Additive Rotor Blade Assembly With Integrated Component Receptacles
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional aircraft rotor blade manufacturing is time-consuming and costly due to the need for multiple detail parts and sub-assemblies, which are difficult to produce in few steps due to material variations with pressure and temperature changes, and the integration of electrical and mechanical components leads to stiffness and strength loss, along with high stress concentrations and labor-intensive assembly.
Innovation Solution
The use of additive manufacturing processes, such as Selective Laser Melting (SLM) and Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), to form rotor blades with integrated receptacles for components, reducing the need for multiple parts and enabling the embedding of electrical and mechanical components within the blade structure, thus enhancing structural efficiency and reducing manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional multi-step manufacturing process with multiple detail parts is used, then control over manufacturing process and meeting operational requirements is improved, but manufacturing time and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate detail parts into a single integrated rotor blade structure manufactured through additive manufacturing. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate fabrication and assembly steps for individual components, dramatically reducing manufacturing time while maintaining structural integrity and operational requirements through the inherent design capabilities of additive manufacturing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes in additive manufacturing processes (temperature, pressure, material deposition rates) to enable the formation of complex integrated structures that would be impossible or extremely time-consuming to create through conventional manufacturing. These parameter changes allow for the direct fabrication of monolithic blade structures with embedded features.
2Manufacturing precision
If precision drilling is used to create bolt holes for electrical and mechanical components, then component placement precision is improved, but blade laminate damage and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates receptacles and mounting features directly into the blade structure during the additive manufacturing process itself, before the blade is put into service. This preliminary action eliminates the need for subsequent precision drilling operations that would damage the laminate, as all component mounting features are pre-formed as integral parts of the blade structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the harmful drilling operation from the manufacturing process by replacing it with additive manufacturing techniques that form receptacles and mounting features directly. This removes the source of laminate damage while maintaining the ability to precisely position electrical and mechanical components within the blade structure.
3Adaptability or versatility
If mechanical and electrical components are integrated into the rotor blade, then component functionality is improved, but blade stiffness and strength decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent nests electrical and mechanical components within receptacles that are themselves integrated into the blade structure. This nested arrangement allows components to be housed within the blade without compromising the overall structural integrity, as the receptacles are designed to maintain stiffness and strength while providing necessary mounting spaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by designing receptacles with specific local properties (such as reinforced walls or strategic positioning) that maintain blade stiffness and strength in critical areas while allowing component integration where needed. The receptacles are strategically placed and dimensioned to minimize impact on overall blade structural performance.
4Ease of manufacture
If separate assembly of multiple blade parts is used, then manufacturing flexibility is improved, but labor intensity and assembly complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate assembly operations into a single additive manufacturing process. By fabricating the entire blade structure (or major portions) as one integrated component with embedded receptacles and features, the need for complex multi-step assembly procedures is eliminated, significantly reducing labor intensity and assembly complexity while maintaining manufacturing flexibility through digital design and fabrication.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for the creation of rotor blades with improved structural efficiency and reduced manufacturing expenses by integrating components within the blade structure, minimizing the need for additional parts and reducing labor and tooling costs, while maintaining component functionality under centrifugal forces.
Implementation Method 1
Selective Laser Melting (SLM)
Implementation Method 2
Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
Implementation Method 3
a laser to melt and fuse layers of material to one another to form solidified layers
Data Source
AI summary
A method of forming a rotor blade, including forming at least one of a partial upper skin, a partial lower skin, and a partial support network using an additive manufacturing process; and forming a first receptacle in at least a one of the partial upper skin, the partial lower skin, and the partial support network using the additive manufacturing process. The first receptacle is configured to receive of at least one of an electronic component and a mechanical component. In some embodiments, there is a method of manufacturing a rotor blade that includes forming a first locating receptacle in at least one of the upper skin, the lower skin, and the support network using the additive manufacturing process; and positioning at least one of the upper skin, the lower skin, and the support network in a desired position on a fixture based, in part, on the first locating receptacle.