Innovative Materials/Concepts for Grease Lubricated Bearings

The U.S. Navy is pursuing innovative concepts to substantially improve life of grease-packed hanger bearings on the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey aircraft. In our successful Phase I program, we developed and demonstrated greases with performance far superior to current MIL-PRF-81322 grease over a wide temperature range. The new greases reduced friction by half and increased wear life by an order of magnitude. The Surfaces Research greases were made with novel base stock chemistry in lieu of the standard hydrocarbon oils of conventional greases. In the Phase II program, we will complete development and qualification testing of the superior grease we demonstrated in Phase I for rotorcraft hanger bearings. Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. will be a subcontractor on the Phase II program to provide hanger bearing endurance tests as well as evaluations for other applications, including insertion on commercial rotorcraft. We will also further develop our innovative greases for extreme high-temperature Navy applications. These applications include bearings of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter three-ball swivel module, and bearings for missiles. These high-temperature greases will be superior to current perfluorinated greases in both temperature capability and material compatibility. Rolls-Royce and the Navy will evaluate our new greases in component-scale rig tests.