Concept Optimal Design of Composite Fan Blades

A procedure is outlined to determine the composite lay-out of a given baseline metallic fan blades. The vane material Titanium is replaced by Carbon Fiber composite materials. For the operating speed the baseline maximum strain in the vane is maintained and weight reduction is taken as the objective function. Three phases of optimization are suggested. In the first phase free size optimization is performed on the composite blades to determine the required topology. A layout of composites is then proposed. In the second phase based on free optimization results gauge optimization setup is illustrated for determining the thicknesses. In the third phase Ply-stacking optimization can be performed. By using composite materials substantial savings in the weight can be achieved without affecting the performance of engine blade.