Filament-Wound Fan Containment Casing with Interleaved Bands
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine engine casings face weight reduction challenges due to the need for high-impact resistance and damage tolerance, while existing composite solutions are costly and require resin infusion and secondary bonding processes.
Innovation Solution
A fan containment casing with a core composed of filament-wound tows, forming radially disposed layers with interleaved direct and indirect bands, and a method of winding tows on a liner to create a lightweight, high-impact-resistant structure without secondary bonding, using various fiber types and winding patterns for enhanced strength and puncture resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a metallic casing shell is used to prevent foreign objects from escaping and increase stiffness, then the engine safety and structural integrity are improved, but the weight of the engine increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining a foam core with a woven fabric reinforcement layer. The foam core provides lightweight structural support while the woven fabric layer provides high tensile strength and impact resistance. This composite structure achieves the required safety and stiffness without the excessive weight of solid metallic casings.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a foam core material that is inherently porous. This foam structure provides a good balance between weight reduction and structural integrity. The porous foam core reduces weight significantly compared to solid metal while still providing adequate stiffness and serving as a substrate for the reinforcement layer.
2Weight of stationary object
If a composite fan containment case is used to reduce weight, then the weight reduction is achieved, but the manufacturing cost and process complexity increase due to resin infusion requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the resin infusion step from the manufacturing process. Instead of using resin-infused composite materials, the invention uses a pre-formed foam core with a woven fabric reinforcement layer that is mechanically bonded or adhesively joined. This eliminates the complex resin infusion equipment and process control requirements while achieving the desired composite structure.
3Strength
If resin infusion and secondary bonding processes are used to create composite casings, then the structural integrity is improved, but the manufacturing complexity and production time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-forming the foam core structure before adding the reinforcement layer. The foam core is manufactured separately with its desired shape and structural properties, then the woven fabric layer is applied to it. This sequential approach simplifies the overall manufacturing process compared to simultaneous resin infusion and bonding, as each step can be optimized independently.
Data Source
AI summary
A fan containment casing includes a core comprising a number of tows. The core has a central region and two end regions. The tows are grouped into a number of bands and form a number of filament-wound radially disposed layers. The bands of tows are interleaved as a number of direct bands and indirect bands along at least a portion of one or more of the layers. A method of forming a fan containment casing includes winding a number of tows on a liner to form a number of radially disposed layers, where each of the layers is continuously connected to at least one adjacent one of the layers across one of the end regions via at least one of the tows.