Frangible fan blade

An improved fan in an axial flow gas turbine engine disposed about an axis, the gas turbine engine including an axially directed flow path defining a passage for working medium gases, the fan including a plurality of fan blades with each of said plurality of fan blades having an airfoil portion having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a pressure side and a suction side and adapted to extend across the flow path for working medium gases:

• a root portion disposed radially inward of the airfoil portion, the root portion including a leading edge, a trailing edge, a dovetail neck and a dovetail attachment;
• and a platform disposed radially between the airfoil portion and the root portion, the platform extending circumferentially from the blade and including a leading edge portion forward of the airfoil portion leading edge, a trailing edge portion aft of the airfoil portion trailing edge, an outer surface defining a flow surface of the flow path, and an inner surface radially inward of the outer surface, wherein the improvement comprises:
• said platform being circumferentially dimensioned to define, with an adjacent platform, an oversized gap that is sufficient enough such that contact is avoided between adjacent platforms during a blade loss event.