Spring Damping Design for Precise Bearing Alignment
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Summary
Problems
Gas turbine engines face challenges with gaps and misalignment due to manufacturing tolerances, leading to stress variations and assembly difficulties in bearing compartments, which are compounded by traditional manufacturing techniques that limit design complexity.
Innovation solutions
A bearing compartment with a housing integrally formed with a spring, featuring axially extending struts and an internal lattice structure, is manufactured using additive manufacturing to enhance structural stability and alignment, allowing for complex geometries and precise component positioning.
TRIZ Analysis
Specific contradictions:
General conflict description:
Principle concept:
If traditional casting and machining techniques are used to manufacture bearing compartment parts, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but design complexity is limited and assembly precision deteriorates due to gaps from tolerance stacking
Why choose this principle:
The patent combines multiple previously separate components (housing, spring, and support structures) into a single integrally formed bearing compartment assembly. This merging eliminates gaps between components that resulted from tolerance stacking in traditional multi-part assemblies, thereby improving assembly precision while the additive manufacturing process enables the necessary design complexity for such integration.
Principle concept:
If traditional casting and machining techniques are used to manufacture bearing compartment parts, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but design complexity is limited and assembly precision deteriorates due to gaps from tolerance stacking
Why choose this principle:
The spring component serves multiple functions: it provides damping between components, acts as a support structure during additive manufacturing build process, and enables complex geometries that improve overall assembly precision. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by making the component versatile enough to handle both precision requirements and design complexity demands.
Application Domain
Data Source
AI summary:
A bearing compartment with a housing integrally formed with a spring, featuring axially extending struts and an internal lattice structure, is manufactured using additive manufacturing to enhance structural stability and alignment, allowing for complex geometries and precise component positioning.
Abstract
According to an aspect, a bearing compartment includes a housing integrally formed with a spring configured to deform in response to a force. The housing includes an overhang region that is supported by the spring during an additive manufacturing build process. The spring includes a plurality of struts that extend axially within the housing.