Eli5: How do the brakes on commercial aircraft work during landing
In: 14
They are actually not that different from the brakes on cars. They are composed of hydraulic cylinders mounted in a caliper which presses some brake pads onto the brake disk when pressure is applied. They even have a regular anti-lock brake system. However the pads and disks are quite massive in order to handle all the heat. They also usually have water cooled brakes, basically water spray onto the brake disks to cool them down. On the other hand an airplane does not use its brakes as often as a car does and the brakes do get a lot of time to cool themselves down each time they are used. For normal landings the brakes are not used that much, most of the braking action is done with the air resistance of the airplane in full flaps and spoilers as well as the engine thrust reversers. However during emergencies the wheel brakes can get red hot and it might damage them a bit, which is better then having to scrap the airplane.
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