ITRB Spar Domestic Source

Abstract

Cobham Composite Products (Cobham) under contract with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) conducted a manufacturability study of the Improved Tail Rotor Blade (ITRB) Spar in order to establish a domestic manufacturing source for the spar where none currently exists. This program was managed by the Army ManTech Program Office (ManTech). This final report summarizes this program performed by Cobham which took place from 15 Dec. 2010 to 14 Dec. 2012. The Apache AH-64D Helicopter currently uses aluminum Tail Rotor Blades (TRB). Boeing-Mesa, along with Program Management (PM) Apache is currently in the process of developing an ITRB for the AH-64D. The scope of the program included structural design, materials selection, manufacturing producibility analysis, tooling design and fabrication, triaxial braid preform development, fabrication and delivery of triaxial braided spar preforms, Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) process development and trials, and delivery of two composite spars and one destructive test spar. In addition, a set of production quality RTM tools was built and delivered. However, midway through the program, the technical requirements were realigned by introducing the Apache ITRB requirements directly into the program by Boeing Mesa. The realignment of ManTech program requirements to the Apache ITRB requirements was important because it resulted in a ManTech program product that is closer to production readiness. However, the Apache ITRB data are ITAR and export controlled. Therefore many details of this project are not reported here. The program team consisted of Cobham as the prime contractor who was responsible for tooling design and fabrication, fabrication process development and fabrication of spars and test samples; G3 who designed the RTM tooling and supported Cobham with RTM process consulting; A&P Technology who was responsible for the development of the triaxially braided composite preform and Boeing Mesa who provided guidance to ITRB requirements.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 14, 2012
Accession Number
ADA578405

Entities

People

  • Bing Han

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Assembly
  • Composite Materials
  • Contracts
  • Destructive Tests
  • Domestic
  • Fabrication
  • Manufacturing
  • Materials
  • Moldings
  • Production
  • Program Management
  • Resin Transfer Molding
  • Resins
  • Spars
  • Tail Rotors
  • Test Methods
  • Three Dimensional

Readers

  • Aerodynamics.
  • Reinforced Composite Materials
  • Software Engineering