The Center of Excellence for Composites Manufacturing Technology (CECMT), operated for the Navy by the Great Lakes Composites Consortium (Kenosha, WI), is working to demonstrate the viability of resin transfer molding (RTM) in complex structures such as aircraft accessory gearboxes. As a class, these types of parts, currently fabricated of cast aluminum or magnesium, are costly to machine, require corrosion and fatigue-crack preventative maintenance, and produce high noise levels. The weight of the metal components degrades lift efficiency and reduces aircraft payload capacity. According to CECMT, resin transfer molding could reduce part weight by about 30 and life cycle and acquisition costs by some 15 over current conventional machining processes for cast housings.
Researchers chose an accessory gearbox currently in service on the Chinook helicopter's T-55 engine to demonstrate resin transfer molding's payback. They had access to an operational experience database for composite component comparison, as well as an existing T-55 dynamic testing facility for ground evaluations of the composite gearbox under fully loaded in-service conditions. Although significantly smaller than accessory gearboxes for the Navy's V-22 Osprey, the T55 accessory gearbox meets all essential design and fabrication challenges of the larger gearboxes. Once resin transfer molding is proven on this part, researchers will scale up the technology to fabricate and test full-scale composite gearbox housings for the V22 in parallel with the currently base-lined metal design.
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