Annular Gas Turbine Engine Case Flowforming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional manufacturing methods for annular gas turbine engine cases are time-consuming and costly, involving multiple machining steps and material wastage, with weld joints often required in undesirable locations, which increases lead-time and manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
The method involves flowforming sections of a preform to create an annular case and outwardly bending the distal ends to form radially-extending flanges, reducing material waste and the need for welds, while using flowforming to achieve variable thicknesses and eliminating undesirable welds in high-stress areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional machining and welding methods are used to manufacture gas turbine engine cases, then structural integrity can be achieved, but manufacturing lead-time and costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple traditional manufacturing steps (forming, machining, and welding) into a single flowforming process. The flowforming operation simultaneously forms the case structure, creates the required thickness variations, and produces integral flanges, eliminating the need for separate welding operations and reducing manufacturing lead-time while maintaining structural integrity
Solution Approach 2:
The flowforming process performs preliminary forming operations on a preform to create the final case geometry in one step. By pre-forming the case with the correct shape, thickness distribution, and integral flanges before any machining or assembly, the process eliminates subsequent welding steps and reduces overall manufacturing time
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional machining and welding methods are used, then cases can be manufactured, but material waste increases and costs rise
Solution Approach 1:
The flowforming process changes the material parameters by plastic deformation rather than removal. The preform is flowformed to achieve the final case shape and thickness distribution, and the flanges are formed by outwardly bending during the same process, eliminating material waste associated with traditional machining and welding operations
3Strength
If weld joints are located in containment sections to meet design requirements, then structural strength is maintained, but reliability decreases due to potential failure points
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the flange formation with the main case forming operation. The flowforming process creates integral flanges as part of the continuous case structure, eliminating weld joints in the containment sections. This maintains structural strength while improving reliability by removing potential failure points from the containment area
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 significantly reduces manufacturing costs and lead-time by minimizing material waste and eliminating undesirable welds, while ensuring the structural integrity and lightweight requirements of gas turbine engine cases are met.
Implementation Method 1
flowforming at least one section of the preform to provide an annular case
Implementation Method 2
outwardly bending a distal end of the case to provide a radially-extending flange
Data Source
AI summary
The method is used for making an annular gas turbine engine case from a preform. The method comprises comprising flowforming at least one section of the preform, and then outwardly bending at least one portion of the perform.