Sacrificial Control Surfaces for Burst Zone Protection

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional gas turbine engine configurations are limited by their design for traditional aircraft architectures, making them unsuitable for alternate mounting locations that could enable specific wing and fuselage configurations, and they pose survivability issues due to potential engine failure fragmentation.

Innovation Solution

The design includes a propulsion system with angled core engines and a burst zone around them, featuring sacrificial control surfaces that break away in a controlled manner to maintain primary control surface integrity and aircraft stability, allowing for alternate engine architectures and configurations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If control surfaces are placed within the burst zone to enable alternate engine configurations, then adaptability of aircraft architecture is improved, but reliability of control surfaces deteriorates due to engine failure fragmentation

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadaptability of aircraft architectureVSAvoidreliability of control surfaces

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The horizontal stabilizer is divided into multiple control surfaces: primary control surfaces that remain attached to the fuselage and sacrificial control surfaces that can break away. This segmentation allows the primary control surfaces to maintain reliability while sacrificial surfaces can be positioned in the burst zone, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Sacrificial control surfaces are designed as disposable components that can be sacrificed in the event of engine failure. These surfaces are positioned within the burst zone and are designed to break away upon impact, protecting the primary control surfaces and aircraft structure while enabling flexible engine placement.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

2Reliability

If sacrificial control surfaces are designed to break away in controlled manner, then protection of primary control surfaces is improved, but structural complexity of the tail assembly increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprotection of primary control surfacesVSAvoidstructural complexity of tail assembly

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The frangible connection between sacrificial and primary control surfaces is pre-designed and pre-positioned to fail at specific load thresholds. This preliminary action ensures that when engine failure occurs, the sacrificial surfaces break away in a controlled manner before debris can damage the primary control surfaces, protecting them without requiring complex active protection systems.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Ease of manufacture

If conventional gas turbine engine configurations are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to alternate mounting locations is limited

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemanufacturing simplicityVSAvoidadaptability to alternate mounting locations

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The harmful effect of engine fragmentation is extracted and contained within the burst zone by positioning sacrificial control surfaces in this area. This allows the engine to be mounted in alternate locations (such as atop the fuselage or on opposite sides) without compromising the safety and reliability of the primary control surfaces, thereby improving adaptability while maintaining conventional engine design simplicity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS10112696B2Stabilizer sacrificial surfaces

Publication Date: 2018.10.30 RTX CORP

AI summary

An aircraft assembly is disclosed and includes a fuselage including a turbine engine mounted within the aft fuselage. A burst zone is defined about the turbine engine and a tail is disposed at least partially with the burst zone. The tail includes primary control surfaces and sacrificial control surfaces. The sacrificial control surfaces can break away in a defined manner to maintain integrity of the primary control surfaces outside of the burst zone.