Segmented Turbomachine Blade Manufacturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for producing lightweight aircraft turbine engine blades from a single block of metal are costly, time-consuming, and require significant material removal, making them inefficient in reducing inertia and weight.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of a turbomachine blade composed of multiple semifinished metal parts, including a lower coupling root, an airfoil-shaped oblong member with a hollow weight-reducing cavity, and an upper coupling head, where these parts are produced using various processes like milling, stamping, and welding to achieve the desired shape, allowing for reduced material usage and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a single block of metal is used to produce lightweight turbine engine blades, then structural integrity is maintained, but manufacturing cost and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The blade is divided into multiple separate components (airfoil, root, tip, and internal ribs) that are manufactured independently and then assembled. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized and produced separately, dramatically reducing manufacturing time and cost while maintaining the overall structural integrity through precise joining methods
2Manufacturing precision
If numeric-control milling is used to shape the blade from a single block, then precise shape is achieved, but large amounts of material must be removed
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the blade into separate components, each part can be manufactured close to its final shape using appropriate processes (stamping, forging, additive manufacturing), minimizing material removal for each component. The assembly then requires only minimal machining for precise fit-up, dramatically reducing total material waste compared to milling a complete blade from a solid block
3Weight of moving object
If hollow weight-reducing cavities are created in the blade, then weight is reduced, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hollow cavities are created by manufacturing the airfoil and internal ribs as separate components with built-in hollow structures, then assembling them together. This approach allows the cavities to be formed using specialized processes (forging, additive manufacturing) for each component independently, rather than requiring complex multi-step machining or drilling operations on a solid blade, thus reducing overall manufacturing complexity while achieving weight reduction
Data Source
AI summary
A turbomachine blade of the type having a metal lower coupling root, a metal upper coupling head, and a metal airfoil-shaped oblong member designed to connect the coupling root rigidly to the coupling head; the airfoil-shaped oblong member having a substantially airfoil-shaped main plate-like element connected to the coupling root and to the coupling head, and which is divided into: a lower connecting fin cantilevered from and formed in one piece with the coupling root; an upper connecting fin cantilevered from and formed in one piece with the coupling head; and a center plate-like body, which is located between the lower and upper connecting fins, is shaped/designed to form an extension of the lower and upper connecting fins, and is butt-welded to, to form one piece with, the lower and upper connecting fins.