Development of Lightweight Technology for Aircraft Wheels: Collaborative Innovation and Application of Materials, Structures and Manufacturing Processes

As the key subsystem of the landing gear, the design demand of lightweight, high load capacity and long lifespan of aircraft wheel braking system has been continuously driving the collaborative innovation of materials science,structural mechanics and advanced manufacturing technology. The evolution trajectory and development trends of aviation wheel technology were systematically reviewed, and the following aspects were elaborated:①The lightweight material system has undergone two generations of technological iterations: casting magnesium alloys and wrought aluminum alloys. In the future, high-strength and high-toughness aluminum alloys and fiber-reinforced composite materials lead to the innovation of lightweight technology.②The lightweight structural design dimension has formed typical structures such as double-web type and single-web type, among which the single-web wheel and split-type wheel structures have become the mainstream solution due to the optimized stress distribution.③ The light weight forming manufacturing field exhibits a diversified development trend of multiple technical routes. The traditional casting process is upgraded to precision casting, the forging forming technology focuses on breakthrough in precision die forging, and the special processing technologies such as spinning forming and others are applied in the complex curved surface components. In the future, by constructing a multi-disciplinary collaborative design paradigm of materials-structure-process, and deeply integrating intelligent technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital twins, it is anticipated to realize intelligent management of the entire life cycle of lightweight aviation wheels, thereby promoting the modernization and intelligence of the aircraft braking system.