Rotor Arm Pressure Gain for Aircraft Engine Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gas turbine engine cooling systems face challenges in ensuring sufficient cooling of components while minimizing pressure drops, which can lead to inefficient cooling or the need for boosted pressure in certain areas.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a pressure gain feature in the rotor arm of the gas turbine engine, which operates as a centrifugal pump to increase the pressure of the cooling air, allowing it to flow into remote cavities and recombine with the primary cooling flow without significant pressure drops.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If metering locations are used to cool multiple cavities and recombine flows, then cooling coverage is improved, but pressure drops increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the cooling system into multiple independent cooling circuits, each serving a specific cavity or component. Each circuit has its own flow path from the common source to the specific cooling location and back to the common sink, eliminating the need for metering locations that cause pressure drops while ensuring adequate cooling coverage for multiple cavities simultaneously.
2Reliability
If pressure is boosted at certain locations to maintain downstream pressure, then cooling sufficiency is improved, but energy losses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention designs the cooling circuit configuration to maintain equipotential pressure distribution by providing direct, unobstructed flow paths from the common source to each cooling location and back to the common sink. This eliminates the need for pressure boosting at intermediate locations, as the pressure naturally remains sufficient throughout the system without energy-consuming compression devices.
3Reliability
If cooling flow is diverted to remote cavities, then cooling of remote areas is improved, but pressure drops in the flow path increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention creates separate, dedicated flow paths for each remote cavity that branch directly from the common source and return directly to the common sink. This segmentation allows cooling flow to reach remote cavities without traversing through metering locations or other restrictive elements that would cause pressure drops, maintaining adequate pressure throughout the extended flow paths.
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 solution enables effective cooling of remote cavities within the gas turbine engine without adding pressure drops, achieving a net-zero pressure change while ensuring efficient airflow and cooling performance.
Implementation Method 1
a pressure gain feature in the rotor arm of the gas turbine engine, which operates as a centrifugal pump to increase the pressure of the cooling air
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 3A
AI summary
Gas turbine engines and rotor arms thereof are described. The gas turbine engines (400) include a first disk (402), a second disk (404), and a rotor arm (406) arranged between and connecting the first disk (402) to the second disk (404), wherein a cavity (424) is defined at least between the rotor arm (406) and the first disk (402). The rotor arm (406) includes a radial portion (412) having an inner diameter end (416) and an outer diameter end (418), an axial portion (414) having a first end (420) and a second end (422), wherein the first end (420) of the axial portion (414) is connected to the outer diameter end (418) of the radial portion (412), at least one entrance flow path (408) defined within the radial portion (412) extending from the inner diameter end (416) to the outer diameter end (418), and at least one exit aperture (410) arranged proximate the second end (422) of the axial portion (414).