Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090090005 | CERAMIC COMPOSITE WITH INTEGRATED COMPLIANCE/WEAR LAYER - The integral layer provides a ductile interface for attachment locations of a turbine engine component where a metallic surface is adjacent the attachment location. The ductile layer provides a favorable load distribution through the composite at the attachment location, and eliminates the need for a metallic shim. | 04-09-2009 |
20090165924 | METHOD OF MANUFACTURING CMC ARTICLES HAVING SMALL COMPLEX FEATURES - A method for forming a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) component for gas turbine engines. The method contemplates replacing a plurality of plies with insert material. The insert material can be partially cured or pre-cured and applied in place of a plurality of small plies or it may be inserted into cavities of a component in the form of a paste or a ply. The insert material is isotropic, being formed of a combination of matrix material and chopped fibers, tow, cut plies or combinations thereof. The use of the insert material allows for features such as thin edges with thicknesses of less than about 0.030 inches and small radii such as found in corners. The CMC components of the present invention replace small ply inserts cut to size to fit into areas of contour change or thickness change, and replace the small ply inserts with a fabricated single piece discontinuously reinforced composite insert, resulting in fewer defects, such as wrinkles, and better dimensional control. | 07-02-2009 |
20090261508 | MANUFACTURE OF CMC ARTICLES HAVING SMALL COMPLEX FEATURES - The present invention is ceramic matrix composite gas turbine engine component comprising a plurality of cured ceramic matrix composite plies, each ply comprising ceramic fiber tows, each ceramic fiber tow comprising a plurality of ceramic fibers, the tows in each ply lying adjacent to one another such that each ply has a unidirectional orientation. The component further comprises a layer of a coating on the ceramic fibers. The component further comprises a ceramic matrix material lying in interstitial regions between the fibers and tows of each ply and the interstitial region between the plurality of plies, wherein at least a portion of the component is no greater than about 0.021 inch thick. The present invention is also a method for making such a ceramic matrix composite component. | 10-22-2009 |
20090317612 | FUNCTIONALLY GRADIENT SiC/SiC CERAMIC MATRIX COMPOSITES WITH TAILORED PROPERTIES FOR TURBINE ENGINE APPLICATIONS - A ceramic matrix composite with a ceramic matrix and a gradient layering of coating on ceramic fibers. The coating typically improves the performance of the composite in one direction while degrading it in another direction. For a SiC-SiC ceramic matrix composite, a BN coating is layered in a gradient fashion or in a step-wise fashion in different regions of the article comprising the ceramic. The BN coating thickness is applied over the ceramic fibers to produce varying desired physical properties by varying the coating thickness within differing regions of the composite, thereby tailoring the strength of the composite in the different regions. The coating may be applied as a single layer as a multi-layer coating to enhance the performance of the coating as the ceramic matrix is formed or infiltrated from precursor materials into a preform of the ceramic fibers. | 12-24-2009 |
20090324878 | CMC ARTICLES HAVING SMALL COMPLEX FEATURES - A ceramic matrix composite (CMC) component for gas turbine engines, the component having fine features such as thin edges with thicknesses of less than about 0.030 inches and small radii of less that about 0.030 inches formed using the combination of prepreg plies layed up with non-ply ceramic inserts. The CMC components of the present invention replace small ply inserts cut to size to fit into areas of contour change or thickness change, and replace the small ply inserts with a fabricated single piece discontinuously reinforced composite insert, resulting in fewer defects, such as wrinkles, and better dimensional control. | 12-31-2009 |
20110027098 | CERAMIC MATRIX COMPOSITE BLADE HAVING INTEGRAL PLATFORM STRUCTURES AND METHODS OF FABRICATION - A method of making a ceramic matrix composite blade includes laying up at least one ply of the plurality of fibrous ceramic plies in a preselected arrangement to form an airfoil and dovetail preform, laying up at least one additional ply of the plurality of fibrous ceramic plies on the airfoil and dovetail preform in a second preselected arrangement to form an integral platform as part of the non-rigidized blade preform, rigidizing the blade preform to form a rigidized blade preform, and densifying the rigidized blade preform to form a ceramic matrix composite blade having an integral platform structure. A tool for making the ceramic matrix composite blade and a ceramic matrix composite blade are also disclosed. | 02-03-2011 |
20110027525 | PREFORMS, COMPOSITE COMPONENTS FORMED THEREWITH, AND PROCESSES THEREFOR - A three-dimensional preform, composite components formed with the preform, and processes for producing the preform and composite materials. The three-dimensional preform includes first and second sets of tows containing filaments. Each tow of the first set has a predetermined polygonal cross-sectional shape and is embedded within a temporary matrix. The preform is fabricated from the first and second sets of tows, in which the second set of tows are transverse to the first set of tows, adjacent tows of the second set are spaced apart to define interstitial regions therebetween, and the polygonal cross-sectional shapes of the first set of tows are substantially congruent to the cross-sectional shapes of the interstitial regions so as to substantially fill the interstitial regions. | 02-03-2011 |
20110215502 | CERAMIC COMPOSITE WITH INTEGRATED COMPLIANCE/WEAR LAYER - The integral layer provides a ductile interface for attachment locations of a turbine engine component where a metallic surface is adjacent the attachment location. The ductile layer provides a favorable load distribution through the composite at the attachment location, and eliminates the need for a metallic shim. | 09-08-2011 |