COMPOSITE GEARCASES FOR SHIP MAIN PROPULSION GEARS

ANALYTICAL AND TEST PROGRAM TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING COMPOSITE MATERIALS TO REDUCE WEIGHT AND ENHANCE THE VIBRATION AND NOISE DAMPING CHARACTERISTICS OF NAVY GEARCASES WHILE MAINTAINING STRENGTH AND STIFFNESS REQUIRED TO SUPPORT TORQUE, BEARING AND HIGH IMPACT SHOCK LOADS. PHASE I WILL KEY ON IDENTIFYING THE BEST POLYMER AND METAL MATRIX MATERIALS FROM TRADE-OFF STUDIES OF MANY AVAILABLE MATERIALS, AS WELL AS THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR SHOCK, NOISE, AND VIBRATION EVALUATION. TECHNIQUES WILL BE APPLIED TO THREE PRELIMINARY GEARCASE CONCEPTS DESIGNED TO TEST THE ADEQUACY OF SELECTED MATERIALS IN ALL CRITICAL DESIGN AREAS. IN PHASE II RESULTS OF ANALYSIS FROM PHASE I WILL BE USED IN PROTOTYPE DETAIL DESIGNS FOR METAL (BASELINE), POLYMER, AND METAL MATRIX GEARBOXES WHICH WILL BE SHOCK, NOISE, AND VIBRATION ANALYZED AND TESTED. TEST AND ANALYTICAL RESULTS WILL BE COMPARED AND ANALYZED RESULTING IN A 'BEST-DESIGN' CANDIDATE FOR FULL-SCALE PROPULSION GEARCASES AND VALIDATED ANALYTICAL TOOLS TO AIDE IN THE DESIGN PROCESS OF FUTURE PROPULSION UNITS.