Tandem Blade Rotor Disk for Gas Turbine Compressor
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gas turbine engines face durability issues due to increased temperatures in the compressor section, particularly in the aft-most vane and blade stage, leading to damage from high-temperature air flowing through the shroud cavities.
Innovation Solution
The tandem rotor disk apparatus combines two blade stages into a single stage, eliminating intervening stator vanes and using a rotor disk body with tandem blades that are axially offset, reducing shrouded cavities and windage heat-up, thereby lowering metal temperatures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional alternating stages of vanes and rotors are used in the compressor section, then the engine can achieve sufficient compression, but the aft-most vane and blade stage are susceptible to damage from high temperature air flowing through shroud cavities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines two separate blade stages (a forward blade stage and an aft blade stage) into a single integrated rotor disk assembly, eliminating the intervening stator vane stage. This merging removes the shroud cavity that would otherwise exist between separate stages, preventing high-temperature air from damaging individual blade stages while maintaining compression functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and eliminates the intervening stator vane stage from the conventional alternating sequence of vanes and rotors. By removing this intermediate stage, the patent eliminates the shroud cavity that traps hot air, thereby protecting the blade stages from thermal damage while preserving the necessary compression through the tandem blade configuration.
2Temperature
If intervening stator vanes are used between rotor stages, then proper airflow control is achieved, but additional shrouded cavities are created that increase windage heat-up
Solution Approach 1:
By merging two rotor blade stages into a single integrated assembly with axially offset blades, the invention eliminates the shroud cavity that would exist between a rotor and intervening stator. This removal of the cavity eliminates the source of windage heat-up while the tandem blade configuration maintains proper airflow control and compression functionality.
3Productivity
If multiple separate blade stages are used, then compression ratio is increased, but the complexity of the rotor disk and number of components increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges two blade stages into a single rotor disk assembly, reducing the total number of separate components while maintaining the compression functionality. The integrated design with axially offset tandem blades achieves the compression ratio of multiple stages without the complexity of multiple separate rotor disks and intervening stators.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention arranges blades in the axial dimension by offsetting the forward and aft blade stages along the axis, allowing two functional blade stages to occupy a single radial plane. This dimensional arrangement enables multiple compression functions without increasing radial complexity or requiring multiple separate rotor disks.
Data Source
AI summary
A tandem rotor disk apparatus may include a rotor disk body concentric about an axis. The tandem rotor disk apparatus may also include a first blade extending radially outward of the rotor disk body and a second blade extending radially outward of the rotor disk body. The first blade may be offset from the second blade in a direction parallel to the axis. The tandem rotor disk apparatus may be implemented in a gas turbine engine with no intervening stator vane stages disposed between the first blade and the second blade.