Composite hollow blade and a method of forming the composite hollow blade
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsViswanadha Gupta Sakala, Douglas Duane Ward, Ming Xie
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Composite hollow blade and an associated method of forming the composite hollow blade are disclosed. The method includes forming a core by fabricating a grid core structure based on a plurality of design parameters, where the grid core includes a plurality of first reinforcing components disposed in a first curable matrix material. The method further includes forming an outer layer including a plurality of second reinforcing components disposed in a second curable matrix material. Further, the method includes coupling the core to the outer layer and curing the core and the outer layer to form the composite hollow blade.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- forming a core by fabricating a grid core structure based on a plurality of design parameters, wherein the grid core structure comprises a plurality of first reinforcing components disposed in a first curable matrix material;
- forming an outer layer comprising a plurality of second reinforcing components disposed in a second curable matrix material;
- coupling the core to the outer layer;
- and
- curing the core and the outer layer to form a composite hollow blade.
A method of forming a composite hollow blade, comprising:
- forming a core by wrapping or laying a plurality of first reinforcing components disposed in a first curable matrix material at one or more predefined locations on a first mold, based on one or more design parameters, to fabricate a grid core structure of the core,
- wherein one or more design parameters comprises at least one of a width of the first reinforcing component of the plurality of reinforcing components, spacing between mutually adjacent reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components, and an orientation of a first reinforcing component of the plurality of reinforcing components;
- and
- forming an outer layer comprising:
- stacking a plurality of second reinforcing components disposed in a second curable matrix material on a second mold to define a pressure side of the composite hollow blade;
- and
- stacking the plurality of second reinforcing components disposed in the second curable matrix material on a third mold to define a suction side of the composite hollow blade;
- coupling the core to the outer layer;
- and
- curing the core and the outer layer to form the composite hollow blade.
A composite hollow blade comprising:
- a core comprising a composite grid core structure, wherein the composite grid core structure comprises a plurality of first reinforcing components and a first curable matrix material, and wherein the plurality of first reinforcing components is disposed at one or more predefined locations along the core based on a plurality of design parameters,
- wherein the plurality of design parameters comprises at least one of a width of a first reinforcing component of the plurality of first reinforcing components, spacing between mutually adjacent reinforcing components of the plurality of first reinforcing components, and an orientation of a first reinforcing component of the plurality of reinforcing components defined by an angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the composite hollow blade,
- an outer layer comprising a plurality of second reinforcing components and a second curable matrix material, wherein the core is coupled to the outer layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.