Application of Powdered Metal Technology to Produce Titanium Gyro Parts. Volume I. Overall Test Results,

Components and test specimens produced by the powder metallurgy process have been demonstrated to possess approximately 94 percent the strength of components and specimens hogged out from wrought bar stock. The design of the components, made from either PM or wrought stock, has a safety factor sufficient to alleviate concerns about the minor strength differences between the two processes. The large quantity of specimens evaluated had little variation in the data spread so that there exists a high confidence that the mechanical property values listed herein are accurate. Designers of followon programs can use these values. The strength evaluations on components and specimens were believed to have been sufficient to justify PM from a stress standpoint. The testing of gyros for funciton and parameter stability should satisfy concerns about part contact, interface, and operation. Minor parametric differences in prepost environment exposure are attributed to handling errors by contributors outside the normal manufacturing realm whose influences are not controlled by approved procedures. From a cost standpoint, the use of an approved alternate PM process to fabricate gyro components will be a function of an ever-changing economic condition of the metals industry. Easy availability of wrought stock and scrappage losses from hog-out machining must be weighed against the costs of PM preform processing. In a condition of urgency, the PM alternative could prove invaluable.