Combustor Inspection Port for Sacrificial Support Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Attritable aircraft engines require simpler and more robust combustor designs with fewer parts to reduce manufacturing time and costs, while ensuring efficient assembly and inspection without labor-intensive disassembly or inspection methods.
Innovation Solution
An inspection port is integrated into the engine casing to allow direct viewing of sacrificial support structures within the combustor, utilizing additive manufacturing to create a unified dilution chute and support structure, which can be easily inspected and removed during initial engine operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional brazed dilution chutes with multiple parts are used in the combustor, then the assembly can be verified through inspection methods, but the manufacturing time and costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate components (dilution chutes and support structures) into a single additively manufactured assembly, eliminating the need for separate brazing operations and reducing the number of parts from 25+ individual components to an integrated structure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional subtractive manufacturing and assembly methods to additive manufacturing, fundamentally changing the manufacturing approach to enable complex geometries to be produced as single integrated parts, thereby reducing assembly time and costs
2Productivity
If the number of manufactured parts for combustor assemblies is reduced to provide simpler designs, then manufacturing time and costs decrease, but inspection of the assembled engine becomes more labor-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates sacrificial support structures during the additive manufacturing process that facilitate easy removal and inspection of the internal combustor geometry, allowing inspection to be performed without labor-intensive disassembly operations
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses removable sacrificial support structures that can be extracted from the final part, enabling inspection of internal features through the created voids without requiring complete disassembly of the combustor assembly
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If complex geometries with internal features are manufactured using traditional methods, then inspection of internal features is difficult, but the manufacturing process becomes more labor-intensive requiring disassembly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces sacrificial support structures as intermediary elements during manufacturing that create accessible pathways for inspection, allowing internal features to be viewed without disassembling the final product
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses visual indicators (such as painted markers or contrasting materials) on the sacrificial support structures to indicate their location and removal status, making it easy to verify internal feature accessibility during inspection
Data Source
AI summary
A gas turbine engine includes an engine casing and a combustor liner enclosed within the engine casing. The engine includes a flow path for cooling the combustor liner with an air stream and located in between the engine casing and the combustor liner. The engine includes an inspection port penetrating the engine casing, the flow path, and the combustor liner and wherein the inspection port is positioned to allow an operator to view sacrificed zones of a sacrificial support structure.