Methods and apparatus for manufacturing a thermoplastic structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12036751-B2
Application number	US-202217936375-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2022
Priority date	Sep 28, 2022
Publication date	Jul 16, 2024
Grant date	Jul 16, 2024

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for manufacturing a thermoplastic structure include laying a first plurality of braided plies on a mandrel, and laying one or more unidirectional plies on the plurality of braided plies. A second plurality of braided plies is laid on the one or more unidirectional plies. The layup thereby forms a thermoplastic structure having combined braided and unidirectional plies.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing a thermoplastic rotor blade structure, the method comprising:
laying a first plurality of braided plies on a mandrel, wherein the mandrel comprises a plurality of sections with section shapes that vary along a length of the mandrel, and wherein the mandrel comprises a transition section located between a first section and a second section of the plurality of sections;
laying one or more unidirectional plies on the first plurality of braided plies;
laying a second plurality of braided plies on the one or more unidirectional plies; and
laying one or more patches on one or more of the first plurality of braided plies or the one or more unidirectional plies at the transition section.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more patches comprise one or more braided patches.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more patches comprise one or more unidirectional patches.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising spot-welding the one or more patches on an edge where the one or more patches first contact a subsequent braided layer of the second plurality of braided plies.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising tack welding the one or more unidirectional plies on the first plurality of braided plies, wherein the tack welding comprises tack welding only one end of the one or more unidirectional plies on the first plurality of braided plies.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising performing an interleaving of the first braided plies and the one or more unidirectional plies.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising heating the one or more unidirectional plies before laying the one or more unidirectional plies on the plurality of braided plies.

8. The method of claim 4 , further comprising performing consolidation after one or more of the layings and inspecting the consolidation.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more unidirectional plies comprise unidirectional tape having slitting.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising tack welding the one or more unidirectional plies on the first plurality of braided plies, wherein the tack welding comprises tack welding only one end of the one or more unidirectional plies on the first plurality of braided plies.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the mandrel comprises one or more uni-directional plies thereon.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing an interleaving of the first braided plies and the one or more unidirectional plies.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising heating the one or more unidirectional plies before laying the one or more unidirectional plies on the plurality of braided plies.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing consolidation after one or more of the layings and inspecting the consolidation.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
spot-welding the one or more patches on an edge where the one or more patches first contact a subsequent braided layer of the second plurality of braided plies;
tack welding the one or more unidirectional plies on the first plurality of braided plies, wherein the tack welding comprises tack welding only one end of the one or more unidirectional plies on the first plurality of braided plies;
performing an interleaving of the first braided plies and the one or more unidirectional plies;
heating the one or more unidirectional plies before laying the one or more unidirectional plies on the plurality of braided plies; and
performing consolidation after one or more of the layings and inspecting the consolidation.

16. The method of claim 15 ,
wherein the one or more patches comprise one or more braided patches and one or more unidirectional patches,
wherein the one or more unidirectional plies comprise unidirectional tape having slitting, and
wherein the mandrel comprises one or more unidirectional plies thereon.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more patches comprise one or more braided patches and one or more unidirectional patches.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more unidirectional plies comprise unidirectional tape having slitting and wherein the mandrel comprises one or more unidirectional plies thereon.

19. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the one or more patches comprise one or more braided patches,
wherein the one or more unidirectional plies comprise unidirectional tape having slitting, and
wherein the mandrel comprises one or more unidirectional plies thereon.

20. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the one or more patches comprise one or more unidirectional patches,
wherein the one or more unidirectional plies comprise unidirectional tape having slitting, and
wherein the mandrel comprises one or more unidirectional plies thereon.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Ogale Amol
• Wilkerson Randall Dow
• Rubin Alexander

Classifications

• B29L2031/3076

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

• B29C70/32 Primary

  on a rotating mould, former or core · CPC title

• B64F5/10

  Manufacturing or assembling aircraft, e.g. jigs therefor · CPC title

• B29K2101/12

  Thermoplastic materials · CPC title

• B29K2105/0872

  Prepregs · CPC title