Improving Wear and Fretting Characteristics with Fiber Reinforced Aluminum Liners

A study has recently been performed to investigate improvements between the interfaces of the transmission case and rolling element bearings that provides for extended wear life. This study included demonstration testing of the improvements shown in wear and fretting characteristics at the bearing/case interface by using a Fiber Reinforced Aluminum (FRA) liner. This liner material is an engineered metal matrix composite that exhibits the best mechanical properties of each of the constituent materials, and provides enhanced capabilities in terms of structural, thermal, and chemical performance. An additional benefit of using FRA liners is a reduced weight compared to traditional steel bearing liners. This weight improvement is achieved with little to no redesign work, and without increasing manufacturing complexity. With proper sizing, the FRA bearing liners are a direct replacement for the existing part. This paper recollects all the results of this recent study, as well as plans for the future.