BRAIDED BLADES AND VANES HAVING DOVETAIL ROOTS

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas turbine engine composite article having a composite article airfoil extending outwardly from an article root to an article airfoil tip.SOLUTION: A core including a core airfoil attached to a core root including a core dovetail is present in the article airfoil. A continuous outer three-dimensional braided layer 14 including composite material tows are braided on the core, and the braided layer covers the entire core airfoil and the core root. The core may be an inflatable mandrel or a composite core made of a composite material. The core may include stiffeners such as an I beam or hollow rectangular cross-section box beams. A method for making such an article includes braiding a continuous outer three-dimensional braided layer including braided composite material tows braided on the core, where the braiding step includes covering the entire core airfoil and the core root with the continuous outer three-dimensional braided layer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1