COMPOSITE GEARCASES FOR SHIP MAIN PROPULSION GEARS

INCORPORATION OF CONSTRAINED LAYER DAMPING TECHNIQUES INTO ADVANCED POLYMER AND METAL MATRIX COMPOSITE MATERIALS OFFER NUMEROUS ADVANTAGES FOR REDUCING WEIGHT AND ENHANCING THE VIBRATION AND NOISE DAMPING CHARACTERISTICS OF NAVY GEARCASES. THE SUCCESSFUL INCORPORATION OF THESE MATERIALS INTO THE GEARCASE ENVIRONMENT WILL REQUIRE A THOROUGH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. THIS PROGRAM SHOULD INCLUDE RATIONAL ENGINEERING ANALYSES, PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT, AND AN EXPERIMENTAL EVALUAUTION OF THE PROTOTYPE. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I EFFORT IS TO IDENTIFY THE PARALLEL SHAFT AND EPICYCLIC GEARING CASE COMPONENTS THAT HAVE THE GREATEST INFLUENCE ON GEARCASE WEIGHT, VIBRATION, AND NOISE CHARACTERISTICS. ONCE THESE COMPONENTS ARE IDENTIFIED, ALTERNATIVE DESIGNS USING VARIOUS COMPOSITE MATERIALS AND DAMPING TECHNIQUES WILL BE EVALUATED. THIS EFFORT WILL INCLUDE THE PRELIMINARY MATERIAL DESIGN AND STRUCTURAL ANALYSES, AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENT AND LOADING ON THE EFFICIENCY AND RELIABILITY OF THE COMPONENTS, AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE COMPONENT'S NEW MATERIAL PROPERTIES ON THE INTERCONNECTION WITH THE SHIP STRUCTURE.