Integrated Compressor Rotor Blade Additive Build for Lower-Cost Engines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional subtractive manufacturing techniques are prohibitive for producing engine components for attritable propulsion systems due to high unit costs, complex performance-enhancing features integration, and time-consuming production processes, while requiring lower life cycle fatigue rates and reduced dimensional accuracy compared to typical flight applications.
Innovation Solution
The method involves using additive manufacturing to form compressor rotor blades directly from an additively manufactured rotor hub, employing different materials and processes based on operational stress and performance criteria determined by finite element analysis, integrating compressor rotor hub and blades as a single piece with varying materials and manufacturing processes to reduce component count and enhance manufacturing tolerance control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional subtractive manufacturing techniques are used to produce compressor rotor blades, then dimensional accuracy and tolerance control are improved, but production cost and manufacturing time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the rotor hub and compressor rotor blades into a single integrated component manufactured through additive processes. This merging eliminates the need for separate manufacturing and assembly operations, reducing production costs and manufacturing time while maintaining acceptable dimensional accuracy for attritable propulsion systems
Solution Approach 2:
The additive manufacturing process serves multiple functions simultaneously: it creates the rotor hub structure, forms the compressor rotor blades, integrates multiple materials with different properties, and produces complex geometric features that would require separate operations in conventional manufacturing
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional subtractive manufacturing techniques are used to produce compressor rotor blades, then dimensional accuracy is improved, but integration of complex performance-enhancing features becomes prohibitive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the rotor hub and blades into a single additively manufactured component, enabling direct integration of complex performance-enhancing features such as internal cooling channels, varying material compositions, and optimized blade geometries that would be difficult or impossible to achieve through subtractive manufacturing
Solution Approach 2:
The additive manufacturing process enables local quality variations within the component, allowing different materials and microstructures to be deposited in specific regions to optimize performance characteristics such as fatigue resistance, creep resistance, and thermal conductivity in different zones of the rotor assembly
3Productivity
If attritable propulsion system requirements are used, then production cost and manufacturing time are reduced, but life cycle fatigue rate and dimensional accuracy requirements are lowered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by using finite element analysis to determine optimal material compositions and manufacturing parameters based on operational stress criteria. This allows the component to be engineered with appropriate safety factors and material properties to achieve acceptable fatigue performance for attritable systems with shorter service lives
Solution Approach 2:
The additive manufacturing process enables local quality variations where materials with different properties can be deposited in specific regions to optimize performance characteristics such as fatigue resistance in high-stress areas while using cost-effective materials in lower-stress regions, achieving acceptable reliability for attritable systems
Data Source
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AI summary
An assembly for use in an attritable engine (10) includes a hub (22) and a blade (24). The hub (22) is formed with a first type of layer-by-layer additive manufacturing process. The blade (24) is connected to and extends radially outward from the hub (22). The blade (24) is formed with a second type of layer-by-layer additive manufacturing process that is different than the first layer-by-layer additive manufacturing process. The hub (22) and the blade (24) are integrally formed together as a single piece of material with a layer-by-layer additive manufacturing process. The blade (24) includes a root (34) of a first material, a platform (36) connected to the root (34), an airfoil (38) connected to and extending from the platform (36), and a tip (40) connected on a distal end of the airfoil (38) opposite from the root (34).