Fan Inter-blade Platform With Composite Skin And Foam Core
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fan platforms in gas turbine engines face challenges in providing a durable and lightweight structure that effectively secures fasteners while withstanding environmental factors, particularly in regions exposed to airflow and stress.
Innovation Solution
A fan platform design featuring a core made of honeycomb or foam materials, combined with a fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composite skin and elastomer environmental barrier layer, along with lug pieces for fastener openings, which are adhesively bonded to stubs and contoured to follow fan blade profiles, enhancing structural integrity and resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a traditional solid structure is used for the fan platform, then strength and durability are improved, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a porous foam core material instead of solid structure. The foam core provides structural support while significantly reducing weight compared to solid materials. The porous structure maintains adequate strength for the application while enabling weight reduction, directly resolving the contradiction between strength and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite structure combining foam core with fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composite skin and elastomer environmental barrier layer. This multi-material composite approach optimizes the strength-to-weight ratio by combining the lightweight properties of foam with the structural integrity of composite skins, addressing both strength requirements and weight reduction goals.
2Ease of manufacture
If the core is fully exposed without skin coverage, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but resistance to environmental factors deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies skin and environmental barrier layers selectively only on portions of the core that require protection from environmental factors, rather than covering the entire core. This localized approach maintains environmental resistance where needed while minimizing additional manufacturing complexity and material usage, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and environmental resistance.
3Ease of operation
If fastener openings are created in the platform, then fastening capability is improved, but structural integrity deteriorates due to stress concentrations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces lug pieces as intermediary elements that contain fastener openings and are adhesively bonded to the foam core. These lug pieces serve as mediators that provide fastening capability while distributing stresses away from the core material, thereby maintaining structural integrity while enabling fastener installation.
Data Source
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AI summary
A fan platform (62) includes a platform body (64) that has gaspath and non-gaspath sides (66a, 66b), leading and trailing ends (66c, 66d), first and second circumferential sides (66e, 66f) that are contoured to follow profiles of adjacent fan blades (42), and lugs (68a, 68b, 68c, 68d) that project from the non-gaspath side (66b) and define fastener openings (70). The platform body (64) includes a core (76) and a fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composite skin (78) attached on the core (76) at least on portions of the gaspath and non-gaspath sides (66a, 66b).