Heat Accumulation Segment for Turbine Blade Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mechanical vibrations in gas turbine systems cause damage to tape seals between guide blades, leading to leakage and requiring frequent maintenance, where complete guide blade rows often need to be dismantled for seal replacement.
Innovation Solution
A heat accumulation segment with axially opposed joining contoured elements, featuring a frustoconical recess and collar surfaces, allows for individual guide blade removal without dismantling entire rows, using a securing pin and spring-loaded connection to maintain a gastight seal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If tape seals are used between guide blades to prevent leakage, then sealing effectiveness is improved, but mechanical vibrations cause seal damage and require frequent maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The guide blade row is segmented into individual replaceable units. Each guide blade can be independently removed and replaced without dismantling the entire row, allowing quick replacement of damaged components while maintaining the overall structure and sealing integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The joining mechanism uses a press-fit system with friction-based holding force. The interference fit between the joining contoured element and the counter-contoured receiving element creates sufficient friction to secure the connection without requiring additional fasteners, simplifying both assembly and maintenance.
2Ease of repair
If complete guide blade rows are dismantled for seal replacement, then thorough maintenance is achieved, but productivity is reduced due to extended downtime
Solution Approach 1:
The guide blade row is divided into independently replaceable segments. Only the specific guide blade requiring maintenance needs to be removed, not the entire row. This segmentation enables targeted maintenance that minimizes downtime while ensuring thorough repair of the affected component.
Solution Approach 2:
The damaged guide blade is extracted and replaced individually from the operating row. The joining contoured element allows the specific component to be taken out without disturbing adjacent blades, enabling rapid replacement that maintains productivity while achieving complete maintenance of the replaced unit.
3Productivity
If individual guide blades are replaced without dismantling entire rows, then productivity is improved, but joining complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The joining mechanism is localized to specific contoured surfaces on each guide blade. The frustoconical recess and collar portion with their specific geometric features create a precise fit with the counter-contoured receiving element. This localized geometric joining system provides sufficient complexity only where needed, enabling rapid individual replacement without oversimplifying the connection requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The joining contoured element features a frustoconical recess with a curved contoured surface that mates with a corresponding counter-contoured receiving element. This curved geometric interface provides self-centering and precise alignment, simplifying the assembly process while maintaining secure joining of individual guide blades.
4Reliability
If securing pins with frustoconical contours are used, then connection reliability is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The high-precision frustoconical contoured surfaces are localized to the joining interfaces of the guide blades. These critical surfaces require tight tolerances to ensure proper fit and sealing, while the rest of the guide blade structure can be manufactured with standard tolerances. This localized precision approach minimizes overall manufacturing complexity while ensuring reliable connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The frustoconical contoured surfaces provide self-aligning geometric features that compensate for minor manufacturing variations. The curved interfaces guide the joining elements into proper alignment during assembly, reducing the impact of small tolerance deviations and maintaining connection reliability without requiring extremely tight manufacturing precision across all surfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
A heat accumulation segment for local separation of a flow duct inside a turbo engine, from a stator housing that radially surrounds the flow duct is provided. The heat accumulation segment includes two axially opposed joining contoured elements that are engageable with two components that are axially adjacent along the flow duct. A first one of the two joining contoured elements has a radially oriented recess with a frustoconical contoured surface against which a securing pin having a frustoconical external contour that acts radially under force action from a component that adjoins the first joining contoured element, and the first joining contoured element has a collar portion having a radially upper collar surface and a radially lower collar surface. The collar portion is connected within a counter-contoured receiving contoured element in the axially adjacent component by a joining force that acts between the securing pin and the frustoconical contoured surface.