High-stiffness composite shaft

摘要

A composite shaft (10) whose construction and fabrication enable precise placement and orientation of reinforcement fiber bundles (14), enable close control of runout, and eliminate a separate joining operation for attaching mechanical drive couplings. The composite shaft (10) generally includes an inner shell (16), a spacing member (18) circumscribing and contacting the inner shell (16), and a bundle (14) of fibers (20) disposed in each of a number of longitudinally-extending cavities (24) in the spacing member (18). The shaft (10) also has an outer portion (12) that encases the fiber bundles (14) in the spacing member (18). The shaft (10) preferably includes end pieces attached to the end of the shaft (10) and adapted as mechanical coupling features. At least the end pieces, spacing member (18) and fiber bundles (14) are joined in a manner that defines a metal matrix surrounding and encasing the fiber bundles (14). <IMAGE>