Helicopter Transmission Bearing Liners Made From Aluminum Matrix Composites

Bearing liners are sacrificial barriers that protect cast aluminum transmission cases from wear created by bearings in the transmission system.  Currently these liners are steel.  Gamma Technology has won a Phase 2 SBIR program to develop large size rings for use as bearing liners.  These rings are between 9 and 18 inch in diameter.  These rings will weigh 70 percent less than the steel equivalents.  This talk will discuss the wear testing and other mechanical property testing that will be done to qualify the MMC for this application.  The talk will also discuss the manufacturing steps needed to produce the bearing liners.  Quality assurance procedures and inspection results for demonstration rings will be presented.