Abstract:
Disclosed is an aircraft turbine engine. The turbine engine includes an air intake having a tubular internal wall and a fan enclosed by a tubular fan casing, and the rear end of the said air intake internal wall and the front end of the fan casing are joined together by at least one fastener. The air intake internal wall, the fan casing, or both, are comprised of a resin/fiber composite. The rear end of the air intake internal wall and the front end of the fan casing are uniform, and have no projections that join the internal wall and casing together.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to aircraft turbine engines and, more especially, to the connection between the air intake and the fan casing of such a turbine engine. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In known turbine engines, the internal wall of the air intake and the fan casing are made of metal and the rear end of said internal wall of the air intake and the front end of said fan casing have collaborating projecting peripheral flanges to allow said air intake and said casing to be joined together using fasteners (screws, bolts, etc) of which the axes run parallel to the longitudinal axis of the turbine engine and which pass through said flanges. 
     Given the mechanical, thermal and mass properties of resin/fiber composites, it would be advantageous if it were possible for said internal wall of the air intake and said fan casing to be produced entirely in the form of components made of such composite. However, tests aimed at achieving this have not proved advantageous because, during use, the fibers delaminate at the 90° elbow where the peripheral flanges meet the tubular remainder of said internal wall and of said casing, which delamination leads to a substantial drop in the mechanical strength of said components and even causes them to break. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to remedy this disadvantage. 
     To this end, according to the invention, the aircraft turbine engine having a longitudinal axis and comprising:
         an air intake provided with a tubular internal wall; and   a fan, supplied with air by said air intake and enclosed in a casing, which is also tubular, the rear end of said internal wall of the air intake and the front end of said casing of the fan being joined together using fasteners, such as screws, bolts or the like,
 
is notable in that:
   at least one of said components that are said internal wall of the air intake and said casing of the fan is made of a resin/fiber composite;   said rear end of said internal wall of the air intake and said front end of said fan casing are uniform, with no projections such as peripheral flanges or the like that can be used to join said internal wall and said casing together; and   the axes of said fasteners make an angle of at least 60° with respect to said longitudinal axis of the turbine engine.       

     Thus, by virtue of the present invention, it is possible to dispense with the need to produce connecting flanges in the composite components that are the said internal wall of the air intake and said fan casing. The risks of delamination at the elbow where said flanges are connected are thus avoided. 
     Said internal wall of the air intake and said fan casing may both be made of a resin/liber composite and said axes of the fasteners may be at least approximately orthogonal to said longitudinal axis of the turbine engine. 
     In a first embodiment of the present invention, said rear end of the internal wall of the air intake and said front end of the fan casing are fitted one inside the other and said fasteners pass through those parts of said front and rear ends that are fitted one inside the others When the ends are fitted one inside the other in this way, the rear end of said internal wall of the air intake may penetrate the front end of said fan casing or, alternatively, it is the front end of said fan casing that penetrates the rear end of said internal wall of the air intake. In addition, the ends may be fitted one inside the other with direct contact between said front and rear ends or alternatively with at least one spacer ring interposed between said front and rear ends. Of course, in the latter instance, said fasteners also pass through the spacer ring or rings. Furthermore, regardless of how the parts are fitted one inside the other, the contact surface may be cylindrical or conical. 
     In a second embodiment, said rear end of said internal wall of the air intake and said front end of said fan casing are joined together via a connecting ring (made as a single piece or in several angularly distributed segments) that they penetrate, fasteners pass through those parts of said connecting ring and of said rear end of said internal wall of the air intake that face one another, and other fasteners pass through those parts of said connecting ring and of said front end of said fan casing that face one another. Once again, the surface for contact between said connecting ring, on the one hand, and said fronL and rear end, on the other, may be cylindrical or conical. As an option, said connecting ring may have a transverse partition. 
     Whatever the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to ensure that:
         at least some of said fasteners are bolts, the nuts of which are captive in one or other of said front and rear ends;   at least some of said fasteners are connected to one of said front or rear ends via plastically deformable members so that the energy of a broken fan blade striking the fan casing can be at least partially absorbed;   centering means can be used to position one of said front or rear ends relative to the other accurately about the longitudinal axis of the turbine engine.       

     The composite of which said internal wall of the air intake and said fan casing are made may contain carbon, boron, glass, silicon carbide, etc. fiber and said internal wall and said casing may be obtained by any known method (filament winding, coiling, the draping of fiber or fabric prepregs, etc). 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The figures of the attached drawing will make it easier to understand how the invention may be embodied. In these figures, identical references denote elements that are similar. 
         FIG. 1  shows, in partial schematic half section, the front part of a known turbine engine. 
         FIG. 2  shows, also in partial schematic half section, one example of how the rear end of the air intake and the front end of the fan casing are joined together in the known turbine engine of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIGS. 3 to 8  illustrate several possible ways of coining the rear end of the air intake and the front end of the fan casing together in a turbine engine according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a partial view from above of the joining example of  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 10  is a plan view of a plastically deformable ring used in the embodiment of  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 11  corresponds to a section on XI-XI of  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The turbine engine of known type,  1 , the front tart of which is depicted schematically and partially in  FIG. 1 , has a longitudinal axis L-L. This front part essentially comprises a tubular air intake  2  and a fan  3 . 
     The tubular air intake  2  has a leading edge  4  and is provided with a metal tubular internal wall  5 , for example made of aluminum, internally bearing a sound-deadening tubular covering  6 . An external cowl  7  surrounds said air intake and together with said internal wall  5  defines a chamber  8  of annular cross section, closed off by an annular rear partition  9  at the opposite end to said leading edge  4 . 
     The fan  3  has blades  10  and is surrounded by a fan casing  11  consisting of a metal tubular component  12 , for example made of aluminum, and internally bearing a sound-deadening tubular covering  13 . 
     The rear end  2 R of the air intake  2  and the front end  11 A of the Fan casing  11  are joined together along a joining plane J. 
     As shown on a larger scale in  FIG. 2 , the rear  2 R and front  11 A ends are assembled using two collaborating annular flanges  14  and  15  projecting out from the internal wall  5  and from the tubular component  1 - 2  and pressed against one another by bolts  16  the axes l-l of which are parallel to the longitudinal axis L-L and which pass through opposing drillings  17  and  18  made in said flanges  14  and  15 . In the known embodiment of  FIG. 2 , the annular flange  14  is attached to the internal wall  5  and secured to the latter by bolts  19  and  20 . By contrast, in this example the flange  15  is machined as one piece with the tubular component  12   
     Furthermore, associated with each bolt  16  is a sleeve  21 , through which said bolt  16  passes, and which is secured by said bolt to the flange  15 . The sleeves  21  are produced in such a way that they can be compressed plastically in the axial direction. Thus, when a blade  10  of the fan  3  breaks off and strikes the casing  11 , the energy of the impact can be at least partially absorbed by said sleeves  21 . 
       FIGS. 3 to 8  show, in a view comparable with  FIG. 2 , exemplary embodiments according to the present invention, in which the internal wall of the air intake  2  and the fan casing  11  consist of resin/fiber composite tubular components  5 . 1  to  5 . 6  and  12 . 1  to  12 . 6  respectively, with no projecting flanges at their ends  2 R and  11 A and which are assembled using fasteners  22 . 1  to  22 . 3  and  32 . 4 ,  34 . 4  that are orthogonal to the longitudinal axis L-L of the turbine engine  1 . 
     In the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 31  the tubular component  5 . 1  made of composite, that forms the internal wall of the air intake  2  and bears the internal sound-deadening covering  6 , has a diameter smaller than that of the tubular component  12 . 1  made of composite that forms the fan casing  11  and bears the internal sound-deadening covering  13 , which means that the rear end  5 . 1 R of the component  5 . 1  made of composite can, preferably with a small amount of friction, penetrate the front end  12 . 1 A of the composite component  12 . 1 . The composite components  5 . 1  and  12 . 1  are assembled by transverse bolts  22 . 1  of which the axes x. 1 -x. 1  are orthogonal to the longitudinal axis L-L of the turbine engine  1  and which pass through the ends  5 . 1 R and  12 . 1 A that face each other. The nuts  23 . 1  of the bolts  22 . 1  are captive on the internal wall of the composite component  5 . 1 , for example using screws  24 . 1  depicted only by centerlines. 
     In the alternative form of embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the composite tubular component  5 . 2 , that forms the internal wall of the air intake  2  and bears the internal sound-deadening covering  6 , has a diameter greater than that of the composite tubular component  12 . 2  that forms the fan casing St and bears the sound-deadening covering  13 . In addition, the rear end  5 . 2 R of the composite component  5 . 2  is internally conical, while the front end  12 . 2 A of the composite component  12 . 2  is externally conical. Thus, the front end  12 . 2 A can penetrate the rear end  5 . 2 R, the contact surface  25  of said ends then being conical. The composite components  5 . 2  and  12 . 2  are assembled by through-bolts  22 . 2  of which the axes x. 2 -x. 2  are orthogonal to the longitudinal axis L-L of the turbine engine I and which pass through the ends  5 . 2 R and  12 . 2 A that face one another, The nuts  23 . 2  of the bolts  22 . 2  are captive on components  26 . 2  attached on the inside of the front end  12 . 2 A. 
     The assembly schematically depicted in  FIG. 5  comprises a composite tubular component  5 . 3  forming the internal wall of the air intake  2  and bearing the internal sound-deadening covering  6 , and a composite tubular component  12 . 3  forming the fan casing  11  and bearing the sound-deadening covering  13 . The rear end  5 . 3 R of the component  5 . 3  surrounds the front end  12 . 3 A of the component  12 . 3  with some clearance and a system of cylindrical packing pieces  27 ,  28 , with conical joint surfaces  29 , is interposed between said ends  5 . 3 R and  12 . 3 A. The latter and the packing pieces  27 ,  28  have, passing through them, transverse bolts  22 . 3  of which the axes x. 3 -x. 3  are orthogonal to the longitudinal axis L-L of the turbine engine  1  and which serve to join said composite components  5 . 3  and  12 . 3  together. The nuts  23 . 3  of the bolts  22 . 3  are captive on components  26 . 3  attached to the front end  12 . 3 A. 
     In the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 6 , the rear end  5 . 4 R of a composite component  5 . 4  that forms the internal wall of the air intake  2  and bears the sound-deadening covering  6 , and the front end  12 . 4 A of a composite component  12 . 4  that forms the fan casing  11  and bears the sound-deadening covering  13 , are joined together using a connecting ring  30  into the opposite ends of which they fit. The connecting ring  30  has a transverse wall  31  at least approximately representing the joining plane a, and transverse bolts  32 . 4 ,  33 . 4  and  35 . 4 , of which the respective axes x 4 -x 4 , x 5 -x 5  and x 6 -x 6  are orthogonal to the longitudinal axis L-L of the turbine engine  1 , are used to join the components  5 . 4  and  12 . 4  together using said connecting ring  30 . At least some of the nuts of the bolts  32 . 4 ,  33 . 4  and  34 . 4  are captive on the component  5 . 4  or the component  12 . 4  and the annular rear partition  9  may be joined to the component  5 . 4  by the bolts  34 . 4 . 
     The exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 7  is very similar to that of  FIG. 6  except that the connecting ring  35 , which replaces the connecting ring  30 , has no transverse wall (similar to the wall  31 ). 
     The same is true in the exemplary embodiment of  FIGS. 8 ,  9  and  11  in which the rear  5 . 6 R and front  12 . 6 R ends of two tubular composite components  5 . 6  and  12 . 6  (that respectively form the internal wall of the air intake  2  and the fan casing  11  and respectively bear sound-deadening coverings  6  and  13 ) are joined together by a connecting ring  36  with no transverse wall and by bolts  32 . 4 ,  33 . 4  and  34 . 4 . In this last embodiment, the bolts  32 . 4  that connect the connecting ring  36  to the composite component  12 . 6  are connected to the connecting ring  36  by plastically deformable members  37 . Each member  37  comprises a central sleeve  38  intended to have a bolt  32 . 4  passing through it and which is connected to an external ring  39  by plastically deformable spokes  40 , it being possible for said external ring to be secured to the connecting ring  36   r  for example in drillings  41  thereof. 
     Thus, when a blade  10  of the fan  3  breaks off and strikes the fan casing  11  (component  12 . 6 ), the impact energy is absorbed by the deformation of the spokes  40 . 
     Furthermore, the connecting ring  36  may, through its nature or its shaping, allow plastic deformation if a blade should break. 
     In addition, as illustrated schematically in  FIG. 11 , the embodiment of  FIGS. 8 ,  9  and  11  comprises centering fingers  42  allowing the relative position of the components  12 . 6  and  5 . 6  about the longitudinal axis L-L to be fixed accurately. 
     Some of the bores through which said fasteners pass may be oblong in order to allow them partially to absorb the impact energy if a blade  10  should break. 
     Furthermore, is will be noted that the air intake according to the present invention has no breaking impedance, thus improving the overall noise abatement of the sound proofing.