Richard J Hawkins

Title: Richard J. Hawkins and Linear Friction Welding for Gas Turbine Blisks.

Introduction

Richard J. Hawkins is an inventor associated with Nottingham, Great Britain, and Rolls-Royce Corporation. His work includes inventions for manufacturing and repairing blisks, which combine a turbine disk and blades in a single assembly. Hawkins is credited with 2 patents.

Latest Patents

Hawkins’s listed patents address the use of linear friction welding to attach blades to turbine disks.

“Disk for a Blisk Rotary Stage of a Gas Turbine Engine” describes a turbine disk with a stub on its tapered circumferential surface. The stub’s weld joint surface follows the annulus curvature in the axial and circumferential directions while remaining flat in a third direction. A blade is positioned radially against the stub and welded by oscillating it in that third direction while applying inward force.

“Method for the Manufacture or Repair of a Blisk by Linear Friction” presents a method using a similarly shaped stub and weld joint surface. The blade is attached through linear friction welding, with the blade oscillated in the specified direction under inward welding force. The method is intended for both making and repairing blisks.

Career Highlights

The two listed inventions focus on a specialized challenge in gas turbine engineering: joining blades to a disk while accommodating the curved geometry of the assembly. Their shared approach defines a weld surface that follows the annulus in two directions while remaining flat in a third, enabling the described linear friction welding process.

Collaborations

Hawkins’s listed coworkers include John B. Brownell and James R. Wilson. His work is associated with Rolls-Royce Corporation.

Conclusion

Richard J. Hawkins’s patent work centers on linear friction welding techniques for manufacturing and repairing gas turbine blisks, with an emphasis on adapting the weld joint to the turbine disk’s geometry.