Composite Inlet Cone Structure for Controlled Ice Fragmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing turbomachines face issues with ice accretion on the air inlet cone, leading to large ice pieces that can damage downstream components and cause vibrations, with existing de-icing systems being costly, difficult to implement, and inefficient in breaking ice into manageable sizes.
Innovation Solution
An air inlet cone with alternating rigid and flexible materials, where flexible sections deform radially under centrifugal force during rotation, creating stress points to fragment ice into controlled, smaller pieces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a rigid inlet cone is used, then structural strength is maintained, but ice accumulates uniformly causing vibrations and potential damage to downstream components
Solution Approach 1:
The inlet cone is divided into alternating rigid and flexible radial sections, creating local variations in material properties. The flexible sections deform under centrifugal force during rotation, generating stress concentrations that prevent uniform ice accretion and reduce vibrations, while the rigid sections maintain overall structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The inlet cone employs a composite structure combining rigid and flexible materials in alternating radial sections. This composite design allows different portions of the cone to respond differently to centrifugal forces, with flexible sections creating stress points that fragment ice while rigid sections provide structural support.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a de-icing system is installed to eject ice, then ice accumulation is controlled, but mass, size, and implementation complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The inlet cone uses its own rotation and the inherent centrifugal force during turbomachine operation to create stress concentrations that fragment ice. The flexible radial sections automatically deform during rotation, generating the necessary stresses to break ice into smaller pieces without requiring external de-icing systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible radial sections create mechanical stress variations and stress concentrations through their elastic deformation during rotation. These stress concentrations fragment ice into smaller pieces, effectively controlling ice accumulation without requiring complex mechanical de-icing equipment.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If flexible material is used to detach ice, then ice layer can be weakened, but crack formation is slow and insufficient at low temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The inlet cone is segmented into multiple radial sections alternating between rigid and flexible materials. This segmentation creates multiple stress concentration points around the cone, allowing ice to be fragmented into several smaller pieces simultaneously rather than requiring a single slow crack propagation process.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible radial sections are pre-configured to deform elastically during rotation, creating stress concentrations before ice accumulation reaches critical sizes. This preliminary action of creating stress points facilitates faster and more effective ice fragmentation compared to waiting for natural crack formation.
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 design effectively fragments ice into manageable sizes, reducing impact on downstream components and minimizing vibrations, while being cost-effective and simple in design.
Implementation Method 1
said second portions being configured to deform elastically in a radial direction with respect to the X axis during the rotation of the cone
Implementation Method 2
said second portions being configured to deform elastically in a radial direction with respect to the X axis during the rotation of the cone
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~3
Figure 4~5a
AI summary
An inlet cone for an aircraft turbomachine, having at least one first portion made of a first material, referred to as rigid material, and at least one second portion made of a second material which has a hardness less than that of said first material and which is referred to as flexible material, these second portions being configured to deform elastically in the radial direction with respect to the axis when the cone is being driven to rotate.