Landing Gear Bushing Installation

ABSTRACT: The objective of the Phase I SBIR effort is to identify the feasibility of, and make recommendations for, a best practices solution for Landing Gear bushing installation. Primary goals of this effort will be to produce standardized procedures, products, and technology that will best facilitate the installation of bushings into high strength steel and aluminum Landing Gear components. During the development of this best practice approach, specific attention will be given to issues that have been identified as problem areas, e.g., bushing and component wear, corrosion, and bushing movement. Additionally, attention will be given to maintaining design and maintenance requirements including; functional capabilities, alignments, inspections, replacements, and load carrying capacities (to include fatigue degradation/enhancement). Known bushing installation approaches that are currently being used in commercial and military aviation will be identified. These various installation procedures will be evaluated for applicability/adaptability for landing gear use. Since each bushing installation can produce a unique set of requirements, the ability of the identified best practices approach to adapt to these variations will be evaluated. The proposed Phase I approach will perform research that will identify and characterize landing gear bushing requirements and processes at the Hill AFB repair depot and by field units. The Phase I effort will go on to investigate applicable academia studies and commercially available processes. A test and evaluation plan that will be proposed to evaluate and ultimately identify a best practices method. Implementation costs associated with the identified installation procedure will be evaluated in a preliminary Business Case Analysis (BCA) that will be developed and presented to the USAF as part of this Phase I effort. Return On Investment calculations will also be presented as a part of the BCA. Proof-of-concept prototypes will be manufactured to demonstrate conformance with requirements of the SBIR directives. ; BENEFIT: ES3 anticipates the results of Phase I work will validate the feasibility and need for immediate pursuit of Phase II efforts for standardized bushing installation procedures and products. After successful Phase II testing, the anticipated benefit will be the reduced number and frequency of rework requirements due to bushing and/or gear component damage. An estimate of the annual savings will be determined in Phase I. The reduced depot and field operational costs will occur as a result of: A) Reduced bushing removal and replacement B) Reduced condemnation rates of gear components due to exceedance of rework limits C) Reduced gear overhaul flow days D) Reduced repeated bushing installation due to installation error E) Reduced requirement for field repair efforts F) Reduced number of Depot required overhauls resulting from bushing related damage