One-Piece Composite Bifurcated Winglet

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016009379-A1
Application number	US-201314097413-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 5, 2013
Priority date	Dec 5, 2013
Publication date	Jan 14, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method and apparatus for forming a composite winglet for an aircraft is presented. The composite winglet comprises a first blade, a second blade, and a root region. The first blade includes a first leading edge and a first trailing edge. The second blade includes a second leading edge and a second trailing edge. The second blade is positioned at an angle to the first blade. The root region is co-cured with the first blade and the second blade to form the composite winglet. The root region is configured to receive an attachment system for attaching the composite winglet to a wing of the aircraft.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A composite winglet for an aircraft comprising:
a first blade including a first leading edge and a first trailing edge; a second blade including a second leading edge and a second trailing edge, wherein the second blade is positioned at an angle to the first blade; and a root region co-cured with the first blade and the second blade to form the composite winglet, wherein the root region is configured to receive an attachment system for attaching the composite winglet to a wing of the aircraft.

2 . The composite winglet of claim 1 , wherein the first blade is an upper blade of the composite winglet and the second blade is a lower blade of the composite winglet.

3 . The composite winglet of claim 1 , wherein the root region receives the attachment system in a channel of the root region and is secured to the attachment system using at least one of an adhesive, a weld, a bond, or a number of fasteners.

4 . The composite winglet of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first trailing edge or the second trailing edge is physically associated with a lightning strip.

5 . The composite winglet of claim 4 , wherein the lightning strip is co-cured with the composite winglet when the composite winglet is cured.

6 . The composite winglet of claim 1 , wherein the composite winglet comprises a carbon fiber reinforced polymer, fiberglass, aramid fiber, and nylon.

7 . A tool for forming a composite winglet comprising:
a first part including an upper portion with a first cavity and a lower portion with a second cavity, wherein the lower portion is arranged at an angle to the upper portion and connected to the upper portion at a transition region; a second part configured to be placed over the first cavity of the upper portion; and a third part configured to be placed over the second cavity of the lower portion, wherein the first part, the second part, and the third part are configured to receive a number of plies of composite material to form a composite winglet for an aircraft.

8 . The tool of claim 7 , wherein the upper portion of the first part is configured to form an upper blade of the composite winglet and the lower portion of the first part is configured to form a lower blade of the composite winglet.

9 . The tool of claim 7 , wherein the tool is comprised of a material selected from at least one of a metal, a metal alloy, wood, foam, steel, poly(methyl methacrylate), aluminum, nickel, or an aluminum-nickel alloy.

10 . The tool of claim 7 further comprising:
a leading edge and a trailing edge opposite the leading edge, wherein a parting line is positioned along the leading edge of the tool.

11 . The tool of claim 10 further comprising:
a gap in the trailing edge of the tool.

12 . A method for forming a composite winglet for an aircraft, the method comprising:
laying up a number of plies of composite material on a tool, wherein the tool comprises a first part including an upper portion with a first cavity and a lower portion with a second cavity, wherein the lower portion is positioned at an angle to the upper portion and connected to the upper portion at a transition region; a second part configured to be placed over the first cavity of the upper portion; and a third part configured to be placed over the second cavity of the lower portion; positioning a group of spacers within the first cavity and the second cavity of the tool, wherein the group of spacers are configured to form a number of chambers within the composite winglet; placing the second part over the first cavity and the third part over the second cavity; and curing the number of plies of composite material to form the composite winglet for the aircraft as a single part.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein curing the number of plies of composite material for the aircraft as the single part comprises:
applying a vacuum to the number of plies of composite material and the tool; and heating the number of plies of composite material and the tool to a desired temperature.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein placing the second part over the first cavity and placing the third part over the second cavity is configured to seal the tool.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the group of spacers is selected from at least one of a caul plate, a bag, a bag carrier, or a mandrel.

16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein laying up the number of plies of composite material on the tool comprises:
laying up a first number of plies on the tool to form an outboard skin of the composite winglet; placing a group of layups on the tool, the group of layups including a spacer covered with a second number of plies to form a spar; placing the group of spacers within the tool; and laying up a third number of plies over the group of layups and the group of spacers to form an inboard skin of the composite winglet.

17 . The method of claim 16 further comprising:
placing a number of radius fillers between at least one of the outboard skin or the inboard skin of the composite winglet and the spar.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the number of plies of composite material comprises a carbon fiber reinforced polymer, fiberglass, aramid fiber, and nylon.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the first number of plies and the second number of plies are each comprised of two plies of carbon fiber reinforced polymer material.

20 . The method of claim 12 further comprising:
positioning a lightning strip within the tool prior to curing the number of plies of composite material such that the number of plies of composite material and the lightning strip are co-cured.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Witte Philipp
• Stawski Stanley Warren
• Kleshchev Fedor A
• Zarfos Joshua William
• Naidu Parth R

Classifications

• B64C5/08

  mounted on, or supported by, wings · CPC title

• B64D45/02

  Lightning protectors; Static dischargers · CPC title

• B64C23/065 Primary

  at the wing tips · CPC title

• Y02T50/40

  Weight reduction · CPC title

• B64C23/069 Primary

  using one or more wing tip airfoil devices, e.g. winglets, splines, wing tip fences or raked wingtips · CPC title