Gas Turbine Cover Plate Angled Tabs Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The limited space available for mounting cover plates in gas turbine engine rotor assemblies complicates their installation and removal, and existing solutions do not effectively address the need for efficient retention and sealing without reducing the effectiveness of cover plate bores.
Innovation Solution
The design includes radially and circumferentially retained cover plates with angled tabs and slots that provide clearance for installation and removal, along with seal lands and radial retention features to prevent deflection and ensure secure attachment to the rotor disk, using a tool for installation and removal to facilitate the process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cover plates are mounted in limited space of rotor assembly, then sealing between adjacent blade sets is achieved, but installation and removal become complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The cover plate is segmented into a body portion and multiple tabs extending from it. The tabs can be inserted into slots in the rotor disk separately, allowing the cover plate to be assembled in sections rather than as a single rigid piece, facilitating installation in limited spaces
Solution Approach 2:
A tool is introduced as an intermediary device to facilitate the installation and removal of the cover plate. The tool engages with the tabs or body of the cover plate, providing mechanical leverage and control during installation and removal operations in the confined rotor assembly space
2Reliability
If tabs are added for retention, then secure attachment to rotor disk is achieved, but space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tabs are designed to nest within slots in the rotor disk when the cover plate is installed. The tabs fit into the slots like nested structures, providing secure retention while minimizing the overall volume occupied by the cover plate assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The tabs extend in a radial direction from the body, utilizing the radial dimension of the rotor disk for retention. This dimensional approach allows secure attachment without increasing the axial or tangential dimensions of the cover plate, maintaining compact overall volume
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A cover plate according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a body, a first tab near a bore of the body, and a second tab circumferentially spaced from the first tab. A slot is defined between the first tab and the second tab, the first tab, the second tab and the slot extending at an angle relative to a slot axis that extends through the bore. In another embodiment, the cover plate includes a bumper that limits deflection of the body.