Monolithic Pressure Swirl Atomizer Tip to Cut Calibration Stack-Up
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional pressure swirl atomizers for gas turbine engines face challenges in manufacturing due to machining tolerances and geometric stack-up issues, requiring costly and time-consuming calibration of separate spin components and exit cones, which complicates assembly and increases production costs.
Innovation Solution
A monolithic atomizer tip body with a tapered central swirl chamber is used, eliminating the need for separate components by integrating the spin component and exit cone into a single piece, achieved through processes like drilling, deburring, and coining to ensure precise dimensions and reduced calibration time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If separate spin components and exit cones are used in traditional pressure swirl atomizers, then manufacturing and assembly become more complex with increased calibration requirements, but integrating these components into a single monolithic body reduces part count and calibration time while maintaining functional performance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the spin component and exit cone into a single monolithic atomizer tip body, eliminating the need for separate parts and assembly. This integration reduces device complexity and eliminates calibration requirements between components while maintaining the functional performance of both the spin component and exit cone.
Solution Approach 2:
The monolithic atomizer tip body is segmented into functionally distinct regions including a swirl passage section for creating rotational flow and an exit cone section for fuel discharge. This segmentation allows each region to be optimized for its specific function while being manufactured as a single integrated component.
2Productivity
If traditional separate components are used, then assembly and calibration processes become time-consuming and costly, but a monolithic design streamlines production while requiring precise machining of integrated features
Solution Approach 1:
By combining multiple components into one monolithic body, the patent eliminates the time-consuming assembly and calibration processes required for separate parts. The single integrated component is manufactured as one piece, significantly improving productivity while the machining processes (drilling, deburring, coining) are performed on this single workpiece.
Solution Approach 2:
The monolithic design allows all machining operations (drilling swirl passages, creating exit orifices, forming exit cone geometry) to be performed as preliminary actions on a single workpiece before assembly. This eliminates subsequent calibration steps and streamlines the manufacturing process.
3Reliability
If multiple separate components are used, then manufacturing variations and geometric stack-up issues occur requiring costly calibration, but a single monolithic body eliminates geometric stack-up while concentrating manufacturing variations that can be controlled in a single machining process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates geometric stack-up issues by merging multiple components into a single monolithic body. All geometric features (swirl passages, exit orifices, exit cone angle) are formed in one integrated structure, eliminating the cumulative errors that occur when assembling multiple separate parts. This improves reliability while reducing part count.
Solution Approach 2:
The monolithic design allows the manufacturing process itself to self-correct geometric variations. By performing all machining operations on a single workpiece, any variations are contained within one manufacturing sequence rather than accumulating across multiple assembly steps, effectively making the process self-regulating.
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 reduces manufacturing variations, decreases calibration time, and lowers costs by eliminating the need for multiple parts, resulting in a more efficient and cost-effective atomizer production process.
Implementation Method 1
Fuel or another liquid is fed into the spin component at least partially tangentially to the spin components surface, where a film of fuel is created. The fuel then exits the spin component through an exit cone where combustion can occur.
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of swirl passages with a plurality of swirl entrances spaced circumferentially around the first end of the atomizer tip body, a central swirl chamber
Data Source
AI summary
A pressure swirl atomizer for a gas turbine engine includes atomizer passage walls that define an atomizer passage, a monolithic atomizer tip body abutting the atomizer passage which further includes a first end of the atomizer tip body with a plurality of swirl passages with a plurality of swirl entrances spaced circumferentially around the first end of the atomizer tip body, a central swirl chamber, wherein the plurality of swirl passages extend from the first end of the atomizer tip body to a first end of the central swirl chamber, and a second end of the atomizer tip body with an exit orifice, wherein inner walls of the central swirl chamber taper radially inward from the first end of the central swirl chamber to a second end of the central swirl chamber.