Jet aircraft fan case containment design
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A blade containment structure surrounding a fan in a fan jet engine comprising:
- a honeycomb structure spaced radially outwardly from and surrounding tips of rotating blades of said fan, said honeycomb structure having an outer wall;
a polyurethane projectile shield surrounding the outer wall of said honeycomb structure; and
said polyurethane projectile shield having sufficient energy absorbing capability to contain blades and fragments of said blades thrown outward by damage to said fan.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A jet aircraft fan case containment design that uses polyurethane to absorb fan blade fragments and uses polyurethane to prevent fan blade fragments from penetrating the fan case. The polyurethane is used in place of or to supplement KEVLAR® and/or fiberglass wraps used to contain fan blade fragments. The polyurethane is also used in place of aluminum alloy and stiffening ribs in the fan case.
-
Citations
21 Claims
-
1. A blade containment structure surrounding a fan in a fan jet engine comprising:
-
a honeycomb structure spaced radially outwardly from and surrounding tips of rotating blades of said fan, said honeycomb structure having an outer wall;
a polyurethane projectile shield surrounding the outer wall of said honeycomb structure; and
said polyurethane projectile shield having sufficient energy absorbing capability to contain blades and fragments of said blades thrown outward by damage to said fan.
-
-
2. A blade containment structure surrounding a fan in a fan jet engine comprising:
-
a honeycomb structure spaced radially outwardly from and surrounding tips of rotating blades of said fan, said honeycomb structure having an outer wall;
a polyurethane and fabric projectile shield surrounding the outer wall of said honeycomb structure; and
said polyurethane projectile shield having sufficient energy absorbing capability to contain blades and fragments of said blades thrown outward by damage to said fan. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A blade containment structure surrounding a fan in a fan jet engine comprising:
-
a fan casing surrounding the fan, said fan casing having an inner wall and an outer wall;
a honeycomb structure spaced radially outwardly from and surrounding tips of blades of said fan;
said honeycomb structure being located on the inner wall of the fan casing;
a polyurethane projectile shield surrounding said honeycomb structure;
said polyurethane projectile shield being located on the outer wall of the fan casing opposite the honeycomb structure and having an outer and an inner surface, said inner surface being affixed to the outer wall of the fan casing; and
said polyurethane projectile shield having sufficient energy absorbing capability to prevent blades and fragments of said blades from penetrating the outer surface of the polyurethane projectile shield.
-
-
21. A method for manufacturing a polyurethane blade containment structure comprising the steps of:
-
providing a fan jet engine containing a fan, said engine having a honeycomb structure, said honeycomb structure having an outer wall and being spaced radially outwardly from and surrounding the entire tips of blades of said fan;
applying a layer of primer to the outer wall of the honeycomb structure;
curing the layer of primer;
placing a polyurethane mold around the outer wall and layer of primer;
injecting a layer of polyurethane into the polyurethane mold;
curing the layer of polyurethane; and
removing the polyurethane mold.
-
Specification