US 11,866,820 B1
Method of processing a CMC airfoil
Christian X. Campbell, West Hartford, CT (US); David J. Wasserman, Hamden, CT (US); and Ahmed Abdillahi Abdi, Oceanside, CA (US)
Assigned to RTX CORPORATION, Farmington, CT (US)
Filed by RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, Farmington, CT (US)
Filed on Nov. 21, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/990,974.
Int. Cl. B23B 41/00 (2006.01); C23C 16/32 (2006.01); C23C 16/34 (2006.01)
CPC C23C 16/325 (2013.01) [B23B 41/00 (2013.01); C23C 16/345 (2013.01); B23B 2215/81 (2013.01); B23B 2226/18 (2013.01); B23B 2226/27 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for processing a CMC airfoil, the method comprising:
providing an airfoil fiber preform that defines a leading edge, a trailing edge, and first and second sides that join the leading edge and the trailing edge, the trailing edge having a tail portion;
providing a fixture that has first and second tool segments that define a cavity there between for holding the airfoil fiber preform, the cavity having a cavity leading edge, a cavity trailing edge, and first and second cavity sides joining the cavity leading edge and the cavity trailing edge, the first and second tool segments being couplable at a hinge located at a forward end of the fixture;
nesting the airfoil fiber preform in the cavity;
closing the fixture by rotating the first tool segment about the hinge, the closing causing the first and second tool segments to clamp on the tail portion and thereby conform the tail portion to the cavity trailing edge of the fixture;
while in the fixture, partially densifying the fiber preform with an interface coating material to form a partially densified fiber preform;
while in the fixture, drilling one or more cooling holes into the trailing edge of the partially densified fiber preform; and
after the drilling, removing the partially densified fiber preform from the fixture and further densifying the partially densified fiber preform with a ceramic matrix material to form a fully densified CMC airfoil.