The invention relates to an aerofoil sub-assembly for use in the formation of a hollow aerofoil, particularly an aerofoil for use as a fan blades in a jet engine. The engine also relates to an aerofoil made from the sub-assembly and a method of making such an aerofoil.
Hollow aerofoils are commonly used on fan blades in civilian turbo fan engines. They are also increasingly used on modern military aircraft. The hollow blades are considerably lighter than solid fan blades. Typically, the blade cavity is formed by super plastic forming (SPF) with some form of internal metallic structure to increase strength and stiffness of the blade and to prevent the skin surfaces of the blade “panting” ie oscillating in and out relative to each other.
It is known to introduce a visco-elastic damping material into the hollow cavity to increase damping and reduce vibration.
In the applicant's co-pending application GB0713699.7 an arrangement of discrete internal ribs is disclosed. The ribs are attached to opposite walls but not joined together to provide better retention of the visco-elastic damping material. Whilst that arrangement successfully retains the visco-elastic material, there are several issues that exist with it. The rheo-static nature of the visco-elastic materials results in a tendency for the material to flow when loaded in tension. Thus, when the fan blade is running, the visco-elastic material flows due to the centrifugal load. Re-entrant features are required to provide the retention of the visco-elastic material against that centrifugal load. However, manufacturing those structures has proven difficult. Also, the existing method of filling the blade with the visco-elastic material comprises drilling a fill hole through the panel surface which introduces a stress concentration in the region of the hole. That, consequently, requires increased skin thickness to avoid failure around that stress concentration and due to the requirement for a relatively constant skin thickness of the panel, the thickness of the entire panel is determined by the critical case around the stress concentration.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved method of forming an aerofoil.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method for forming an aerofoil comprising the steps of:
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved aerofoil sub-assembly.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided an aerofoil sub-assembly comprising a first skin panel overlaying a second skin panel and first and second overlaying web-forming membranes arranged between the first and second skin panels, the first web-forming membrane being arranged adjacent the first panel and a second structure-forming membrane being arranged adjacent the second panel.
Where previously a single web-forming membrane has been arranged between the first and second skin panels, the use of two overlaying membranes allows the structural features formed by the respective membranes to be tailored according to the aforementioned requirement of visco-elastic material retention and, optionally, addresses weaknesses in one or other of the panels.
As described below, the first and second web-forming membranes are preferably adhered to respective parts of the first and second panels and to each other with weak points in one or both of the membranes so that when the subassembly is inflated to draw the first and second skin panels apart, parts of the opposite first and second web-forming members pull past each other so as to, at least partially, form the structures.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided an aerofoil comprising a first skin panel and a second skin panel spaced apart from the first skin panel to define a hollow body with an internal space, a projection extending part way across the space from the inner side of one of the panels, the projection comprising a root part extending from the panel and a branch part extending outwardly from the root part, the root part being formed from one member and the branch part being formed from another member, bonded to said one member.
Further advantageous features of the above aspects are set out in the claims appended hereto.
An aerofoil sub-assembly, an aerofoil and a method of making an aerofoil in accordance with the invention will now be described in detail by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
An aerofoil sub-assembly 10 comprises a first skin panel 12 and a second skin panel 14 spaced apart from the first skin panel 12. A first web-forming membrane 16 is arranged between the first and second skin panels adjacent the first skin panel. A second web-forming membrane 18 is arranged between the first and second skin panels adjacent the second skin panel.
The first web-forming membrane 16 is formed from a series of alternating wide and narrow strips 20, 22. The alternating wide and narrow strips 20, 22 are spaced apart by elongate slots 24 which run longitudinally of the membrane 16. The second web-forming membrane 18 also comprises alternating wide and narrow strips 26, 28 respectively, again separated by elongate slots 30.
As shown in
Parts of the inner surfaces of the skin panels and parts of the web-forming membranes are coated with Yttria indicated at 32. The Yttria coating 32 acts as a “release layer” between interfacing parts later in the process.
As shown in
After the relevant surfaces have been coated with Yttria as shown in
The aerofoil sub-assembly 10, after the initial heating and diffusion bonding process, comprises the first skin panel 12 with the first web-forming membrane 16 formed from alternating wide and narrow strips 20, 22 with the narrow strips, 22 bonded to the inner face of the first skin panel. The second web-forming membrane 18 overlays the first web-forming membrane 16 and the narrow strips 22 of the first web-forming membrane are bonded to the centre parts of the wide strips 26 of the second web-forming membrane. The narrow strips 28 of the second web-forming membrane 18 are bonded on the outer face to the inner surface of the second skin panel 14.
The resulting aerofoil sub-assembly 10 is then arranged in a die 36 (see
In
By tailoring the thicknesses of the membranes 16, 18, the extent of overlap of the wide strips 20, 26 and the friction between the wide strips 20, 26 by appropriate use of the release coating 32, the eventual shape, size and angular inclination of the outer parts of the wide straps or “ears” 38 can be determined. As shown in
In
A series of webs 42 are formed.
The aerofoil 40 has a blade root 44 and a blade body 46.
The webs 42 formed within the blade body 46 in the upper part of the blade body spaced away from the blade root 44 generally extend perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the blade body. Webs 42 adjacent the blade root 44 generally extend longitudinally of the blade body and webs between those two extremes tend to extend for part of their length perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the body and then curve so as to run parallel with the longitudinal direction.
As shown in
In order to make the T-shaped webs, the wide strips 20 of the first web-forming membrane 16 do not overlap at their outer edges with the wide strips 26 of the second web-forming membrane 18. In that way, when the panels 12, 14 are pulled/pushed apart under the inflation (or “blow forming”) process the wide strips 20 simply pull away from the panels 12, 14 adjacent which they were originally located.
The webs 42 towards the middle of the blade body 46 are preferably formed with a gamma (Γ) section. The gamma section web comprises a root part 48 formed by the narrow strip 22, 28 and part of the opposite wide strip 20, 26 while extending from the root part 48 in opposite directions are ears 38 of different lengths to each other. Those ears 38 are formed by arranging the wide strips 20, 26 asymmetrically relative to the narrow strips 28, 22 respectively. The wide strips 20, 26 do overlap in the arrangement so as to cause the ears 38 to be inclined relative to the skin panel 12, 14 at a non-zero angle relative thereto.
For the webs 42 towards the blade root 44, a “Y” shaped web section is preferred. The Y-shaped web section is formed as shown in
The first and second web-forming membranes comprise a pair and, as shown in
In an alternative embodiment of web-forming membrane, shown in
As mentioned above, fan blades for jet engines formed using the inflation (or “blow forming”) technique are hollow and they tend to be filled with a visco-elastic material. The webs 42 formed by the method described above in accordance with the invention provide effective re-entrant features which effectively retain the visco-elastic material within the blades even under the tension created by a centrifugal force of the blade when running. When the blade is filled with visco-elastic material, a fill hole is provided on the panel surface, for example by drilling. That fill hole acts as a stress concentration. Previously, it has been necessary to adopt a skin thickness for the panel which takes into account the critical case around that stress concentration. That results in a thicker skin panel for the entire aerofoil as a relatively uniform skin thickness needs to be adopted to avoid introducing dynamic problems when the blade is under load.
The present invention further envisages arranging part of the web-forming membrane around a fill hole, as shown in
Whilst the present invention has been described specially with relation to an aerofoil for use in a fan blade of a civilian turbo fan engine, the invention could be applied to any aerofoil assembly.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
0813539.4 | Jul 2008 | GB | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2202014 | Lougheed | May 1940 | A |
3111747 | Johnson | Nov 1963 | A |
3736638 | Stone, Jr. | Jun 1973 | A |
3927817 | Hamilton et al. | Dec 1975 | A |
4217397 | Hayase et al. | Aug 1980 | A |
4292375 | Ko | Sep 1981 | A |
4304821 | Hayase et al. | Dec 1981 | A |
4331284 | Schulz et al. | May 1982 | A |
4522860 | Scott et al. | Jun 1985 | A |
4530197 | Rainville | Jul 1985 | A |
4583914 | Craig et al. | Apr 1986 | A |
4642863 | Schulz | Feb 1987 | A |
4655014 | Krecke | Apr 1987 | A |
4811890 | Dowling et al. | Mar 1989 | A |
4882823 | Weisert et al. | Nov 1989 | A |
5007225 | Teasdale | Apr 1991 | A |
5119531 | Berger et al. | Jun 1992 | A |
5143276 | Mansbridge et al. | Sep 1992 | A |
5240376 | Velicki | Aug 1993 | A |
5243758 | LeMonds et al. | Sep 1993 | A |
5253419 | Collot et al. | Oct 1993 | A |
5323953 | Adderley et al. | Jun 1994 | A |
5330092 | Gregg et al. | Jul 1994 | A |
5384959 | Velicki | Jan 1995 | A |
5419039 | Auxier et al. | May 1995 | A |
5469618 | LeMonds et al. | Nov 1995 | A |
5534354 | Gregg et al. | Jul 1996 | A |
5544805 | Alassoeur et al. | Aug 1996 | A |
5570552 | Nehring | Nov 1996 | A |
5692881 | Leibfried | Dec 1997 | A |
5723225 | Yasui et al. | Mar 1998 | A |
5821506 | Matsen | Oct 1998 | A |
5826332 | Bichon et al. | Oct 1998 | A |
5881459 | Yasui | Mar 1999 | A |
5941446 | Yasui | Aug 1999 | A |
6039542 | Schilling et al. | Mar 2000 | A |
6139278 | Mowbray et al. | Oct 2000 | A |
6224341 | Fricke | May 2001 | B1 |
6287080 | Evans et al. | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6331217 | Burke et al. | Dec 2001 | B1 |
6419146 | Buldhaupt et al. | Jul 2002 | B1 |
6467168 | Wallis | Oct 2002 | B2 |
6669447 | Norris et al. | Dec 2003 | B2 |
6720087 | Fried et al. | Apr 2004 | B2 |
6893211 | Eibl et al. | May 2005 | B1 |
6979180 | Motherwell | Dec 2005 | B2 |
7025568 | Jones | Apr 2006 | B2 |
7070390 | Powell | Jul 2006 | B2 |
7144222 | Lanni et al. | Dec 2006 | B2 |
7247003 | Burke et al. | Jul 2007 | B2 |
7311500 | Rongong et al. | Dec 2007 | B2 |
7431197 | Franchet et al. | Oct 2008 | B2 |
7470114 | Bonnet | Dec 2008 | B2 |
7753654 | Read et al. | Jul 2010 | B2 |
20020014101 | Yajima | Feb 2002 | A1 |
20030136815 | Debaisieux et al. | Jul 2003 | A1 |
20030156942 | Villhard | Aug 2003 | A1 |
20030164255 | Borroni-Bird et al. | Sep 2003 | A1 |
20040018091 | Rongong et al. | Jan 2004 | A1 |
20040191069 | Motherwell | Sep 2004 | A1 |
20060066133 | Ueno et al. | Mar 2006 | A1 |
20060255098 | Runyan | Nov 2006 | A1 |
20070065291 | Karafillis | Mar 2007 | A1 |
20070243070 | Matheny | Oct 2007 | A1 |
20070243408 | Straza | Oct 2007 | A1 |
20080025846 | Vance et al. | Jan 2008 | A1 |
20090057488 | Goldfinch et al. | Mar 2009 | A1 |
20090057489 | Goldfinch et al. | Mar 2009 | A1 |
20090057718 | Suvorov et al. | Mar 2009 | A1 |
20090060718 | Goldfinch et al. | Mar 2009 | A1 |
20090304517 | Strother | Dec 2009 | A1 |
20100021693 | Goldfinch et al. | Jan 2010 | A1 |
20100186215 | Jones et al. | Jul 2010 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
0 130 583 | Jan 1985 | EP |
0 181 203 | May 1986 | EP |
0 209 867 | Jan 1987 | EP |
0 358 523 | Mar 1990 | EP |
0 418 179 | Mar 1991 | EP |
0 469 221 | Feb 1992 | EP |
0 354 631 | Jun 1992 | EP |
0 500 458 | Aug 1992 | EP |
0 520 827 | Dec 1992 | EP |
0 527 564 | Feb 1993 | EP |
0 549 172 | Jun 1993 | EP |
0 555 534 | Aug 1993 | EP |
0 582 795 | Feb 1994 | EP |
0 594 885 | May 1994 | EP |
0 765 711 | Apr 1997 | EP |
0 716 273 | Mar 1998 | EP |
0 926 312 | Jun 1999 | EP |
1 013 355 | Jun 2000 | EP |
1 085 288 | Mar 2001 | EP |
0 594 886 | Jul 2001 | EP |
1 160 752 | Dec 2001 | EP |
1 184 768 | Mar 2002 | EP |
1 024 330 | Nov 2002 | EP |
0 886 813 | Jan 2003 | EP |
1 327 489 | Jul 2003 | EP |
1 355 212 | Oct 2003 | EP |
1 433 993 | Jun 2004 | EP |
1 460 347 | Sep 2004 | EP |
1 460 507 | Sep 2004 | EP |
1 466 692 | Oct 2004 | EP |
1 491 980 | Dec 2004 | EP |
1 541 953 | Jun 2005 | EP |
1 561 901 | Aug 2005 | EP |
1 160 640 | Feb 2006 | EP |
1 653 165 | May 2006 | EP |
1 811 129 | Jul 2007 | EP |
2 014 384 | Jan 2009 | EP |
2 014 386 | Jan 2009 | EP |
2 014 387 | Jan 2009 | EP |
2 014 388 | Jan 2009 | EP |
2 014 869 | Jan 2009 | EP |
2 223 766 | Sep 2010 | EP |
842937 | Jul 1960 | GB |
1 367 958 | Sep 1974 | GB |
1 437 510 | May 1976 | GB |
2 124 520 | Feb 1984 | GB |
2 154 287 | Sep 1985 | GB |
1 284 867 | Jul 1987 | GB |
2 193 306 | Feb 1988 | GB |
2 198 264 | Jun 1988 | GB |
2 202 619 | Sep 1988 | GB |
2 206 685 | Jan 1989 | GB |
2 211 593 | Jul 1989 | GB |
2 228 069 | Aug 1990 | GB |
2 249 615 | May 1992 | GB |
2 251 063 | Jun 1992 | GB |
2 261 032 | May 1993 | GB |
2 298 265 | Aug 1996 | GB |
2 305 720 | Apr 1997 | GB |
2 360 070 | Sep 2001 | GB |
2 371 095 | Jul 2002 | GB |
2 387 669 | Oct 2003 | GB |
2 391 270 | Feb 2004 | GB |
2 393 498 | Mar 2004 | GB |
2 397 855 | Aug 2004 | GB |
2 401 407 | Nov 2004 | GB |
2 402 716 | Dec 2004 | GB |
2 408 295 | May 2005 | GB |
2 411 462 | Aug 2005 | GB |
2 416 228 | Jan 2006 | GB |
2 450 934 | Jan 2009 | GB |
2 450 935 | Jan 2009 | GB |
A-2008-133825 | Jun 2008 | JP |
WO 9727045 | Jul 1997 | WO |
WO 0070271 | Nov 2000 | WO |
WO 0156332 | Aug 2001 | WO |
WO 0182018 | Nov 2001 | WO |
WO 0248615 | Jun 2002 | WO |
WO 03025469 | Mar 2003 | WO |
WO 03042607 | May 2003 | WO |
WO 03093916 | Nov 2003 | WO |
WO 2004102077 | Nov 2004 | WO |
WO 2005022953 | Mar 2005 | WO |
WO 2005045326 | May 2005 | WO |
WO 2005067619 | Jul 2005 | WO |
WO 2005069820 | Aug 2005 | WO |
WO 2005071510 | Aug 2005 | WO |
Entry |
---|
Sep. 2, 2009 European Search Report in European Application No. 09 25 1341. |
Jan. 17, 2013 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/654,211. |
Dec. 14, 2010 Search Report issued in British Application No. GB1020063.2. |
Jul. 28, 2009 Search Report issued in British Patent Application No. 0907004.6. |
Jul. 27, 2010 Search Report issued in European Patent Application No. EP 10 15 7495.2. |
Jan. 19, 2010 Search Report issued in British Patent Application No. 0916687.7. |
May 19, 2010 European Search Report issued in related European Patent Application No. 09252779.5 (with Abstract). |
May 5, 2009 British Search Report issued in related British Patent Application No. GB0901235.2. |
Mar. 18, 2009 British Search Report issued in British Patent Application No. GB0901318.6. |
Oct. 7, 2008 European Search Report issued in European Patent Application No. 08 01 1077. |
Oct. 20, 2008 European Search Report issued in European Patent Application No. 08 01 1078. |
Oct. 21, 2008 European Search Report issued in European Patent Application No. 08 01 1079. |
Dec. 7, 2010 Search Report issued in British Application No. GB1013305.6. |
Sep. 2, 2010 Search Report issued in British Application No. GB1009216.1. |
Sep. 15, 2009 Search Report issued in British Application No. GB0911416.6. |
May 11, 2011 Partial European Search Report issued in European Application No. 10 16 5255. |
Sep. 22, 2008 Search Report issued in British Application No. GB0808840.3. |
Aug. 28, 2007 Search Report issued in British Application No. GB0713700.3. |
Sep. 16, 2008 Search Report issued in British Application No. GB0813539.4. |
Mar. 7, 2008 Search Report issued in British Application No. GB0713699.7. |
Oct. 12, 2007 Search Report issued in British Application No. GB0713699.7. |
Jul. 1, 2011 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,503. |
Dec. 27, 2011 Notice of Allowance issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,503. |
Sep. 26, 2011 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/453,435. |
Feb. 25, 2011 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,505. |
Jun. 2, 2011 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,505. |
Nov. 23, 2011 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,505. |
Feb. 3, 2011 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,497. |
Jul. 20, 2011 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,497. |
Mar. 9, 2011 Notice of Allowance issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,502. |
Dec. 6, 2010 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,502. |
U.S. Appl. No. 13/299,671 in the name of Strother, filed Nov. 18, 2011. |
U.S. Appl. No. 12/654,504 in the name of Jones et al., filed Dec. 22, 2009. |
U.S. Appl. No. 12/645,211 in the name of Strother, filed Dec. 14, 2009. |
U.S. Appl. No. 12/844,215 in the name of Harron, filed Jul. 27, 2010. |
U.S. Appl. No. 12/730,641 in the name of Strother, filed Mar. 24, 2010. |
U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,503 in the name of Goldfinch et al, filed Jul. 7, 2008. |
U.S. Appl. No. 13/186,850 in the name of Goldfinch et al, filed Jul. 20, 2011. |
U.S. Appl. No. 13/114,382 in the name of Strother, filed May 24, 2010. |
U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,505 in the name of Strother, filed Jul. 7, 2008. |
U.S. Appl. No. 12/453,435 in the name of Strother, filed May 11, 2009. |
U.S. Appl. No. 12/796,231 in the name of Mason, filed Jun. 8, 2010. |
U.S. Appl. No. 13/008,323 in the name of Strother, filed Jan. 18, 2011. |
U.S. Appl. No. 12/720,253 in the name of Strother, filed Mar. 9, 2010. |
U.S. Appl. No. 12/720,351 in the name of Strother, filed Mar. 9, 2010. |
U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,502 in the name of Goldfinch et al., filed Jul. 7, 2008. |
U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,497 in the name of Goldfinch et al., filed Jul. 7, 2008. |
Feb. 21, 2013 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,505. |
Mar. 7, 2012 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/453,435. |
Mar. 12, 2012 Notice of Allowance issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,503. |
Mar. 20, 2012 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,505. |
Apr. 16, 2012 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,502. |
Jun. 29, 2012 Office Action isued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/654,504. |
Sep. 6, 2012 Office Action issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/216,505. |
Jun. 20, 2013 Office Action Issued in U.S. Appl. No. 12/730,641. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20100021693 A1 | Jan 2010 | US |