Patent ID: 9598978
Date: 2017-03-21
CPC Classifications: F01D,F02C,F05D,Y02T

Claim:
1. A fan containment system arranged to be fitted around an array of radially extending fan blades mounted on a hub in an axial gas turbine engine, each fan blade having a respective fan blade tip, the fan containment system comprising: a generally cylindrical fan case including a hook, the hook projecting in a generally radially inward direction and positioned axially forward of the radial array of fan blades when the fan containment system is fitted around the radial array of fan blades; a fan track liner disposed on the radially inner surface of the fan case; and a panel which is fitted into a recess in the fan track liner is positioned axially rearward of the hook and positioned axially forward of the radial array of fan blades when the fan containment system is fitted around the radial array of fan blades such that the panel forms a substantially continuous air washed surface with the fan track liner wherein the panel is configured to be temporarily deformable so as to absorb the impacts of any foreign bodies, which enter the gas turbine engine in use and strike the panel, without compromising the structural integrity of the panel while being weak enough so that in the event that, during operation of the gas turbine engine, one of the fan blades is released from the hub, the fan blade tip of the detached fan blade is not inhibited from moving radially outward of the hub by the panel and so increases the likelihood that the fan blade collides with the hook and is retained in the gas turbine engine.