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NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:Maureen Collins
Tel:1-978-657-2482
email:mcollins@systems.textron.com
Textron Systems Delivers Titanium Matrix Composite
Drag Brake Pistons for F/A-18E/F Landing Gear
Wilmington, MA, USA - September 7, 1998 - Textron Systems announced today, it has delivered three titanium matrix composite (TMC) drag brake pistons for F/A-18E/F nose landing gears. The work, part of the Lightweight Landing Gear Technology Program, is being done in conjunction with Boeing of St. Louis, Missouri and Messier-Dowty of Ajax, Ontario, Canada and is funded by the Canadian Government and United States Air Force Wright Laboratories.
The landing gear pistons are reinforced with Textron Systems' SCS-6( silicon carbide fiber in a Ti 6-2-4-2 matrix using a plasma sprayed tape preform. A TMC piston will result in a reduced weight by nearly 45 percent, compared to the use of traditional materials and design. The landing gear components are currently being machined by Messier-Dowty in preparation for qualification testing.
Bill Grant, Textron Systems Principal Engineer, High Temperature Composite Products, said that, "Several TMC size and complexity issues have been validated on these components, which will enable future TMC landing gear opportunities". Other examples of TMC landing gear components including an F-15 nose gear outer cylinder will be on display at the Textron Systems booth at the Farnborough Air Show.
Silicon carbide reinforced titanium, aluminum and ceramic composites are high in strength and stiffness, lightweight and maintain their properties at high temperatures. SCS-6 fibers exhibit a tensile strength over 600 ksi and a modulus of 57 msi. The recently developed, SCS-ULTRA offers strength greater than 900 ksi along with a 6 percent increase in modulus. Titanium reinforced with SCS-6 fibers exhibit tensile strengths more than 250,000 pounds per square inch, and modulus of up to 30 million pounds per square inch. The material exhibits a significant increase in strength-to-weight performance and improved strength at temperatures up to 800oC, depending on the grade of titanium used. Textron Systems' silicon carbide fibers and titanium matrix composites are the result of more than fifteen years of research and development. Production takes place at the company's 50,000 square TMC fabrication facility -- the only TMC facility of its kind in the world.
Textron Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Textron Inc., is a leading supplier of advanced systems, components and materials for use in defense, aerospace, automotive and industrial applications. Textron Systems is an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer.
Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) is a $10.5 billion global, multi-industry company with market leading operations in Aircraft, Automotive, Industrial and Finance.
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