SBIR-STTR Award

This Phase I SBIR proposal addresses the Navys need to improve the reliability and safety of titanium thin-walled, high pressure hydraulic tubing used in naval aircraft. Powder metal processing will be used to produce novel, cold formable titanium alloys that are more damage resistant and damage tolerant than the standard tubing alloy, Ti-3Al-2.5V. Tubing will be produced from P/M tube hollows and evaluated to establish the technical feasibility of using P/M tube hollows as starting stock to produce titanium hydraulic tubing. In Phase I several innovative titanium alloys will be evaluated for cold formability, damage resistance and damage tolerance by; smooth and notched tensile properties, scratch hardness, indentation hardness, microstructure and chemistry. These tests will identify the most promising alloys for the production of hydraulic tubing and establish the initial economic and technical viability of making tubing from P/M tube hollows. Impulse tests and low cycle fatigue testing of tubes will be conducted in the Phase I Option to establish that tubes produced from the alloys developed in Phase I are indeed superior to Ti-3Al-2.5V. The proposed technology will answer the need for affordable, damage resistant and damage tolerant titanium thin-walled high pressure hydraulic tubing for military and commercial aircraft.

Benefit:
The development of a damage resistant alloy for making titanium high pressure hydraulic tubing will improve the reliability and safety of Navy fixed wing and rotary aircraft as well as the reliability and safety of all military and commercial aircraft. The innovative P/M process for making tube hollows will also significantly reduce the cost of hydraulic tubing not only for military and commercial aircraft applications, but also for industrial uses of titanium, thin-wall seamless tubing. This process has the flexibility to produce hydraulic tubing from titanium alloys tailored to the needs of a specific application for example to meet the specific environment of the V-22 Osprey nacelle.

Keywords:
Abrasion resistant, Abrasion resistant, powder metal, Damage tolerant, titanium, hydraulic tubing

In Phase I Dynamet Technology demonstrated the technical viability of producing tube hollows by Dynamet’s advanced P/M processing. The Phase I Option will focus on producing and evaluating hydraulic tube produced using PM tube hollow feedstock. In Phase II the optimal dimensions for P/M tube hollows will be determined and produced. Tube rolling procedures will be developed for .25 inch OD by .022 inch wall hydraulic tube. Prototype thin-wall hydraulic tubes will be produced and tested to demonstrate that their damage tolerance and damage resistance are superior to that of Ti-3Al-2.5V. These tests will include low cycle fatigue tests, and impulse tests of tubes with and without simulated damage. Projected production costs will be analyzed to quantify the cost savings associated with the use of P/M tube hollows as well as the cost savings to the Navy in the procurement of new aircraft and the retrofitting of existing aircraft. The objectives of Phase II are to develop an improved titanium alloy for producing thin-wall hydraulic tubing and a cost-effective, reliable and repeatable manufacturing process for producing hydraulic tubing based on P/M tube hollow feedstock. Phase II will lead to the commercialization of improved titanium hydraulic tubing.

Keywords:
Aircraft Tubing, Seamless Tubing, Titanium, Powder Metallurgy, Tube Reducing, Tube Rolling, Thin-Wall Tubing, Hydraulic Tubing,