Guide Vane Stage Assembly Tooling for Turbine Compressors
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing method of securing guide vanes in a turbine engine compressor using polymerizable sealing resin is cumbersome, time-consuming, and difficult to reproduce, requiring manual injection into clearance gaps between airfoils and shrouds, which is messy and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A method involving tooling with holding plates that cover the gaps between the inner shroud and airfoils, allowing the resin to be applied directly to the inner shroud surface without overflowing, eliminating the need for manual resin injection and simplifying the process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If manual injection of resin into clearance gaps is used, then the gaps can be filled to prevent resin overflow, but the process becomes time-consuming and difficult to reproduce
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the resin injection function from the manual syringe process and replaces it with a dedicated injection tool that automatically fills the clearance gaps. This tool is integrated into the assembly fixture, eliminating the need for separate manual injection operations and enabling consistent, rapid filling of all gaps simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an intermediary injection tool as a mediator between the resin source and the clearance gaps. This tool includes injection nozzles positioned at each gap location, allowing controlled resin delivery without direct manual intervention. The tool acts as an intermediary mechanism that ensures consistent filling while reducing process time and improving reproducibility.
2Strength
If resin is applied to the inner shroud surface, then the airfoils are secured to the shroud, but resin may overflow through the clearance gaps causing waste and cleaning requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by filling the clearance gaps with resin before applying the sealing resin to the inner shroud surface. The injection tool delivers resin into each gap through positioned nozzles, pre-blocking the escape paths. This preliminary filling ensures that when the sealing resin is subsequently applied to the shroud surface, it cannot overflow through the already-filled gaps, preventing waste and eliminating cleaning requirements.
3Loss of substance
If cooling resin is used to increase viscosity, then resin overflow is reduced, but batch management becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the cooling method with an intermediary injection tool that physically blocks the clearance gaps. Instead of modifying the resin's physical properties through cooling (which requires temperature control and complex batch management), the injection tool serves as a mechanical intermediary that prevents overflow by filling gaps before resin application. This eliminates the need for temperature-controlled resin storage and simplifies batch management while still preventing overflow.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces the time and complexity of the resin application process, ensuring a leak-tight seal while maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of the sealing resin, thereby streamlining the assembly of guide vane stages.
Implementation Method 1
resilient means arranged between the inner plate and the outer bearing member so as to constrain the inner plate to bear against the inner shroud
Implementation Method 2
a polymerizable sealing resin that is applied to the inner surface of the inner shroud and that, after hardening, serves to fasten the airfoils to the inner shroud
Data Source
AI summary
A method and tooling for assembling a guide vane stage that includes an inner shroud and an outer shroud that are coaxial and interconnected by radial airfoils, the method including holding plates pressed against an outer surface of the inner shroud so that the plates cover gaps formed between openings in the inner shroud and the airfoils at least in part and in a manner that is leaktight, and applying a sealing resin to the inner surface of the inner shroud so that the resin fills the gaps and so that radially inner ends of the airfoils are embedded in the resin.