Additive Support Housing for Gas Turbine Fuel Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional manufacturing techniques are difficult and costly for producing support housings with internal chambers and flow paths, such as those used in gas turbine engines, due to the complexity of forming these structures.
Innovation Solution
The support housing is manufactured using an additive manufacturing process, specifically coupling a base portion to a positioning device, forming outer and inner walls, and creating support members that extend across flow spaces at an oblique angle, allowing for the creation of complex geometries that conventional methods struggle with.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional manufacturing techniques (casting, forging, machining) are used to produce support housing, then the manufacturing process is well-established, but the difficulty and cost of production increases significantly due to complex internal chambers and flow paths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the manufacturing parameter from conventional subtractive or formative methods to additive manufacturing. This parameter change enables the direct formation of complex internal chambers, flow paths, and support members without the difficulty and cost associated with conventional techniques, as the additive process builds structures layer-by-layer according to digital models.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the third dimension by employing additive manufacturing to create complex three-dimensional internal structures within the support housing. The oblique support members and interconnected flow paths are formed in multiple dimensions simultaneously, which would be extremely difficult to achieve with conventional two-dimensional machining or casting operations.
2Ease of manufacture
If additive manufacturing is used to form complex internal structures, then manufacturing ease and cost-effectiveness improve, but the structural integrity must be maintained across critical distances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces support members as intermediary structures within the additive manufacturing process. These support members provide temporary or permanent structural support during the layer-by-layer construction of complex internal chambers and flow paths, ensuring that material is properly supported across critical distances and maintaining manufacturing precision throughout the build process.
Solution Approach 2:
The support members are pre-planned and integrated into the additive manufacturing process before the final structure is complete. This preliminary action ensures that structural integrity is maintained during construction, with support members positioned to prevent sagging or deformation of overhanging features before the entire structure is finalized.
Data Source
AI summary
A support housing for use in distributing fuel in a gas turbine engine includes a main body defining an inlet aperture, a plurality of outlet apertures, and a substantially planar mounting surface. A first fuel channel has a wall that defines a first flow space and a support member extends across the first flow space and has a long axis oriented at an oblique angle with respect to the mounting surface.