Inflatable Bladder Sealing for Turbomachine Stator Blades
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for assembling a turbomachine stator stage, particularly in aircraft engine turbo machines, are costly and time-consuming due to the need for specialized tools and labor-intensive processes, and they fail to ensure consistent quality of the sealing joints between blades and shrouds.
Innovation Solution
A method and device utilizing inflatable bladders to form retaining surfaces for sealing material, allowing for efficient and uniform sealing between blades and shrouds, with the bladders being applied between neighboring blades and inflated to cover the entire opening, ensuring a strong and airtight connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If paste-like sealing material is used to seal blades to the stator inner shell, then a bonding joint is formed, but the process is expensive and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The bladder is inflated before applying the sealing material to pre-form the retention surface, ensuring proper sealing geometry is established in advance. This preliminary action prevents material leakage and ensures consistent sealing quality while reducing assembly time.
Solution Approach 2:
The inflatable bladder acts as an intermediary tool that creates the retention surface for sealing material. It mediates between the blade opening and the sealing material, providing a controlled form that ensures consistent sealing without requiring complex specialized tooling for each blade.
2Ease of manufacture
If counter-forms are installed individually between blades to seal openings, then the seal creation is facilitated, but the assembly becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The inflatable bladder device is designed to be universally applicable across different blade configurations and stator designs. A single bladder can be inflated to accommodate various opening sizes and shapes, eliminating the need for multiple specialized counter-forms for different blade types.
Solution Approach 2:
The bladder transitions from a deflated state (easy to install) to an inflated state (provides sealing function). This dynamic transformation allows the same component to be quickly deployed and removed without complex mounting procedures, significantly reducing assembly time while maintaining sealing effectiveness.
3Reliability
If the tooling is adapted to each stator design based on blade spacing and profile, then the seal is effective, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bladder's physical parameters (volume, pressure, shape) are adjusted during inflation to adapt to different blade openings. This allows a single standardized bladder design to accommodate various blade spacings and profiles without requiring custom tooling for each stator configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The bladder is made of flexible material that can deform and adapt to different opening geometries. This flexibility allows the same bladder to conform to various blade profiles and spacing arrangements, eliminating the need for rigid, design-specific counter-forms while maintaining effective sealing.
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 speeds up the assembly process while harmonizing the quality of connecting joints, reducing costs and improving the consistency of the sealing process, ensuring effective sealing and airtightness between the blades and shrouds.
Implementation Method 1
The device includes an elongated support (26) connected to a pressurized gas source and distributing said gas into each bladder
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4~6
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for assembling a turbomachine stator stage (2), said stage comprising an inner shell (4), an outer shell, and blades (8) extending radially between the inner (4) and outer shells, the method comprising at least the following essential step: (b) applying at least one inflatable bladder (12) against at least one opening (14) between a blade (8) and one (4) of the inner (4) and outer shells on the face (16) of the shell (4) opposite the application face (18) of a sealing material, so as to form one or more retention surfaces (22) for said sealing material (20). The invention also relates to an assembly device for implementing the method.