Metal-Core Vane Pumps With Ceramic Interfaces for Abrasion Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Variable displacement vane pumps used in gas turbine engines face issues with high wear and sudden failure due to ceramic vanes, making them unsuitable for such applications, while metallic vanes experience rapid abrasion and efficiency loss.
Innovation Solution
Implementing variable displacement vane pumps with metallic cores and ceramic interfaces or coatings to reduce wear and prevent sudden failure, along with monitoring systems to detect performance drops and indicate service needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If ceramic vanes are used in variable displacement vane pumps, then wear resistance is improved, but sudden failure due to crack formation occurs making them unsuitable for gas turbine engines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining ceramic coating (for wear resistance) with metallic substrate (for toughness and crack resistance). The ceramic interface layer provides the wear resistance needed for pump operation, while the metallic core prevents sudden catastrophic failure by absorbing cracks and allowing gradual degradation, thus resolving the contradiction between wear resistance and reliability.
2Reliability
If metallic vanes are used in variable displacement vane pumps, then reliability is improved by preventing sudden failure, but rapid abrasion and efficiency loss occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite materials where the metallic substrate provides toughness and failure resistance, while the ceramic coating applied to the vane surfaces provides the necessary wear resistance. This composite structure allows the pump to maintain efficiency over time while preventing sudden catastrophic failures, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and wear resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by providing ceramic coating only on the specific surfaces of the vanes that are subject to wear (the interface surfaces), while the bulk metallic material provides toughness throughout. This localized application of different material properties optimizes both wear resistance at critical surfaces and overall structural reliability, resolving the contradiction between these two requirements.
3Productivity
If recirculation loops are implemented to maintain pump performance, then efficiency is maintained, but system complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by designing the pump with ceramic-coated metallic vanes that inherently maintain their performance characteristics over time without requiring external recirculation systems. The improved material durability allows the pump to maintain efficiency through its own enhanced wear resistance rather than through auxiliary recirculation loops, thus resolving the contradiction between productivity and device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Variable displacement pumps and related methods are disclosed herein. An example pump case disclosed herein, the pump case defining a fluid pathway between an inlet and an outlet, the pump case including an interior surface, a shaft, and a vane disposed adjacent to interior surface, the vane coupled to the shaft, the vane including a metallic core, and a ceramic interface coupled to at least one of a surface of the metallic core, a tip of the vane, or the interior surface.