The Silent Killer in Aviation: Why Airplane Landing Gears Fail and How It Is Prevented
TL;DR / Quick Summary: When a 200-ton airliner lands at approximately 150 mph, its landing gear must absorb enormous impact forces. One of the hidden threats to high-strength landing gear components is hydrogen embrittlement, a microscopic condition in which absorbed hydrogen reduces the ductility of hardened steel. Aerospace manufacturers use controlled hydrogen de-embrittlement baking to reduce this risk before components are installed on an aircraft. Imagine sitting beside an aircraft window as your flight descends through thick storm clouds. The runway appears below, rain streaks across the glass, and within a fraction of a second, hundreds of tons of steel and aluminium touch the runway at high speed. Within milliseconds, the landing gear must absorb and distribute an enormous amount of mechanical energy. Passengers trust these massive structural components every day. Landing gear assemblies are manufactured from some of the strongest steel alloys used in mode...