3D Woven Propeller Blade Root Retention with Foam-Bladder Housing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Propeller blades or vanes for turboprops made of metallic materials have high mass, and while composite materials reduce mass, they face issues with retention of the root part under mechanical loads, impacts, or shocks.
Innovation Solution
Aircraft propeller blades or vanes with a fibrous reinforcement featuring a three-dimensional weave, densified by a matrix, incorporate a bladder filled with shaping foam within a housing, ensuring the root part is integrally woven with an aerodynamic profile, enhancing retention through continuous reinforcement layers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If metallic material is used for propeller blades or vanes, then mechanical resistance is good, but mass is relatively high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite materials consisting of fibrous reinforcement (three-dimensional weave of carbon or glass fibers) combined with a resin matrix to create propeller blades or vanes that are both lightweight and mechanically resistant, resolving the contradiction between reducing mass and maintaining strength
2Weight of moving object
If composite material structure is used to reduce mass, then overall mass is lightened, but retention of root part under mechanical loads is awkward
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a specific three-dimensional weave pattern in the root part area with increased fiber density and continuous reinforcement layers that extend into the root, providing enhanced retention and mechanical strength precisely where needed under the aerodynamic profile while keeping the rest of the blade lightweight
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional two-dimensional fabric layers to a three-dimensional woven fibrous structure, creating interlaced layers that provide superior mechanical interlocking and retention of the root part within the composite structure, preventing displacement under mechanical loads, impacts, or shocks
3Ease of manufacture
If opening is created in fibrous reinforcement for bladder insertion, then shaping foam can be introduced, but mechanical strength is impacted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by creating the opening in the fibrous reinforcement before final assembly, allowing the bladder filled with shaping foam to be inserted and positioned correctly, then the opening is closed and reinforced with additional fibrous layers and matrix material to restore mechanical strength
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the bladder filled with shaping foam as an intermediary element that occupies the housing formed by the separation in the fibrous reinforcement, providing structural support and maintaining the aerodynamic profile while the opening is sealed and reinforced to restore mechanical integrity
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
The solution provides improved mechanical resistance and retention of the root part during mechanical loads, impacts, or shocks, while minimizing the opening's impact on mechanical strength, resulting in a lighter and more robust propeller blade or vane.
Implementation Method 1
a bladder filled with a shaping foam is present in the housing
Data Source
AI summary
A blade includes a fibrous reinforcement having a three-dimensional weave densified by a matrix, the fibrous reinforcement including, in a single woven piece, a root and an aerodynamic profile part extending along a longitudinal direction between the root part and a blade tip portion and along a transverse direction between a leading and a trailing edge portion. The profile part includes first and second suction side and pressure side faces. The fibrous reinforcement includes a separation forming a housing inside the fibrous reinforcement, a bladder filled with a shaping foam being present in the housing. The separation extends over a separation zone inside the profile part of the fibrous reinforcement comprised between the root part and the blade tip portion in the longitudinal direction and between the leading and the trailing edge portion in the transverse direction. The separation opens to the outside of the profile part.