Affordable High Strength Face Gears""

The limitations of conventional processing for the manufacture of face gears have limited the development of advanced gears with improved performance. The application of plasma transferred arc solid free form fabrication to the manufacture of these gearswill greatly expand the design options available. MER will fabricate and test full size main power helicopter face gears that have a strong, light weight titanium web integrally bonded to steel alloy gear teeth which meet the wear and mechanical propertyrequirements for the current face gears. Low cost, lightweight gears for low power accessory drives will also be fabricated and tested using the free form process. In addition, MER will also deliver face gears in which the web will be produced by highpressure squeeze casting of a continuous fiber reinforced metal matrix composite. These new composite gears will provide a significant performance increase for helicopter transmissions as well as for other aerospace, defense, aircraft, automotive andmarine vehicle systems, where a combination of low cost and high performance will result in a significant market opportunity.