Negative Poisson's ratio materials for propellers and turbines
OwnerJoon Bu Parkinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A propeller includes a rotatable hub and at least two propeller blades coupled to the rotatable hub. Each of the propeller blades is formed from a combination of a first material having a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) and a second material having a positive Poisson's ratio (PPR). The first material and the second material can be layered or can be formed as a matrix with one of the first or second material embedded in the other. In a layered configuration, a layer of the first material is positioned between adjacent layers of the second material, and the layers can be connected by tabs of NPR material. The combination of the NPR and PPR materials improve the strength and impact resilience of the propeller blades compared to conventional materials.
Claims17
A propeller comprising:
- a rotatable hub;
- and
- a propeller blade coupled to the rotatable hub, the propeller blade comprising a composite material comprising a matrix of a first material and inclusions of a second material embedded within the matrix of the first material, wherein (i) the first material has a negative Poisson's ratio and the second material has a positive Poisson's ratio, or (ii) the first material has a positive Poisson's ratio and the second material has a negative Poisson's ratio.
A propeller blade, comprising:
- a first surface;
- and
- a second surface opposite the first surface;
- wherein the propeller blade comprises a composite material comprising a matrix of a first material and inclusions of a second material embedded within the matrix of the first material, wherein (i) the first material has a negative Poisson's ratio and the second material has a positive Poisson's ratio, or (ii) the first material has a positive Poisson's ratio and the second material has a negative Poisson's ratio;
- and
- wherein the first surface is coupled to the second surface by a leading edge and a trailing edge positioned substantially opposite the leading edge, each of the leading edge and the trailing edge positioned as a connecting surface between the first surface and the second surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.