Robust Bearings and Gears

Critical gears and engine bearings in our newest vertical thrust aircraft must operate with absolute reliability under high loads, high heat, corrosive salt air and intervals without any lubricant whatever. Current materials and coatings that meet some of these conditions fail when subjected to the others. Now a breakthrough in surface engineering technology can precisely control deposition of coatings at the level of vaporized atoms. It can deposit an atomically bonded, multiple layered, integrated coating combining different metal and ceramic materials, each with a different desired property. Engine parts with the multiplex coating that will be perfected and rigorously tested in this program will be durable and reliable under all of their extreme operating conditions. There is an enormous opportunity for future application to a wide range of military and civilian mechanical components that operate in severe, corrosive environments.