Light Weight Aluminum Composite Bearing Liners for Vertical Lift

doi:10.4050/F-0081-2025-0240

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Light Weight Aluminum Composite Bearing Liners for Vertical Lift

William Harrigan, Micah Peabody, Yuzheng Zhang, Gamma Alloys Inc

https://doi.org/10.4050/F-0081-2025-0240

Abstract:
Gamma Alloys manufactures aluminum matrix composite bearing liners for helicopter transmissions that have the performance of steel liners at one third the weight. These bearing liners have diameters between 2.5 and 24 inches. Our composites are made by blending aluminum powders with spheroidized alumina particles. These powders are then vacuum hot pressed into billets. These billets are then extruded into shapes that can be machined into bearing liners. The extrusion process transforms the powder metallurgy product into a wrought product. Over 2000 liners have been made and are currently flying in R&D vehicles since 2018 with no maintenance issues.