Woven structure and method of manufacture

• Main Authors: Christopher D Jones, Adam J Bishop, Richard Hall, Ian Buck, Sarvesh Dhiman
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 31.01.2024
• Subjects: AEROPLANES; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS; HELICOPTERS; LOOMS; METHODS OF WEAVING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; TEXTILES; TRANSPORTING; WEAVING; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL; WOVEN FABRICS

A method for manufacturing a composite component comprising weaving a multi-layer woven preform 200 from warp and weft tows of fibre-reinforcement material. The woven preform comprises: longitudinally adjacent portions, including a primary portion 202 and a secondary portion 204, 206 that have common warp tows extending though them. Each portion has (i) a single free leaf, or (ii) two or more free leaves in superposition, and the portions have a different number of free leaves. Preferably, the primary portion has a single leaf joined at the edges to form a shell with an interleaf channel for forming a vane for an aerofoil and the secondary portion has two free leaves that form a platform for the airfoil. Preferably, there is a plurality of primary and secondary portions (figures 3a and 3b) for forming a composite aerospace component comprising a multiple vanes and root and time platforms. The leaves may be joined by binding tows to form the channel. The shell portion may have tapered edges with unbound weft portions or the method comprises changing the weaving method to decrease the thickness of the edges.