, the unique configuration of the brake stack allows for effective heat dissipation at the discs adjacent to the end discs of the stack.

Abstract: An electrical brake pressure limiter and controller is provided for negating the characteristic high amplitude initial torque peak of carbon brakes. The system sets an initial level of brake pressure and then controls the rate of growth of brake pressure to obtain smooth and efficient braking. A brake pedal transducer presents a signal to a microprocessor which is indicative of brake pedal position. The microprocessor compares this signal with an output signal to the brake and, dependent upon such comparison, it modifies the brake signal within controlled limits.

Abstract: The invention provides an integral brake disk comprised of two brake disks each having a disk thickness of one-half the design required disk thickness and these two disks are clamped together in planar face-to-face orientation by fasteners to form the integral brake disk. The integral brake disk has an inboard-facing brake wear surface provided by a wear surface of a first of the combined brake disks and an outboard-facing brake wear surface provided by the second of the combined brake disks. The integral brake disk is put into braking service for a first period after which refurbishment is required. The integral brake disk is refurbished by declamping the two disks and grinding the worn wear surfaces to planar specification. The two disks are recombined at the ground planar surfaces and reclamped to form a new integral brake disk.