3D-Woven Blade Blank Support for Fiber Orientation Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Blades and propellers made from composite materials exhibit poor mechanical characteristics, particularly in fatigue behavior, due to anomalies in the orientation of weft columns caused by deformation during transportation and handling on flat surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A method for digitally designing a support with the shape of a fibrous blank using three-dimensional weaving, involving a set of points representative of the blade or propeller face, generating a web connecting these points, and applying a transformation function to correct the orientation of weft columns, ensuring the support matches the fibrous blank's shape to prevent deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the fibrous blank is arranged on a flat surface for transportation and handling, then the handling and storage are simplified, but the weft columns become misoriented due to deformation under gravity, worsening the mechanical characteristics
Solution Approach 1:
The support is designed with a curved surface that matches the three-dimensional shape of the fibrous blank, replacing the flat surface approach. This curvature allows the blank to maintain its intended geometry and fiber orientation during handling and storage, preventing gravitational deformation while still providing easy handling through the standardized support structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The support is pre-formed with the exact contour of the fibrous blank before the blank is placed upon it. This preliminary preparation ensures that when the blank is positioned on the support, the fibers are immediately held in their correct orientation, preventing any gravitational deformation from occurring during subsequent handling and storage operations.
2Strength
If the fibrous blank is compacted with high compression force, then the density and mechanical strength are improved, but the weft column orientation becomes distorted, worsening the fatigue behavior
Solution Approach 1:
The support's curved surface matches the three-dimensional contour of the fibrous blank, maintaining the intended geometry of the weft columns during compaction. This prevents gravitational deformation that would otherwise occur on flat surfaces, ensuring that high compression forces produce dense, strong material without distorting the critical weft column orientations needed for fatigue resistance.
3Manufacturing precision
If the support is made more rigid to prevent deformation under the blank's weight, then the fiber orientation is maintained better, but the complexity of support manufacturing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support's rigidity parameters are optimized to provide sufficient stiffness for maintaining fiber orientation while avoiding excessive complexity. By carefully selecting material properties and structural characteristics, the support achieves the minimum necessary rigidity to prevent gravitational deformation during handling and storage, balancing performance requirements with manufacturing simplicity.
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
The method improves mechanical properties by maintaining the correct orientation of weft columns, reducing deformation during transportation and handling, thereby enhancing the mechanical performance of composite material blades and propellers.
Implementation Method 1
Owing to the variations in thickness of the fibrous blank, arranging it on a flat surface causes the fibers to become deformed, in particular under the effect of gravity
Data Source
AI summary
A method for digitally designing a support with the shape of a fibrous blank obtained by three-dimensional weaving intended to form a fibrous preform of a turbine engine blade or propeller after shaping and compaction in a mold, includesproviding a set of points representative of a face of the fibrous blank, the face being intended to form the root of the blade or the propeller and a portion of an aerodynamic profile of the blade or the propeller, generating a web connecting the points of the set of points, and digitally designing the support including at least an imprint of the fibrous blank having the shape of the generated web.