Rigid Dressing Raft for Gas Turbine Electrical Harness Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electrical harnesses in gas turbine engines are bulky, heavy, and difficult to manipulate, leading to complex and time-consuming assembly and maintenance processes, with a high risk of mechanical damage and errors.
Innovation Solution
A rigid dressing raft with profiled surfaces for precise location and fixation to a support structure, allowing for simplified assembly and reduced complexity, robustness, and quicker installation, using a method that engages profiled surfaces for accurate alignment and secure attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional electrical harnesses are used in gas turbine engines, then electrical power and signals can be transmitted to electrical components, but the harnesses become bulky, heavy, and difficult to manipulate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple individual wires and cables into a single integrated braided harness structure. The conductors are woven together in a braided pattern, merging what would be separate manipulation tasks into a single flexible unit that can be installed as one assembly rather than multiple separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The braided construction provides dynamic flexibility to the harness, allowing it to bend and conform to different routing paths within the engine. The interwoven structure enables the harness to flex in multiple directions while maintaining conductor integrity, making it easier to maneuver during installation and maintenance operations.
2Reliability
If conventional electrical harnesses are used in gas turbine engines, then electrical components can be connected, but the assembly process becomes complicated and time consuming
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple conductors are combined into a single braided harness assembly, reducing the number of separate connection operations required. The integrated structure allows electrical components to be connected to the harness as a unified unit rather than requiring individual wire connections, significantly reducing assembly time and complexity.
3Reliability
If conventional electrical harnesses are used in gas turbine engines, then electrical components can be connected, but the harnesses occupy significant space within the engine
Solution Approach 1:
The braided construction allows the harness to flex and conform to tight spaces within the engine architecture. Rather than requiring rigid, bulky routing channels, the flexible braided structure can navigate complex three-dimensional paths, reducing the overall volume required for electrical system installation.
4Reliability
If protective sleeves and braiding are added to conventional harnesses to prevent mechanical damage, then conductor protection is improved, but the harnesses become even heavier and more difficult to manipulate
Solution Approach 1:
The protective function and conductor function are merged into a single braided structure. The same interwoven conductors that provide electrical connectivity also form the protective braiding, eliminating the need for separate protective sleeves and reducing overall weight while maintaining protection against mechanical damage.
5Reliability
If conventional harnesses with multiple components are used, then electrical and mechanical connections can be established, but disassembly becomes complicated and time consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated braided harness reduces the number of separate components that must be disconnected during maintenance. Electrical connections are made to the harness as a unified structure rather than requiring disconnection of multiple individual wires, simplifying both disassembly and reassembly operations during repair and overhaul.
Data Source
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AI summary
A gas turbine engine 10 is provided that has a rigid dressing raft 200 mounted to a rigid part of the gas turbine engine 10. The rigid dressing raft 200 comprises at least a part of a component or system of the gas turbine engine. For example, the rigid dressing raft 200 may have electrical conductors 252 embedded therein that are a part of the electrical system of the gas turbine engine 10. The rigid dressing raft