Patent ID: 11920493
Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  Y | IPC F

Claim 16:
17. A method of forming an airfoil, the method comprising:
providing an outer wall of the airfoil, the outer wall extending between a leading edge to a trailing edge to define a chord-wise direction, and between a root and a tip to define a span-wise direction, the outer wall defining an interior, a pressure side, a suction side, and a camber line extending trough the interior between the leading edge and the trailing edge equidistant between the suction side and the pressure side, and
providing a shell by:
braiding a first braided fabric having a first fiber extending along a first bias and a second fiber extending along a second bias, different form the first bias, over an entirety of a first core;
providing, at least partially by the first braided fabric, a first portion, a second portion, and opposing walls, with the first potion and the second portion interconnecting respective portions of the opposing walls;
providing at least one of the first portion or the second portion with a contour extending in the chord-wise direction, the contour forming at least one of a non-linear or chevron contour; and
braiding a first braided fiber along a third bias, different from the first bias and the second bias, over a portion of the first core; and

encasing at least a portion of a cell defined by the first core, the first braided fabric and the first braided fiber within the interior.