Gas turbine engine blade containment using wire wrapping

Abstract

A blade containment of a gas turbine engine comprises a casing defining an annular wall radially spaced from and immediately surrounding a plurality of blades radially extending from a rotor, and at least one layer of metal wires wrapped around and directly attached to the annular wall.

1 . A blade containment assembly of a gas turbine engine, comprising:
 a casing defining an annular wall radially spaced from and immediately surrounding a plurality of blades radially extending from a rotor; and   at least one layer of metal wires wrapped around and directly attached to the annular wall.   
   
   
       2 . The blade containment assembly as defined in  claim 1  wherein the metal wires are made of steel. 
   
   
       3 . The blade containment assembly as defined in  claim 1  wherein the metal wires form a simple circumferential wrap in which the metal wires extend substantially in a circumferential direction. 
   
   
       4 . The blade containment assembly as defined in  claim 3  wherein the metal wires are continuous sections of a single metal wire. 
   
   
       5 . The blade containment assembly as defined in  claim 1  wherein the metal wires form a wrap with a braided pattern. 
   
   
       6 . The blade containment assembly as defined in  claim 1  wherein the metal wires form a plurality of layers of wrapping. 
   
   
       7 . The blade containment assembly as defined in  claim 1  wherein the at least one layer of metal wires is brazed to an outer surface of the annular wall. 
   
   
       8 . The blade containment assembly as defined in  claim 1  wherein the at least one layer of metal wires is attached to an outer surface of the annular wall so as to allow flexibility of the metal wires for thermal expansion during engine operation. 
   
   
       9 . The blade containment assembly as defined in  claim 1  wherein the casing comprises two flanges extending radially and outwardly from an outer surface of the annular wall and axially spaced apart from each other to define therebetween an axial section of the annular wall, the axial section having an axial dimension substantially overlapping a tip width of the blades, the at least one layer of wrapped metal wires substantially covering the axial section between the two flanges. 
   
   
       10 . A gas turbine engine comprising at least a compressor assembly, a gas generation assembly, a turbine assembly and a fan assembly, the fan assembly including a fan rotor having a plurality of radially extending blades, and a casing defining an annular wall immediately surrounding the blades with a clearance therebetween, the annular wall including a means for reinforcing fan blade containment of the fan assembly, said means being attached directly to an outer surface of the annular wall. 
   
   
       11 . The gas turbine engine as defined in  claim 10  wherein the means comprises metal wires attached to and surrounding the outer surface of the annular wall. 
   
   
       12 . The gas turbine engine as defined in  claim 11  wherein the metal wires comprise at least one layer of steel wires. 
   
   
       13 . The gas turbine engine as defined in  claim 11  wherein the metal wires form a wrapping substantially overlapping an axial position of the blades of the fan assembly. 
   
   
       14 . The gas turbine engine as defined in  claim 13  wherein the wrapping substantially covers an axial length greater than a tip width of the blades. 
   
   
       15 . A method for reinforcing containment of a plurality of fan blades of a gas turbine engine, comprising:
 wrapping an annular wall of a fan casing with at least one metal wire to allow the wire to be attached directly to an outer surface of the annular wall, thereby forming at least one containment reinforcing layer; and   affixing the at least one containment reinforcing layer to the annular wall.   
   
   
       16 . The method as defined in  claim 15  wherein a steel wire is used to surround the outer surface of the annular wall in a continuous and helical pattern to form the at least one containment reinforcing layer. 
   
   
       17 . The method as defined in  claim 15  wherein a plurality of steel wire sections are used to surround the outer surface of the annular wall in a braided pattern to form the at least one containment reinforcing layer. 
   
   
       18 . The method as defined in  claim 15  wherein the at least one containment reinforcing layer is brazed to the annular wall. 
   
   
       19 . The method as defined in  claim 15  wherein the at least one containment reinforcing layer is attached to the annular wall so as to allow flexibility of the at least one metal wire for thermal expansion during engine operation