Composite Blade Tapered Root Dovetail Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine engine blades made of composite materials face challenges in durability and manufacturability, particularly in achieving a strong and lightweight design that meets the demands of high-pressure and temperature exhaust gas flows.
Innovation Solution
The blade design incorporates a composite material architecture with inter-section fiber plies and wedges that taper in both the chord-wise and radial directions, forming a dovetail cross-section that enhances strength and durability while reducing weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If composite materials are used for gas turbine engine blades, then weight is reduced, but durability and manufacturability are challenged
Solution Approach 1:
The blade is constructed using composite materials, specifically a composite root section with fiber plies arranged in a dovetail cross-section configuration, combining lightweight properties with enhanced structural durability through the composite architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The root section features a dovetail cross-section with varying fiber ply orientations and a tapered configuration that provides locally optimized strength and durability where needed most, while maintaining overall blade lightweight characteristics
2Weight of moving object
If composite materials are used for gas turbine engine blades, then weight is reduced, but manufacturability is challenged
Solution Approach 1:
The blade is divided into distinct sections with the root section featuring a segmented dovetail cross-section composed of multiple fiber plies arranged in specific orientations, allowing for modular manufacturing and assembly while maintaining lightweight composite construction
Solution Approach 2:
The composite material architecture of the root section, with its structured fiber ply arrangement and dovetail configuration, enables manufacturability through standardized composite fabrication processes while achieving the desired lightweight properties
3Strength
If a tapered dovetail cross-section is implemented in the root section, then strength and impact resistance are improved, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tapered dovetail cross-section implements local quality by concentrating enhanced fiber ply arrangements and varying orientations specifically in the root section where strength and impact resistance are most critical, while the rest of the blade maintains a simpler structure
Solution Approach 2:
The dovetail cross-section features an asymmetric tapered configuration with specific fiber ply orientations that optimize strength and impact resistance in the root section, creating a structurally complex but functionally optimized design
Data Source
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AI summary
A blade includes an airfoil section (64) and a root section (66) that extends in a chord-wise direction (CD) between leading and trailing root faces (66a, 66b) and in a radial direction (RD) that is perpendicular to the chord-wise direction (CD) from an inner root face to the second end of the airfoil section (64). The root section (66) defines a dovetail cross-section (68) that is perpendicular to the chord-wise direction. The airfoil section (64) and the root section (66) are comprised of a composite material architecture (70) that includes inter-section fiber plies (74) that each extend from the leading to the trailing edge and from the airfoil section (64) into the root section (66). Wedges (76) extend in the root section (66) and are interleaved with the inter-section fiber plies (74). Each of the wedges (76) tapers in the chord-wise direction (CD) and the radial direction (RD).