Patent ID: 7972109

Claim:
A method for fabricating a fan assembly, said method comprising: providing a rotor having a plurality of rotor blades, wherein each of the rotor blades is fabricated from a frangible composite material; coupling a casing substantially circumferentially about the rotor; defining a first thickness of a filler material to be applied to the casing, the first thickness defines a first distance between a plurality of rotor blades fabricated from a non-frangible material and the filler material, wherein the first distance defines a first resistance between the plurality of rotor blades fabricated from the non-frangible material and the filler material; and applying filler material to the casing, the filler material having a second thickness less than the first thickness, the second thickness defining a second distance between the rotor blades and the filler material, the second distance less than the first distance, the second distance defines a second resistance between the plurality of rotor blades fabricated from the frangible composite material and the filler material, the second resistance greater than the first resistance.