Mock-Leno Weave Grid Fiber Structure for Composite Thickness Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for manufacturing composite material parts, such as turbine engine blades, face challenges in achieving varying thickness without increasing material weight, complexity, and cost, particularly in the blade root region, where mechanical properties and material handling are critical.
Innovation Solution
A fiber structure with a Mock-Leno weave grid core, interlinked by multilayer three-dimensional weaving, allows for varying thickness while controlling fiber fraction and ensuring matrix infiltration, eliminating the need for inserts and reducing material loss and production costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If inserts are used to form bulb-shaped regions in the blade root, then local extra thickness is achieved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the insert function into the main fiber structure by integrating the bulb-shaped region formation directly into the preform architecture. The fiber structure itself is designed to create the thickened blade root region without requiring separate insert components, thereby combining what were previously separate elements into a unified structure that simplifies manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by varying the fiber architecture specifically in the blade root region while maintaining different structures in other areas. The Mock-Leno weave grid is implemented locally where thickness variation is needed, allowing the structure to have different properties in different zones - a open grid in the bulb region for matrix infiltration and tighter weaves elsewhere for structural integrity.
2Shape
If inserts are used to form the blade root, then local extra thickness is achieved, but material loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the bulb-shaped region formation into the main preform structure, the patent eliminates the need for separate insert materials that would otherwise be required. The fiber structure is continuously formed without interruptions or additional material components, reducing overall material consumption and waste.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent eliminates the need to discard and replace insert materials by creating a monolithic preform structure. The continuous fiber architecture allows material to be efficiently utilized throughout the entire blade root region without the need to remove and replace insert components during manufacturing.
3Shape
If the fiber fraction is increased in portions of greater thickness, then thickness variation is reduced, but matrix infiltration capacity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by implementing the Mock-Leno weave grid specifically in the thickened blade root region where high fiber fraction would normally impede matrix infiltration. This local structural modification creates an open pathway architecture precisely where needed, allowing the fiber fraction to be high overall while maintaining excellent matrix infiltration capacity in the critical bulb-shaped region.
Solution Approach 2:
The Mock-Leno weave grid creates a porous, open structure with large inter-yarn spaces that facilitate matrix infiltration. This porous architecture is strategically placed in the blade root region to ensure that even with high fiber fraction, the matrix can effectively penetrate and impregnate the preform, achieving both thickness control and reliable infiltration.
4Shape
If yarns of high weight are used in portions of greater thickness, then thickness variation is controlled, but fiber fraction increases excessively
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using high-weight yarns throughout the thickened region, the patent applies local quality by implementing the Mock-Leno weave grid with standard-weight yarns arranged in an open architecture. This local structural approach controls thickness variation through the weave pattern itself rather than through yarn weight, maintaining appropriate fiber fraction levels while achieving the desired shape control.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of fabricating a fiber structure by multilayer three-dimensional weaving between a plurality of weft yarns and of warp yarns, the fiber structure having at least first and second portions that are adjacent in the warp direction, the first portion presenting, in a direction perpendicular to the warp and weft directions, a thickness greater than the thickness of the second portion, includes making the first portion using a step of three-dimensionally weaving warp and weft layers in which a fiber fabric is formed in the form of a Mock-Leno weave grid in a core of the first portion together with skins at a surface of the first portion, a weave of the skins being modified locally so as to deflect certain warp yarns from said skins and weave them with the fiber fabric in the form of the Mock-Leno weave grid.