Long Life, High Performance Composite Clutch Plates

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) and our team members will develop advanced composite lift fan clutch plates that exceed the wear lives of the current clutch plates by a factor of three or more. The carbon-carbon clutch plates currently used on the STOVL version of JSF, F-35B, can meet a 1,500 engagement life, but this is less than half of the desired lifetime. Reaching the desired clutch lifetime would minimize maintenance, repair and overhaul costs and maximize mission availability of the F-35B. Successfully transitioned, PSI"s longer lasting clutch plates would save more than $42M for each major overhaul of the United States F-35B fleet. The PSI team will develop our high thermal conductivity, low wear Hi-K composite clutch materials for the lift fan application. During the Phase I program we will produce and test full-size clutch plates at conditions representative of those encountered in the actual JSF clutch. As a result of this work, we will demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of successfully developing clutch plates that: 1) have significantly reduced wear rates, 2) maintain consistent coefficient of frictions (COF) higher than C/C, 3) do not warp during use,and 4) meet a balance requirement of less than 5 grams-inches for each plate.