Unshrouded blading for high bypass turbofan engines
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A metal alloy fan blade for a gas turbine engine, the metal alloy fanblade comprising:
- a blade root;
a blade tip oppositely disposed from the blade root; and
a reinforcing material bonded to a surface of the metal alloy fan blade at the blade root so as to be remote from the blade tip, the reinforcing material being lo provided in a quantity and thickness so as to sufficiently stiffen the metal alloy fan blade and thereby provide frequency and stability control to the fan blade;
whereby the reinforcing material sufficiently stiffens the metal alloy fan blade so as to make unnecessary the use of a part span shroud.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Metal alloy fan blades reinforced with a metal matrix composite for enhancing stiffness of the fan blades without a significant weight penalty, and which are suitable for use in high bypass turbofan engines. The metal matrix composite is bonded to each fan blade near its root so as to increase stiffness and thereby provide frequency and stability control to the fan blades. As a result, a lower engine weight can be realized by using more fan blades without the need for a part span shroud.
55 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A metal alloy fan blade for a gas turbine engine, the metal alloy fan
blade comprising: -
a blade root; a blade tip oppositely disposed from the blade root; and a reinforcing material bonded to a surface of the metal alloy fan blade at the blade root so as to be remote from the blade tip, the reinforcing material being lo provided in a quantity and thickness so as to sufficiently stiffen the metal alloy fan blade and thereby provide frequency and stability control to the fan blade; whereby the reinforcing material sufficiently stiffens the metal alloy fan blade so as to make unnecessary the use of a part span shroud. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A fan blade for a gas turbine engine, the fan blade comprising:
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a fan blade member having a blade root for securing the fan blade to a hub member and a blade tip oppositely disposed from the blade root, the fan blade member being formed from a titanium alloy; and a metal matrix composite material bonded to a surface of the fan blade member at the blade root so as to be remote from the blade tip, the metal matrix composite material being provided in a quantity and thickness so as to sufficiently stiffen the fan blade and thereby provide frequency and stability control to the fan blade; whereby the metal matrix composite material sufficiently stiffens the fan blade so as to increase the fan blade'"'"'s flexural frequency, thereby making unnecessary the use of a part span shroud. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A fan blade assembly for a gas turbine engine, the fan blade assembly comprising:
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a hub member; a plurality of metal alloy fan blades secured to the hub member, each of the plurality of metal alloy fan blades having a blade root for securing each fan blade to the hub member and a blade tip oppositely disposed from the blade root; and a metal matrix composite material bonded to a surface of each fan blade at its corresponding blade root so as to be remote from its corresponding blade tip, the metal matrix composite material being provided in a quantity and thickness so as to sufficiently stiffen each fan blade and thereby provide frequency and stability control to each fan blade; whereby the metal matrix composite material sufficiently stiffens each fan blade so as to make unnecessary the use of a part span shroud. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification