Additively manufactured septa for acoustic panels

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11034460-B2
Application number	US-201715836034-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 8, 2017
Priority date	Dec 8, 2017
Publication date	Jun 15, 2021
Grant date	Jun 15, 2021

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for septa for acoustic cells. One embodiment is a method that includes fabricating a septum of a cell of an acoustic panel, by heating a material into a molten material, depositing the molten material to form a lower chamber of the septum that extends vertically upwards and includes an entry, iteratively depositing layers of the molten material, each layer comprising a filament at the entry that includes overhangs with respect to vertically adjacent layers, and forming openings at locations of the overhangs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
fabricating a septum of a cell of an acoustic panel, by:
heating a material into a molten material;
depositing the molten material to form a lower chamber of the septum that extends vertically upwards and includes an entry;
subsequently iteratively depositing layers of the molten material atop the entry, each layer comprising a filament that includes overhangs with respect to vertically adjacent layers; and
forming openings at locations of the overhangs.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:
iteratively depositing the layers comprises, for each layer, depositing a filament that extends beyond filaments of adjacent layers to form the overhangs.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:
iteratively depositing the layers is performed such that each of the filaments is deposited as a multi-pointed star shape having vertices comprising recesses and protrusions, wherein recesses in each of the layers align with protrusions of vertically adjacent layers to form the openings.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:
drooping each protrusion downward after it is deposited.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein:
iteratively depositing the layers results in at least fifty layers, and
each layer forms at least ten openings with vertically adjacent layers.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein:
fabricating the septum is performed via fused filament fabrication.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein:
forming a seam at each layer, wherein seams of vertically adjacent layers are deposited atop each other.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the openings have diameters between one ten thousandth of an inch and one thousandth of an inch in diameter.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
depositing molten material to form a solid cap of material atop the layers.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
depositing molten material to form a solid wall of material that surrounds the layers and forms an upper chamber of an acoustic cell.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the molten material comprises thermoplastic.

12. A portion of an aircraft assembled according to the method of claim 1 .

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying programmed instructions which, when executed by a processor, are operable for performing a method comprising:
fabricating a septum of a cell of an acoustic panel, by:
heating a material into a molten material;
depositing the molten material to form a lower chamber of the septum that extends vertically upwards and includes an entry;
subsequently iteratively depositing layers of the molten material atop the entry, each layer comprising a filament that includes overhangs with respect to vertically adjacent layers; and
forming openings at locations of the overhangs.

14. The medium of claim 13 wherein:
iteratively depositing the layers comprises, for each layer depositing a filament that extends beyond filaments of adjacent layers to form the overhangs.

15. The medium of claim 13 wherein:
iteratively depositing the layers is performed such that each of the filaments is deposited as a multi-pointed star shape having vertices comprising recesses and protrusions, wherein recesses in each of the layers align with protrusions of vertically adjacent layers to form the openings.

16. The medium of claim 15 wherein the method further comprises:
drooping each protrusion downward after it is deposited.

17. The medium of claim 13 wherein:
iteratively depositing the layers results in at least fifty layers, and
each layer forms at least ten openings with vertically adjacent layers.

18. The medium of claim 13 wherein:
fabricating the septum is performed via fused filament fabrication.

19. The medium of claim 13 wherein the method further comprises:
forming a seam at each layer, wherein seams of vertically adjacent layers are deposited atop each other.

20. The medium of claim 13 wherein:
the molten material comprises thermoplastic.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Renwick Zachary B
• Bertolucci Brandon L
• Herrera Eric
• Hayes Michael William
• Waldrop Iii John C
• Thompson Matthew Scott

Classifications

• B64C1/40 Primary

  Sound or heat insulation {, e.g. using insulation blankets} · CPC title

• B29C64/106 Primary

  using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material · CPC title

• Y02T50/60

  Efficient propulsion technologies, e.g. for aircraft · CPC title

• G10K2210/3223

  Materials, e.g. special compositions or gases · CPC title

• G10K2210/1281

  Aircraft, e.g. spacecraft, airplane or helicopter · CPC title