Stator vane ring and a method of manufacture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12084987-B2
Application number	US-202017021396-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 15, 2020
Priority date	Sep 17, 2019
Publication date	Sep 10, 2024
Grant date	Sep 10, 2024

Abstract

Method of manufacturing an integral thermoset infused fibre reinforced composite, structural stator vane ring for a core inlet, a bypass duct, or an air intake of a gas turbine engine. The method comprises winding fibre reinforcement material around a mandrel to form an inner annulus preform; providing a plurality of vane preforms comprising fibre reinforcement material, arranging the plurality of vane preforms around the inner annulus preform, and connecting each of the plurality of vane preforms to the inner annulus preform using a fibre jointing method; winding fibre reinforcement material around the plurality of vane preforms to form an outer annulus preform and connecting the outer annulus preform to each of the plurality of vane preforms using a fibre jointing method to produce a stator vane ring preform; and infusing a thermoset resin into the stator vane ring preform and curing the resin to form the integral stator vane ring.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method of manufacturing an integral thermoset infused fibre reinforced composite, structural stator vane ring for a core inlet, a bypass duct or an air intake of a gas turbine engine, the method comprising:
winding fibre reinforcement material around a mandrel to form an inner annulus preform;
providing a first vane preform and a second vane preform of a plurality of vane preforms comprising fibre reinforcement material, the first vane preform being separate from the second vane preform;
bifurcating the first vane preform at an inner annulus end of the vane preform into a first inner flange extending in a first circumferential direction and a second inner flange extending in a second circumferential direction opposite the first circumferential direction and at an outer annulus end of the vane preform into a first outer flange extending in the first circumferential direction and a second outer flange extending in the second circumferential direction;
bifurcating the second vane preform at an inner annulus end of the vane preform into a third inner flange extending in the first circumferential direction and a fourth inner flange extending in the second circumferential direction and at an outer annulus end of the vane preform into a third outer flange extending in the first circumferential direction and a fourth outer flange extending in the second circumferential direction;
arranging the first and second vane preforms around the inner annulus preform including arranging the first single vane preform at a first circumferential position around the inner annulus preform and the second single vane preform at a second circumferential position spaced apart from the first circumferential position such that a terminal end of the second inner flange is adjacent to and spaced apart from a terminal end of the third inner flange and a terminal end of the second outer flange is adjacent to and spaced apart from a terminal end of the third outer flange; and
connecting the first, second, third, and fourth inner flanges of the vane preform to the inner annulus preform using a fibre jointing method;
winding fibre reinforcement material around the plurality of vane preforms to form an outer annulus preform and connecting the outer annulus preform to each of the plurality of vane preforms using a fibre jointing method to produce a stator vane ring preform; and
infusing a thermoset resin into the stator vane ring preform and curing the resin to form the integral stator vane ring.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the fibre reinforcement material for the inner annulus preform and/or the outer annulus preform is a fabric comprising a two-dimensional weave or a three-dimensional weave.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein providing the plurality of vane preforms comprises providing at least one hollow vane preform.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein providing the hollow vane preform comprises winding fibre reinforcement material around a central core.

5. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the hollow vane preform is filled with a central core of a different material.

6. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the hollow vane preform comprises pre-cured carbon rods in a central core.

7. The method as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the central core comprises a sacrificial material having a melting point below 230 degrees centigrade, and wherein the method comprises melting the central core after curing the resin to form an empty hollow vane.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the inner annulus preform is wound to comprise apertures and wherein empty hollow regions of the vane preforms corresponding to the empty hollow vanes are arranged to align with the apertures of the inner annulus preform.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising machining the plurality of vane performs to form and/or finish a hollow centre in at least one of the vane performs after curing the resin.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the fibre reinforcement material for the inner annulus perform comprises a binder, and wherein the method comprises activating a binder on the inner annulus preform to stabilise the inner annulus by applying heat before arranging the vane preforms around the inner annulus preform, so as to inhibit deformation of the inner annulus preform during subsequent arrangement of the vane preforms and resin infusion.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the fibre reinforcement material for the plurality of vane preforms comprises a binder, and wherein the method comprises providing stabilised vane preforms so as to inhibit deformation of the vane preforms during subsequent arrangement of the vane preforms and resin infusion.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein connecting the first, second, third, and fourth outer flanges to the outer annulus preform using a fibre jointing method.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12 , comprising connecting auxiliary plies of fibre reinforcement material between each of the plurality of vane preforms over the first, second, third, and fourth inner flanges of each of the first and second vane preforms using a fibre jointing method, before infusing and curing the resin.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second vane preforms are arranged directly adjacent to each other such that no additional vane preforms are arranged circumferentially between the first and second vane preforms.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first vane preform together with the first and second inner flanges and the first and second outer flanges form an I-shape, wherein the second vane preform together with the third and fourth inner flanges and the third and fourth outer flanges form an I-shape, wherein a gap is defined between the spaced apart terminal ends of the second and third inner flanges, and wherein a gap is defined between the spaced apart terminal ends of the second and third outer flanges.

16. A method of manufacturing an integral thermoset infused fibre reinforced composite, structural stator vane ring for a core inlet, a bypass duct or an air intake of a gas turbine engine, the method comprising:
winding fibre reinforcement material around a mandrel to form an inner annulus preform;
providing a first vane preform and a second vane preform of a plurality of vane preforms comprising fibre reinforcement material, the first vane preform being separate from the second vane preform;
bifurcating the first vane preform at an inner annulus end of the vane preform into a first inner flange extending in a first circumferential direction and a second inner flange extending in a second circumferential direction opposite the first circumferential direction and at an outer annulus end of the vane preform into a first outer flange extending in the first circumferential direction and a second outer flange extending in the second circumferential direction;
bifurcating the second vane preform at an inner annulus end of the vane preform into a third inner flange extending in the first circumferential direction and a fourth inner flange extending in the second circumferential direction and at an outer annulus end of the vane preform into a third outer flange extending in the first circumferential direction and a fourth outer flange extending in the second circumferential direction;
arranging the first and second vane preforms around the inner annulus preform including arranging the first single vane preform at a first circumferential position around the inner annulus preform and the second single vane preform at

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Plc

Inventors

• Backhouse Robert C
• Jones Christopher D

Classifications

• B29C53/60

  using internal forming surfaces, e.g. mandrels · CPC title

• B29C70/86

  Incorporated in coherent impregnated reinforcing layers, {e.g. by winding} · CPC title

• F05D2300/603

  Composites; e.g. fibre-reinforced · CPC title

• F02C7/04

  Air intakes for gas-turbine plants or jet-propulsion plants · CPC title

• F01D5/18

  Hollow blades, {i.e. blades with cooling or heating channels or cavities (structure of hollow blades in general F01D5/147)}; Heating, heat-insulating or cooling means on blades · CPC title