Development of Joint Strike Fighter Lift Fan Drive Shaft (MSC P5044)

The goal of this SBIR project is to develop and demonstrate lightweight, low cost, drive shaft concepts for use in high performance rotating engine drive systems, with specific focus on the STOVL life fan system. During the Phase I program, a proof-of-concept prototype tube was fabricated to establish manufacturing feasibility, verify weight estimates and support cost studies. The design concept and manufacturing approach builds on previous research that successfully demonstrated the structural robustness and weight and cost competitiveness of a Materials Sciences Corporation design developed for the V-22 Osprey wing drive system. The objective of the Phase II program is to reduce the risk of inserting the belt-wrapped composite drive shaft design into the JSF lift-fan system. Technical risk will be reduced by manufacturing and testing full-scale drive shafts to demonstrate that the basic structural requirements outlined by NAVAIR have been met. Programmatic risk will be reduced by conducting system level performance evaluations that include damage tolerance and fatigue response data, and also by compiling full-scale manufacturing cost data under the Phase II award.