Rotor Stage Seal Member Assembly With Visible Locator Tab
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gas turbine engine rotor stages face challenges in assembly due to the difficulty in visually confirming the placement of seal members, which complicates the assembly process and may lead to improper installation.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a seal member with an axial locator tab that is visible within a tab slot, allowing for easy verification of proper placement during assembly, and includes platform channels and disk slots that facilitate assembly by providing clear visibility and alignment of the seal member.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a seal member is used to prevent air flow through the gap between rotor blade platforms, then sealing performance is improved, but assembly difficulty increases because the seal member configuration makes it hard to assemble and verify placement
Solution Approach 1:
The seal member includes a visual indicator feature that changes or provides visual information about its installation state. The indicator can be seen through the disk, allowing technicians to verify proper seal member placement without disassembly or complex inspection tools, thus resolving the contradiction between reliable sealing and easy assembly verification
Solution Approach 2:
A visual indicator acts as an intermediary between the seal member installation state and the technician's ability to verify it. This intermediary feature transmits information about the seal member's position and orientation through the disk structure, making the assembly process easier while maintaining sealing reliability
Data Source
AI summary
A rotor stage for a gas turbine engine is provided that includes first and second rotor blades, a disk, and a seal member. The rotor blades each have an airfoil, an attachment section, a neck section, and a platform. The disk has forward and aft axial end surfaces, an outer radial surface that extends between the forward and aft axial end surfaces, and disk slots configured to receive rotor blade attachment sections. In a rotor stage assembled state, the attachment sections are fully received in the disk slots, and adjacent rotor blade platforms, and the outer radial surface of the disk form a tab slot. In the assembled state, a central segment of the seal member is engaged with a platform channel disposed at a platform lateral edge surface, and an axial locator tab of the seal member is disposed in the at least one tab slot.