Fan airfoil sheath

1. A sheath for a fan airfoil having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a tip, a root, a suction side and a pressure side, the sheath comprising:

a one-piece sheath body that extends in a spanwise direction along the leading edge from the root to the tip to cover the leading edge and extends in a chordwise direction along the tip from the leading edge to the trailing edge to cover the tip; and

means for securing the sheath body to the airfoil.

2. The sheath of claim 1 , wherein the means for securing the sheath body to the airfoil comprises a first and a second flank attached to the sheath body.

3. The sheath of claim 2 , wherein the first and the second flanks are each tapered.

4. The sheath of claim 2 , wherein the first flank is secured to the suction side of the airfoil and the second flank is secured to the pressure side of the airfoil.

5. The sheath of claim 4 , wherein the first and the second flanks are secured to the sides of the airfoil by bonding.

6. The sheath of claim 1 , wherein the sheath is titanium.

7. A fan blade with a sheath, the fan blade comprising:

a blade with a leading edge and a trailing edge in a chordwise direction, a tip and a root in a spanwise direction, and a suction side and a pressure side in a thickness direction; and

a sheath with one solid portion that covers the leading edge and wraps around the leading edge to also cover the tip and first and second tapered flanks that secure the solid portion to the blade.

8. The fan blade of claim 7 , wherein the first flank secures the solid portion to the blade suction side by bonding and the second flank secures the solid portion to the blade pressure side by bonding.

9. The fan blade of claim 7 , wherein the solid portion of the sheath extends out from the leading edge at a length of about 5% to about 20% of the length of the blade in the chordwise direction.

10. The fan blade of claim 7 , wherein the solid portion of the sheath extends out from the tip of the blade about 0.5 inches (12.7 mm).

11. The fan blade of claim 7 , wherein the first and second flanks are about 2 inches (50.8 mm) to about 5 inches (127 mm) in length.

12. The fan blade of claim 7 , wherein the sheath is titanium.

13. The fan blade of claim 7 , wherein the blade is made of composite materials.

14. A method of fabricating a fan airfoil with a sheath, the method comprising:

fabricating the airfoil with a leading edge, a trailing edge, a tip, a root, a suction side and a pressure side;

forming a sheath with a one piece sheath body that extends in a spanwise direction along a leading edge from a root to a tip to cover the leading edge and extends in a chordwise direction along the tip from the leading edge to a trailing edge to cover the tip and a first flank and a second flank attached to the solid portion; and

securing the sheath to the airfoil so that the sheath body covers the leading edge and tip of the airfoil.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of fabricating the airfoil comprises:

fabricating the airfoil with a composite material.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the sheath is titanium.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of forming the sheath comprises:

forming the sheath body as a single piece.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of forming the sheath comprises:

forming the sheath body with a first piece configured to cover the airfoil leading edge; and

forming the sheath body with a second piece configured to cover the airfoil tip.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the step of forming the sheath further comprises:

securing the first piece and second piece together before the step of securing the sheath to the airfoil.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of securing the sheath to the airfoil comprises:

bonding the first sheath flank to the airfoil suction side; and

bonding the second sheath flank to the airfoil pressure side.