Y-Weave CMC Flange Cooling for Blade Outer Air Seal Stress Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
CMC components with flanges, such as blade outer air seals, face challenges in cooling due to increased material thickness under flanges, leading to higher thermal gradients and thermal stresses, which existing manufacturing methods fail to adequately address.
Innovation Solution
Introduce cooling cavities beneath flanges, such as T-shaped flanges, by forming a triangular-shaped cooling channel using a Y-weave of ceramic fiber plies, with inlet and outlet passages for cooling fluid, during the layup process or post-densification, to facilitate effective cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If CMC components have flanges with increased material thickness, then structural strength is improved, but cooling efficiency deteriorates and thermal gradients increase
Solution Approach 1:
The flange structure is segmented into multiple regions with different thicknesses. The base flange has a first thickness and includes a recess portion with a second thickness that is less than the first thickness. This segmentation allows the main flange body to maintain structural strength while the recess portion reduces material thickness to improve cooling efficiency and reduce thermal gradients in critical cooling areas.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the flange structure have different material thicknesses tailored to local requirements. The main flange body maintains greater thickness for structural strength, while the recess portion has reduced thickness to improve cooling efficiency. This local variation in thickness optimizes both structural integrity and thermal management performance in different regions of the component.
2Stability of the object's composition
If CMC components have increased material thickness under flanges, then structural integrity is improved, but cooling capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The flange is divided into a main body portion with greater thickness for structural integrity and a recess portion with reduced thickness for improved cooling capability. This segmentation allows the component to simultaneously achieve both structural stability and enhanced cooling performance by placing different thickness characteristics in different spatial locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The flange structure incorporates a recess portion that creates a three-dimensional configuration rather than a uniform flat structure. By introducing this vertical dimension variation (the recess), the design achieves both structural integrity from the main body and improved cooling capability from the reduced thickness area, effectively using spatial dimensionality to resolve the contradiction.
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
Reduces thermal gradients and thermal stresses by enhancing cooling efficiency, thereby prolonging the operational lifespan of CMC components.
Implementation Method 1
cooling cavities beneath flanges, such as T-shaped flanges, by forming a triangular-shaped cooling channel using a Y-weave of ceramic fiber plies, with inlet and outlet passages for cooling fluid
Data Source
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AI summary
A method is described for introducing cooling cavities (140) into CMC components (100) beneath flanges such as T-shaped flanges within the CMC components (100). During layup, preform is made having flanges formed from a Y-shaped weave in which plies of woven ceramic fiber tows form a radial flange section (120) extending from a base of the preform and two bifurcated arms (130, 135). The plies of the two bifurcated arms (130, 135) and plies of the base form a cooling cavity (140) having a triangular cross section beneath the flange. Cooling fluid inlet passages (150; 160) are provided to permit cooling fluid to enter the cooling cavity (140) and thereby cool the internal region of the CMC component (100) to reduce formation of thermal stresses.