Composite hollow blade and a method of forming the composite hollow blade

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11015461-B2
Application number	US-201715850842-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2017
Priority date	Dec 21, 2017
Publication date	May 25, 2021
Grant date	May 25, 2021

Abstract

Composite hollow blade and an associated method of forming the composite hollow blade are disclosed. The method includes forming a core by fabricating a grid core structure based on a plurality of design parameters, where the grid core includes a plurality of first reinforcing components disposed in a first curable matrix material. The method further includes forming an outer layer including a plurality of second reinforcing components disposed in a second curable matrix material. Further, the method includes coupling the core to the outer layer and curing the core and the outer layer to form the composite hollow blade.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
forming a core by fabricating a grid core structure based on a design parameter, wherein the grid core structure comprises a plurality of first reinforcing components disposed in a first curable matrix material;
forming an outer layer comprising a plurality of second reinforcing components disposed in a second curable matrix material;
coupling the core to the outer layer; and
curing the core and the outer layer to form a composite hollow blade;
wherein the design parameter is a width of one of the reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components or a spacing between mutually adjacent reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components; and
wherein the width of the first reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components is in a range from about 0.25 inch to about 1 inch, the spacing between mutually adjacent first reinforcing components is in a range from about 0.5 inch to about 2 inches, or both.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the design parameter additionally includes an orientation of one of the reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components defined by an angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the composite hollow blade.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the angle is in a range from about 15 degrees to about 150 degrees.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the core comprises selecting the plurality of design parameters such that the grid core structure sustains one of a frequency requirement, a foreign object damage requirement of the composite hollow blade, or a fan blade out requirement.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein fabricating the grid core structure comprises:
wrapping or laying the plurality of first reinforcing components at one or more predefined locations on a first mold by varying at least one of the spacing between mutually adjacent first reinforcing components and an orientation of one of the first reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components from a leading edge of the composite hollow blade to a trailing edge of the composite hollow blade, and
wherein the one or more predefined locations comprises at least one of a span-wise location from a hub to a tip of the composite hollow blade along the leading edge, a chord-wise location along the hub at the trailing edge of the composite hollow blade, a mid-plane location of the composite hollow blade, and a root location of the composite hollow blade.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein fabricating the grid core structure comprises wrapping or laying the plurality of first reinforcing components on a first mold to form one of a bi-grid core structure, a tri-grid core structure, or a hexagonal-grid core structure.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the outer layer comprises:
stacking the plurality of second reinforcing components on a second mold to define a pressure side of the composite hollow blade; and
stacking the plurality of second reinforcing components on a third mold to define a suction side of the composite hollow blade.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the outer layer comprises stacking the plurality of second reinforcing components on a second mold and a third mold such that the outer layer has a substantially uniform thickness on a pressure side and a suction side.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the core comprises wrapping or laying the plurality of first reinforcing components on a first mold such that the grid core structure has a non-uniform thickness from a pressure side to a suction side.

10. A method of forming a composite hollow blade, comprising:
forming a core by wrapping or laying a plurality of first reinforcing components disposed in a first curable matrix material at one or more predefined locations on a first mold, based on a design parameter, to fabricate a grid core structure of the core,
wherein the design parameter is a width of one of the first reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components, spacing between mutually adjacent reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components, or an orientation of one of the first reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components; and
forming an outer layer comprising:
stacking a plurality of second reinforcing components disposed in a second curable matrix material on a second mold to define a pressure side of the composite hollow blade; and
stacking the plurality of second reinforcing components disposed in the second curable matrix material on a third mold to define a suction side of the composite hollow blade;

coupling the core to the outer layer; and
curing the core and the outer layer to form the composite hollow blade, the composite blade having a non-solid geometry that has at least a percentage of volume of the blade unoccupied; and
wherein the width of the first reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components is in a range from about 0.25 inch to about 1 inch, the spacing between mutually adjacent first reinforcing components is in a range from about 0.5 inch to about 2 inches, or both.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein forming the core comprises wrapping or laying the plurality of first reinforcing components on the first mold such that the grid core structure has a non-uniform thickness from a pressure side to a suction side.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein forming the core comprises selecting the design parameter such that the grid core structure sustains one of a frequency requirement, a foreign object damage requirement of the composite hollow blade, or a fan blade out requirement.

13. A composite hollow blade comprising:
a core comprising a composite grid core structure, wherein the composite grid core structure comprises a plurality of first reinforcing components and a first curable matrix material, and wherein the plurality of first reinforcing components is disposed at one or more predefined locations along the core based on a design parameter,
wherein the design parameter is a width of a first reinforcing component of the plurality of first reinforcing components, a spacing between mutually adjacent reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components, or an orientation of the first reinforcing component of the plurality of first reinforcing components defined by an angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the composite hollow blade, and
an outer layer comprising a plurality of second reinforcing components and a second curable matrix material, wherein the core is coupled to the outer layer;
wherein the composite blade is hollow such that the composite blade has a non-solid geometry that has at least a percentage of volume of the blade unoccupied; and
wherein the width of the first reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components is in a range from about 0.25 inch to about 1 inch, the spacing between mutually adjacent first reinforcing components is in a range from about 0.5 inch to about 2 inches, or both.

14. The composite hollow blade of claim 13 , wherein one of the reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components and one of the reinforcing components of the plurality of second reinforcing components comprise one or both of a carbon fiber and an s-glass fiber, and wherein the first curable matrix material and the second curable matrix material comprise a thermoset.

15. The composite hollow blade of claim 13 , wherein the angle is in a range from about 15 degrees to about

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Sakala Viswanadha Gupta
• Ward Douglas Duane
• Xie Ming

Classifications

• B29L2031/08

  Blades for rotors, stators, fans, turbines or the like, e.g. screw propellers · CPC title

• B29C70/386

  Automated tape laying [ATL] · CPC title

• F05D2250/291

  hollowed · CPC title

• B29C70/38

  Automated lay-up, e.g. using robots, laying filaments according to predetermined patterns {(application heads for tyres B29D30/28)} · CPC title

• B29L2031/3076

  Aircrafts (blades, propellers B29L2031/08) · CPC title