Benzoxazine Matrix Composite Bearing Materials for Arresting Gear Components

Carrier aviation is dependent on the ability to recover aircraft expeditiously and safely aboard ship. The system that arrests the aircraft, the Arresting Gear system, utilizes slippers or bearing materials between moving components. A major shortcoming of the current slipper material is its swelling when exposed to ethylene glycol, which causes clearance issues in the operating equipment, resulting in replacement outside of scheduled maintenance, which is undesirable due to the labor-intensive nature of some of these replacements. In Phase I, Composite Technology Development (CTD) demonstrated new composite bearing materials comprised of either glass or carbon reinforcing fibers and a benzoxazine resin chemistry with nano-scale additives incorporated to improve the wear resistance and friction characteristics of the resulting composites. These materials showed significantly reduced swelling in ethylene glycol and excellent wear resistance compared to the current slipper material. During the Phase II program, CTD will optimize the Phase I materials for performance and cost, will develop cost-effective methods of slipper manufacturing, will develop methods for qualifying new slipper materials for arresting gear applications, and will develop a preliminary performance specification that can be used to qualify future slipper materials for the Navy.