Variable Airfoil Component Assembly for Gas Turbine Engines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine engines face inefficiencies due to separate nozzle components aft of the combustor, leading to flow path steps, purge flows, and increased weight, which complicates mounting and reduces performance.
Innovation Solution
A component assembly with an outer and inner shell featuring integral airfoils that extend inward and outward, respectively, allowing for translational and rotational movement between positions to adjust the throat distance, thereby optimizing the core air flowpath and eliminating the need for separate nozzles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If separate nozzle components are used aft of the combustor, then the airfoil structure can be provided, but flow path steps and purge flows are created, reducing efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the nozzle airfoils with the combustion liner by integrating the airfoil structure directly into the liner body. The airfoils are formed as integral portions of the combustion liner, eliminating separate nozzle components and their associated mounting hardware. This merging eliminates flow path steps and purge flows between discrete components while maintaining the necessary airfoil geometry for efficient gas flow.
Solution Approach 2:
The combustion liner is segmented into multiple functional zones: the airfoil section that interfaces with turbine gases, the combustion chamber section, and the cooling passage section. This segmentation allows each zone to be optimized for its specific function while being manufactured as a single integrated component, resolving the contradiction between structural complexity and flow efficiency.
2Weight of moving object
If separate nozzle components are used, then mounting flexibility is provided, but weight is increased and mounting is complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle airfoils and combustion liner are merged into a single integrated component, eliminating the weight of separate nozzle assemblies, mounting brackets, fasteners, and sealing elements. The integral construction reduces the total number of parts and simplifies the mounting process to a single assembly operation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If fixed throat distance is used, then manufacturing is simplified, but adaptability to different flight conditions is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The combustion liner is designed with movable sections that allow the throat distance to be dynamically adjusted based on flight conditions. The liner can be positioned in different axial locations relative to the airfoils, enabling optimization of the flow path for various operating regimes such as takeoff, cruise, and idle conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
A component assembly for a gas turbine engine defining a core air flowpath is provided. The component assembly includes an outer shell comprising a first array of integral outer shell airfoils that extend inward from an outer shell periphery; and an inner shell comprising a second array of integral inner shell airfoils that extend outward from an inner shell periphery, wherein the outer shell and the inner shell are one or both of translatable and rotatable relative to one another between a first position and a second position.