Alternative Copper-Beryllium Alloys Development

WP-2138

Objective

Copper-beryllium alloys exhibit a unique combination of strength, stiffness, density, wear resistance, galling resistance, and corrosion resistance. As a result, they are widely used in highly loaded wear applications within legacy and current production military platforms. It has become apparent, however, that there are significant health and safety concerns with regard to beryllium exposure via inhalation or dermal contact. Although current procedural and preventive measures and controls are employed throughout fabrication and maintenance to protect from such exposure, there still remains an inherent risk within the production, service, and sustainment arenas of operation, as well as cost impacts.

The objective of this project is to develop an environmentally safe alternative to the current baseline AMS 4534 copper-beryllium alloy employed for highly loaded nonlubricated bushing and bearing wear applications. The project will work to develop an alternative material and thermomechanical processing route, which results in a suite of mechanical properties that satisfies design requirements for such applications and exhibits compatibility with legacy structural alloys and mechanisms, as well as the sealant, primer, topcoat, and corrosion prevention protocols.

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Technical Approach

The approach involves materials development, bushing design, characterization, and demonstration. In the materials development task, QuesTek will perform alloy, thermomechanical processing, and thermal treatment computational modeling iterations to identify an alloy and processing route for the candidate alternative material. Preliminary mechanical and wear testing will be conducted throughout the process of the computational modeling iterations. Upon completion of the computational modeling effort, detailed materials properties and tribological characterization will be performed on the alternative copper-beryllium candidate material. Bushing designs also will be developed. This design development effort will focus primarily on the contact geometry at the interface of the inner diameter of the bushing and outer diameter of the pin within it. Subcomponent and full-scale component-level bushing demonstrations will be performed to validate performance in a relevant operational environment.

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Benefits

This project seeks to develop a defined set of alloy composition and processing parameters for the manufacture of an alternative copper-beryllium material for highly loaded wear applications that meets or exceeds AMS 4534 properties. It also seeks to develop a preliminary materials design allowables database and a performance optimized bushing design and subsequently conduct a full-scale component-level demonstration of the material and bushing design. (Anticipated Project Completion - 2014)

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Points of Contact

Principal Investigator

Dr. Eric Fodran

Northrop Grumman Corp

Phone: 310-332-9042

Program Manager

Weapons Systems and Platforms

SERDP and ESTCP

Document Types

  • Fact Sheet - Brief project summary with links to related documents and points of contact.
  • Final Report - Comprehensive report for every completed SERDP and ESTCP project that contains all technical results.
  • Cost & Performance Report - Overview of ESTCP demonstration activities, results, and conclusions, standardized to facilitate implementation decisions.
  • Technical Report - Additional interim reports, laboratory reports, demonstration reports, and technology survey reports.
  • Guidance - Instructional information on technical topics such as protocols and user’s guides.
  • Workshop Report - Summary of workshop discussion and findings.
  • Multimedia - On demand videos, animations, and webcasts highlighting featured initiatives or technologies.
  • Model/Software - Computer programs and applications available for download.
  • Database - Digitally organized collection of data available to search and access.