Fiber composite material for a fan blade
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fiber composite fan blades for gas turbine engines have low strain tolerance, requiring increased thickness to withstand bird strikes and foreign object impacts, which reduces efficiency and offsets weight savings, and existing designs struggle to balance ductility and thickness.
Innovation Solution
A fiber composite material comprising a polymer matrix, carbon fibers, and non-carbon fibers with a higher strain to failure value, combined in a three-dimensionally woven structure, where non-carbon fibers are predominantly in the Z-direction, enhancing ductility and strain tolerance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If fiber composite fan blades are made thinner to maintain efficiency and weight savings, then fan efficiency and weight savings are improved, but strain tolerance and damage resistance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining carbon fibers with non-carbon fibers (such as aramid, glass, or polyamide fibers) in a three-dimensionally woven structure. This multi-material composite approach allows the blade to achieve both high strength and high strain tolerance, resolving the contradiction between thin design for efficiency and thickness for damage resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by creating regions with different fiber compositions and orientations within the blade structure. Specifically, the three-dimensional weave includes yarns extending in multiple directions (X, Y, and Z directions) with different fiber types strategically placed to provide localized strain tolerance where needed while maintaining overall blade efficiency.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If fiber composite fan blades are made thicker to withstand bird strikes and foreign object impacts, then damage resistance is improved, but fan efficiency and weight savings deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The use of composite materials with both carbon fibers (for strength) and non-carbon fibers (for strain tolerance and impact resistance) enables the blade to achieve high damage resistance without requiring increased thickness. The three-dimensional woven structure distributes impact forces throughout the composite, maintaining efficiency while providing protection against bird strikes and foreign object damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional two-dimensional fiber stacking to a three-dimensionally woven structure with yarns extending in X, Y, and Z directions. This dimensional change creates a more robust architecture that resists through-thickness damage from impacts while maintaining a thin overall profile, thus preserving fan efficiency.
3Reliability
If non-carbon fibers are added to increase strain tolerance, then ductility and energy absorption are improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges carbon fibers and non-carbon fibers into a single integrated three-dimensionally woven fabric structure. This combining approach allows both fiber types to be manufactured together as one composite material system, reducing the need for separate manufacturing steps and simplifying the overall production process while achieving high strain tolerance.
Solution Approach 2:
By developing a composite material system that integrates multiple fiber types in a three-dimensional weave, the patent creates a unified material that can be manufactured as a single component. This composite approach balances the benefits of high strain tolerance from non-carbon fibers with the structural integrity of carbon fibers, while the integrated manufacturing process manages complexity.
Data Source
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Figure 3A~3C
AI summary
A fiber composite material comprises a polymer matrix, carbon fibers, and non-carbon fibers, wherein the non-carbon fibers have a strain to failure value greater than the strain to failure value of the carbon fibers. Also discussed is a preform (52) comprising the fiber composite material combined in a three dimensionally woven structure. Also discussed is a fan blade (62) for a jet engine (20).