Gas Turbine Casing Surface Features for Lower Pressure Drop
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Solution Overview
Problem
Attritable gas turbine engines face efficiency reduction due to as-cast surface roughness in flow path components, leading to pressure drop challenges and increased component size, necessitating a need for a process to reduce flow losses and improve efficiency.
Innovation Solution
The process involves additively manufacturing surface features on the inner surfaces of flow passages using techniques like directed energy deposition, aligning or misaligning these features with the flow direction to reduce fluid resistance, employing materials and geometries such as scallop shapes, dimples, and ridges to optimize fluid flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If as-cast surfaces are used in flow path components, then manufacturing is simpler and faster, but pressure drop increases and efficiency reduces
Solution Approach 1:
The additive manufacturing process incorporates surface feature formation during the initial manufacturing step, eliminating the need for separate post-processing operations. The surface features are built in as the component is manufactured, reducing pressure drop without adding manufacturing steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the surface roughness parameters by controlling additive manufacturing process parameters such as layer thickness, scan speed, and build orientation. These parameter changes create optimized surface features that reduce pressure drop while maintaining manufacturing efficiency.
2Ease of manufacture
If as-cast surfaces are used in flow path components, then manufacturing is simpler, but component size must increase to compensate for pressure drop
Solution Approach 1:
By changing the surface roughness parameters through controlled additive manufacturing, the invention reduces flow resistance without modifying the overall component geometry. This allows maintaining compact component size while achieving lower pressure drop.
3Reliability
If conventional manufacturing techniques are used for attritable engines, then durability and safety requirements are met, but cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies additive manufacturing for attritable engines that have limited lifespan and are disposed after use. Since these engines don't require full durability of conventional engines, simpler and less costly additive manufacturing processes can be used, reducing complexity while meeting the reliability needs of short-lived applications.
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 pressure drop and enhances engine performance by aligning surface roughness with streamlines, allowing for more efficient fluid flow and potentially reducing engine size, while leveraging additive manufacturing to lower production costs and complexity.
Implementation Method 1
additively manufacturing surface features on the inner surfaces of flow passages using techniques like directed energy deposition
Implementation Method 2
aligning or misaligning these features with the flow direction to reduce fluid resistance
Data Source
AI summary
A process for additively controlled surface features of a gas turbine engine casing. The process comprises forming the casing having an inner surface and an outer surface opposite the inner surface; forming a surface feature on the casing proximate the inner surface, wherein the surface feature comprises a structure on the inner surface configured to align or misalign with respect to a flow direction of a working fluid in a flow path of the casing.