Compacting Assembly for Turbomachine Composite Blade Preforms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for manufacturing composite turbine engine blades, particularly those using woven preforms, face challenges such as manual ply stacking, high costs, and mechanical weaknesses due to assembly complexities and potential delamination at assembly zones, which affect the blades' thermomechanical resistance and impact resistance.
Innovation Solution
A compacting assembly is used to pre-compact three-dimensional woven preforms of yarns, comprising a shaping mold and a vertically movable compacting tool with separate blocks that descend independently to minimize fiber buckling and ensure precise fiber positioning, allowing for the formation of blades without inserts or additional elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If manual stacking of pre-impregnated unidirectional plies is used, then the blade can be manufactured with precise fiber orientation, but the process is time-consuming and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The preform is segmented into three-dimensional woven layers that can be automatically stacked and compacted. The compaction tool is divided into multiple independent compaction blocks that can operate simultaneously on different sections of the preform, enabling parallel processing and improving productivity while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual mechanical stacking process is replaced by an automated system where the compaction tool mechanically compacts the preform layers under controlled pressure. This substitution of manual operations with automated mechanical compaction significantly reduces manufacturing time while maintaining or improving fiber orientation precision.
2Ease of manufacture
If woven preforms are assembled by sewing with solid inserts, then the blade structure can be formed, but delamination occurs at assembly areas reducing mechanical strength
Solution Approach 1:
The blade structure is formed by merging all components (blade, root, and strut) into a single integrated three-dimensional woven preform. This eliminates the need for separate assembly operations and solid inserts, preventing delamination at assembly areas and maintaining uniform mechanical strength throughout the structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses three-dimensional woven composite preforms with integrated structural features. The composite structure combines the blade, root, and strut into a unified material system that inherently resists delamination, as there are no separate assembly interfaces where delamination could occur.
3Shape
If conventional compaction is used on woven preforms, then the preform can be shaped, but fiber buckling occurs reducing thermomechanical resistance
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the preform receive customized compaction forces through independently controlled compaction blocks. Areas prone to fiber buckling receive adjusted local pressure to maintain fiber straightness, while other areas receive appropriate compaction for shaping. This localized quality control preserves thermomechanical resistance during the shaping process.
Solution Approach 2:
The compaction process is made dynamic through the sequential or simultaneous descent of multiple independent compaction blocks. This dynamic compaction allows real-time adjustment of pressure distribution during the shaping process, preventing fiber buckling while achieving the desired preform geometry and maintaining thermomechanical resistance.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate parts are assembled to form the blade, then manufacturing flexibility is improved, but assembly complexity increases creating potential weak points
Solution Approach 1:
The blade, root, and strut are merged into a single three-dimensional woven preform structure. This merging eliminates the need for multiple separate parts and complex assembly operations, reducing assembly complexity to zero while maintaining manufacturing flexibility through the versatility of three-dimensional weaving techniques.
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 method enhances the mechanical properties of the blade's root and shank by minimizing fiber buckling and improving thermomechanical resistance, reducing the likelihood of delamination and increasing the efficiency of the manufacturing process.
Implementation Method 1
a vertically movable compacting tool (128) cooperating with the shaping mold (24) to form a compaction assembly (24, 128) capable of compacting said preform when placed in the cavity
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
Figure 6~7
AI summary
Compacting assembly comprising a shaping mould (24) delimiting a housing open at the top able to receive a precut woven preform (10a), and a compacting tool (128) that is able to move vertically and forms, with the shaping mould (24), a compacting assembly for compacting said preform placed beforehand in the housing. The compacting tool (128) comprises at least one root portion (128A). Application to the manufacture of turbomachine composite blades.