Production of beryllium reinforced composite solid and hollow shafting

A method of forming a shaft comprising:

• cladding beryllium rods with a metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum and titanium;
• bundling the clad beryllium rods around a central mandrel selected from a material which is harder than said clad rods and which has a diameter greater than the diameters of said rods so that the beryllium rods define a plurality of concentric cylinders surrounding the central mandrel;
• enclosing the preform within a cylindrical can such that spaces devoid of material exist between adjacent rods;
• heating, and then reducing the preform under pressure to form a composite shaft;
• whereby the clad material flows and occupies said spaces and the beryllium rods are converted into arcuate ribbons, said arcuate ribbons arranged to define a plurality of concentric cylinders surrounding the central mandrel;
• and
• removing the shaft from the can.

A method of forming a shaft comprising:

• surrounding a hard core mandrel with concentrically arranged circles of smaller diameter beryllium rods which are spaced from one another by a metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum and titanium to make a preform;
• enclosing the preform within a cylindrical steel can;
• heating the preform with its surrounding can to a temperature between 600.degree. to 800.degree. F. for the aluminum and 1200.degree. to 1400.degree. F. for the titanium,
• and simultaneously with the foregoing step reducing the preform under uniform pressure applied to the exterior surface of said steel can to thereby convert the beryllium rods into arcuate-shaped ribbons arranged in circles around the hard core mandrel.