Fail-Safe Aircraft Engine Mounting with Load Path Redundancy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft engine mounting apparatuses are heavy, complex, and prone to incorrect installation, failing to provide effective fail-safety and accommodate thermal expansion, leading to potential engine loss under extreme forces.
Innovation Solution
Aircraft engine mounting apparatus with a forward mount assembly, thrust assembly, and aft mount assembly, featuring a yoke assembly, link assembly, thrust fitting assembly, and engine-link assemblies that allow for thermal expansion and fail-safety by redirecting loads through integrated channels and pins, enabling installation on either side of the aircraft using the same parts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fail-safety mechanisms are added to aircraft engine mounting apparatus, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple fail-safety functions into the primary load-bearing structure itself. The engine mounting apparatus integrates fail-safety features directly into the load path components rather than adding separate redundant systems. This merging approach provides reliability while avoiding the complexity and weight penalties of traditional redundant fail-safety mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting apparatus is designed so that the same structural components serve both primary load-bearing functions and fail-safety functions. The load path structure universally handles both normal operational loads and failure contingency loads, eliminating the need for dedicated fail-safety components and reducing overall system complexity.
2Reliability
If traditional fail-safety mechanisms are installed, then reliability is improved, but installation errors increase due to incorrect location or orientation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs asymmetric design features and orientation-specific geometries in the mounting apparatus that make correct installation the only feasible configuration. The structural components are designed with unique orientations and positioning features that prevent incorrect installation, ensuring that fail-safety mechanisms are always properly located and oriented without requiring complex installation procedures.
3Weight of moving object
If the engine mounting apparatus is integrated into the primary load path, then weight is reduced, but the requirement for fail-safety becomes more critical
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges fail-safety functionality directly into the primary load path structure, eliminating the need for separate redundant systems. This integration maintains the weight benefits of a streamlined design while ensuring that the same load-bearing components provide both primary support and fail-safety functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The load path components are designed to universally handle both normal operational loads and failure contingency loads. The same structural elements that bear primary thrust and weight also provide fail-safety capabilities, reducing overall system weight while meeting reliability requirements.
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 solution provides a lightweight, fail-safe engine mounting system that maintains aircraft engine operation even if parts fail, reduces installation errors, and accommodates thermal expansion, ensuring continued safe operation and reduced weight compared to prior art.
Implementation Method 1
The link assembly attaches to the yoke assembly and to a feature of the aircraft engine and facilitates thermal expansion of the aircraft engine
Data Source
AI summary
A mounting apparatus for an aircraft engine that provides load path redundancy includes a forward mount that attaches the aircraft engine to a pylon at a forward position of the aircraft engine, an aft mount that attaches the aircraft engine to the pylon at an aft position of the aircraft engine and a thrust assembly connected to the forward mount, and the aft mount. The forward mount includes an aircraft engine attachment assembly and a fail-safe assembly. The aft mount includes an aircraft engine attachment assembly and a fail-safe assembly.