Fan blades and manufacture methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10458428-B2
Application number	US-201414917476-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 4, 2014
Priority date	Sep 9, 2013
Publication date	Oct 29, 2019
Grant date	Oct 29, 2019

Abstract

An airfoil member (100) comprising has a substrate (120) along at least a portion of an airfoil (102) of the airfoil member. A sheath (122) has a channel (144) receiving a portion (160) of the substrate. A plurality of separate spacers (320; 380; 400) are between the sheath and the substrate and have a plurality of gaps between the spacers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A airfoil member ( 100 ) comprising:
a substrate ( 120 ) along at least a portion of an airfoil ( 102 ) of the airfoil member;
a sheath ( 122 ) having a channel ( 144 ) receiving a portion ( 160 ) of the substrate and wherein the sheath forms a leading edge ( 110 ) of the airfoil; and
a plurality of separate spacers ( 320 ; 380 ; 400 ) formed as separate pieces between the sheath and the substrate and having a plurality of gaps between the spacers.

2. The airfoil member of claim 1 wherein:
the plurality of separate spacers comprise a plurality of polymeric elements.

3. The airfoil member of claim 1 wherein:
the plurality of separate spacers ( 380 ) comprise a plurality of ceramic elements.

4. The airfoil member of claim 1 wherein:
the plurality of separate spacers are distributed in a plurality of rows.

5. The airfoil member of claim 4 wherein:
the plurality of rows comprise a leading edge row, a suction side row and a pressure side row.

6. The airfoil member of claim 1 wherein:
the substrate is a first metallic material; and
the sheath is a second metallic material different from the first metallic material.

7. The airfoil member of claim 6 wherein:
the first metallic material is an aluminum alloy; and
the second metallic material is a titanium alloy.

8. The airfoil member of claim 1 wherein:
there is no mesh scrim between the substrate and sheath.

9. The airfoil member of claim 1 wherein:
the spacers ( 400 ) each comprise a fibrous sheet.

10. The airfoil member of claim 1 wherein:
the spacers each comprise aramid fiber or polyamide fiber.

11. The airfoil member of claim 10 wherein:
the aramid fiber or polyamide fiber is formed as a knit sheet.

12. The airfoil member of claim 1 wherein:
the spacers each have a characteristic thickness of 0.15mm to 0.80mm.

13. The airfoil member of claim 1 being a fan blade.

14. A method for manufacturing the airfoil member of claim 1 , the method comprising:
applying an adhesive sheet ( 322 ) to the substrate or the sheath;
applying the spacers to the adhesive; and
applying the sheath to the substrate.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein:
the spacers are applied sequentially.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein:
the applying of the sheath leaves end portions of the spacers protruding along the substrate.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:
cutting off the end portions.

18. A turbine engine comprising the airfoil member of claim 1 as a fan blade.

19. The airfoil member of claim 1 wherein:
the spacers ( 400 ) each comprise a fibrous sheet and each of the gaps are between respective edges of two of said sheets.

20. The airfoil member of claim 1 wherein:
the plurality of separate spacers each have a first surface and a second surface, the second surface being convex and the first surface being flatter than the second surface.

21. The airfoil member of claim 1 further comprising:
an adhesive, the plurality of separate spacers comprising a plurality of polymeric elements or ceramic elements in the adhesive.

Assignees

• United Technologies Corp

Inventors

• Drozdenko Lee M
• Hansen James O
• Meyer Jesse C
• Marcin Jr John J
• Shemenski Robert M
• Webb Scot A
• Gates Brandon A
• Morden Michael A

Classifications

• F04D29/023

  especially adapted for elastic fluid pumps · CPC title

• F05D2240/303

  related to the leading edge of a rotor blade · CPC title

• F05D2220/36

  specially adapted for the fan of turbofan engines · CPC title

• F05D2300/433

  Polyamides, e.g. NYLON · CPC title

• F05D2300/173

  Aluminium alloys, e.g. AlCuMgPb · CPC title