Turbine Ring Assembly CMC Cooling Orifices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Turbine ring assemblies made of metal require extensive cooling, which reduces engine performance and limits temperature increase, while ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials offer mechanical advantages but are stiff and difficult to weld, leading to uneven temperature distribution and mechanical stresses due to axial temperature gradients.
Innovation Solution
A turbine ring assembly with CMC material and a ring support structure featuring injection orifices that direct cooling air to form a revolving flow, eliminating axial temperature gradients and enhancing heat exchange without additional parts like impact sheets, using angled injection orifices and fluid flow disturbers for improved cooling uniformity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If metal material is used for turbine ring, then mechanical strength and weldability are improved, but cooling requirements increase and temperature resistance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by using ceramic matrix composite (CMC) for the turbine ring sectors while retaining metal for the ring support structure. This composite approach allows the CMC sectors to provide high-temperature resistance while the metal support provides structural strength and cooling capabilities, resolving the contradiction between strength and temperature resistance.
2Temperature
If CMC material is used for turbine ring sectors, then temperature resistance and weight are improved, but mechanical admittance and weldability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the turbine ring into multiple CMC sectors that are assembled together with sealing elements between them. This segmentation approach avoids the need to weld entire ring structures, as the sectors are joined mechanically and sealed, resolving the weldability issue while maintaining temperature resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials by combining CMC sectors with metal support structure and sealing elements. This composite construction allows each material to be used where it is most effective, avoiding the need to weld CMC materials while maintaining overall structural integrity and temperature resistance.
3Quantity of substance
If CMC material is used for turbine ring, then cooling stream requirement is reduced, but temperature uniformity deteriorates due to axial gradients
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing cooling orifices at specific locations on the ring support structure that target the regions with highest thermal gradients. The cooling air is directed locally to the CMC sectors through these orifices, creating localized cooling zones that address the axial temperature gradients without requiring extensive cooling throughout the entire structure.
4Temperature
If multiply-perforated sheet is added for cooling enhancement, then heat exchange coefficient is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cooling function from a separate multiply-perforated sheet component and integrates it directly into the ring support structure by forming cooling orifices within the support structure itself. This integration eliminates the need for separate cooling sheets and their associated sealing and attachment requirements, reducing device complexity while maintaining heat exchange effectiveness.
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
The solution achieves improved thermal profiles and reduced weight by creating a revolving flow that increases overall heat exchange coefficients, eliminating the need for additional cooling components and addressing the challenges of CMC material stiffness and welding limitations.
Implementation Method 1
injection orifices that direct cooling air to form a revolving flow, eliminating axial temperature gradients and enhancing heat exchange
Implementation Method 2
increases overall heat exchange coefficients
Implementation Method 3
stream of cooling air that eliminates the axial temperature gradient
Implementation Method 4
enhancing heat exchange without additional parts like impact sheets
Data Source
AI summary
A turbine ring assembly including a ring support structure and a plurality of ring sectors made of ceramic matrix composite material forming a turbine ring, each sector presenting in a first section plane defined by an axial direction and a radial direction of the ring a portion forming an annular base having, in the radial direction, an inner face and an outer face from which there extend two attachment tabs defining between them a circumferentially-open annular cavity, the structure including two radial tabs between which the attachment tabs are held, and at least one injection orifice for injecting a stream of cooling air into the annular cavity. In a second section plane containing the axial direction and a direction orthogonal to the first section plane, the orifice forms a first feed angle relative to the direction orthogonal to the first section plane, the first feed angle lying in the range −80° to +80°.