Oxide/Oxide Composite Turbomachine Blade Internal Channel Fabrication
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Manufacturing oxide/oxide ceramic matrix composite turbomachine blades with internal channels is challenging due to difficulties in machining complex geometries and achieving homogeneous impregnation, which affects mechanical properties and cooling efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a fiber blank with sacrificial threads, where the first sacrificial material is eliminated through thermal treatment and the second through chemical treatment, allowing for the formation of internal channels and improved impregnation, enabling the creation of blades with complex shapes and enhanced cooling channels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If internal channels are machined in metal blades, then cooling functionality is achieved, but manufacturing difficulty increases and complex geometries cannot be produced
Solution Approach 1:
Sacrificial threads are introduced into the fiber blank before densification, allowing internal channels to be formed during the manufacturing process itself rather than requiring post-manufacturing machining operations
Solution Approach 2:
Sacrificial material threads are removed after densification to create internal channels, extracting the disturbing element (threads) after they have served their purpose as channel formers
2Ease of manufacture
If water-soluble polymer threads are used as sacrificial material, then channel formation is simplified, but impregnation homogeneity deteriorates due to polymer dissolution in aqueous slush
Solution Approach 1:
A water-soluble polymer coating is applied to the outer surface of the sacrificial threads to prevent direct contact between the sacrificial material and the aqueous slush, thereby preventing polymer dissolution while still allowing channel formation through water-soluble sacrificial core elimination
Solution Approach 2:
The sacrificial threads have different properties at different locations: the core is water-soluble for easy removal, while the outer coating is water-insoluble to prevent slush contamination, creating local functional differentiation
3Volume of stationary object
If thick preforms are impregnated with aqueous slush, then blade density increases, but impregnation homogeneity deteriorates due to alumina segregation
Solution Approach 1:
The water-soluble polymer coating on sacrificial threads acts as an intermediary barrier that prevents direct interaction between alumina particles and the polymer, eliminating segregation mechanisms and enabling homogeneous impregnation throughout thick preform sections
4Weight of moving object
If blades are made from composite material, then weight is reduced, but manufacturing complexity increases due to multiple processing steps
Solution Approach 1:
The formation of internal channels and the densification of the preform are merged into a single integrated manufacturing process, where sacrificial threads are removed and channels are formed during the same manufacturing sequence as the composite fabrication, rather than as separate post-processing steps
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method allows for the production of blades with improved cooling channels and mechanical integrity, enabling better thermal stability and cooling efficiency while maintaining complex shapes, such as twisted designs.
Implementation Method 1
a first eliminating of the thread or threads made of a first sacrificial material in order to form one or several internal channels in the blade
Implementation Method 2
a first impregnation of the preform with an aqueous suspension containing particles of the matrix
Implementation Method 3
a first sintering of the impregnated preform at a temperature (Tθ1) in order to obtain a blade having a fiber reinforcement constituted by said preform and made denser by the matrix
Implementation Method 4
a second eliminating of the thread or threads made of a second sacrificial material in order to form one or several cooling channels in the blade
Data Source
AI summary
An oxide/oxide composite material turbomachine blade including a fiber reinforcement obtained by weaving a first plurality of threads and a second plurality of threads, with the threads of said first plurality of threads being arranged in successive layers and extending in the longitudinal direction of the fiber blank corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the blade is disclosed. The reinforcement is densified by a matrix, with the blade further including one or several internal channels having a coiled shape extending in the longitudinal direction of the blade.