A High Ratio Power Dense Planetary Drive for Rotorcraft Applications

Abstract

Epicyclic geartrains are known to provide high power density and have become the geartrain of choice for the main power flow in virtually all rotorcraft designs. This paper presents a unique compound planetary design targeting a helicopter main gearbox transmission application. The design significantly improves power density over conventional geartrains through its innovative planet gear loadsharing configuration along with the utilization of highperformance materials for gears and bearings. Design studies were conducted comparing the power density of this new design to a baseline gearbox design. The results of these studies demonstrate an estimated 38% power density improvement over the baseline configuration. Of the total improvement, 86% is attributed to the novel loadsharing configuration while 14% is attributed to utilization of advanced materials and processes.