Harvesting energy from composite aircraft engine components
The present disclosure is directed to an engine component for a gas turbine engine, the engine component including a substrate that includes a composite fiber and defines a surface. An energy harvesting fiber is positioned within the substrate.
1. An engine component for a gas turbine engine, the engine component comprising:
an airfoil comprising a substrate defining a surface, wherein the substrate comprises:
a plurality of layers of composite fibers; and
an energy harvesting fiber;
wherein the energy harvesting fiber is positioned between two of the layers of composite fibers.
2. The engine component as in claim 1 , wherein at least one layer of the plurality of layers of composite fibers includes the energy harvesting fiber.
3. The engine component as in claim 1 , wherein the energy harvesting fiber is a piezoelectric fiber.
4. The engine component as in claim 3 , wherein the piezoelectric fiber is a piezoelectric fiber actuator.
5. The engine component as in claim 4 , wherein the piezoelectric fiber actuator comprises a shunt transducer.
6. The engine component as in claim 5 , wherein the shunt transducer comprises:
an inductor;
a capacitor; and
a resistor, wherein the inductor, the capacitor, and the resistor are configured to dampen one or more vibratory modes of the engine component to a non-resonant mode.
7. The engine component as in claim 1 , wherein the energy harvesting fiber is a thermoelectric fiber.
8. The engine component as in claim 7 , wherein the thermoelectric fiber is configured as a thermoelectric cooler.
9. The engine component as in claim 1 , further comprising a sensor, wherein the sensor is electrically coupled to an energy harvesting fiber.
10. The engine component as in claim 9 , further comprising:
a communicator electrically coupled to receive an input voltage from the energy harvesting fiber and an analog signal from the sensor.
11. The engine component as in claim 10 , wherein the communicator comprises:
a wireless communicator, wherein the wireless communicator is a signal transfer device that operates on the electromagnetic spectrum; and
a rectifier.
12. The engine component as in claim 10 , wherein the communicator comprises a data storage device.
13. A gas turbine engine comprising the engine component of claim 1 .
14. The engine component as in claim 1 , wherein the substrate further comprises a second energy harvesting fiber located on the surface of the substrate.
15. The engine component as in claim 1 , further comprising a sensor, wherein the sensor is electrically coupled to the energy harvesting fiber, the sensor being configured to monitor and communicate engine performance and health.
16. A method of harvesting energy from a gas turbine engine component that comprises an airfoil, the airfoil comprising a substrate defining a surface, the method comprising:
providing an energy harvesting fiber;
providing a plurality of layers of composite fibers;
positioning the energy harvesting fiber between two of the layers of composite fibers;
electrically coupling the energy harvesting fiber to a load;
converting mechanical energy into electrical energy; and
supplying electrical energy to the load.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising positioning a second energy harvesting fiber on the surface of the substrate.
18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising electrically coupling a sensor to the energy harvesting fiber, the sensor being configured to monitor and communicate engine performance and health.
19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising
electrically coupling a sensor to the energy harvesting fiber;
electrically coupling a communicator to the energy harvesting fiber;
receiving an input voltage of the energy harvesting fiber from the communicator;
receiving an analog signal from the sensor.
20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the energy harvesting fiber is a piezoelectric fiber.