Claims
- 1. A system for supporting a marine power plant in a ship's hull wherein the marine power plant includes at least one steam turbine, the support system comprising:
- a plurality of power plant support girders mounted starboard to port and spaced apart in the fore to aft direction;
- plate members attached to the girders to form an enclosure;
- an opening in the topside plate of the enclosure for admitting steam into the enclosure from the steam turbine;
- end caps attached at opposite ends to the enclosure;
- a water inlet and a water outlet attached to at least one of the end caps; and,
- a drain well attached to the underside of the enclosure in fluid communication with the topside opening whereby the enclosure functions both as a power plant support and a steam condenser.
- 2. The support system recited in claim 1 wherein the girders contained within the enclosure are formed with cutouts to permit the axial flow of steam within the enclosure.
- 3. The support system recited in claim 1 further comprising:
- at least one flex rail running fore to aft on each side of the support system and fixed with respect to the girders, said flex rails slidably mounted with respect to the ship's hull whereby axial thermal expansion of the support system is accommodated.
- 4. The support system recited in claim 1 further comprising:
- at least one "A" frame support mounted in the ship's hull and adapted to slidably engage the support system for permitting axial and vertical movement of the enclosure while restraining-athwart ship's movement of the enclosure
- 5. The support system recited in claim 1 further comprising:
- noise isolation mounts between the turbine and the enclosure whereby the transmission of noise vibration between the turbine and the ship's hull is minimized.
- 6. The support system recited in claim 1 wherein the steam turbine is drivingly connected to a gear supported in a gear casing and further including:
- a pair of plate box sections' extending fore to aft and attached to the turbine-condenser support, said gear casing supported by and bridging between said pair of plate box sections and said gear lying between said pair of box sections.
- 7. A system for supporting a marine power plant in a ship's hull wherein the power plant includes a propulsion steam turbine drivingly connected to a gear and a ship's service steam turbine drivingly connected to an electrical generator, the support system comprising:
- a plurality of power plant support girders running starboard to port and spaced apart in the fore to aft direction;
- plate members attached to the girders to form an enclosure;
- openings in the topside of the enclosure for admitting steam into the enclosure from the steam turbines;
- a water inlet and a water outlet attached to the enclosure; and,
- a well attached to the underside of the enclosure in fluid communication with the topside openings, the propulsion steam turbine and the ship's service turbinegenerator set being supported on the topside plate and girders whereby the enclosure functions both as a support system and a steam condenser.
- 8. The system recited in claim 7 further comprising:
- at least one plate box section extending starboard to port; and, at least one pair of spaced apart box sections extending in the fore and aft direction and supported on opposite sides of the hull and each fixed to one end of the starboard to port box section to form a gear support subassembly, the subassembly being fixed to and a part of the overall support system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention was made in the course of and under a Contract N00024-79-C-4l74 with the U. S. Navy. Rights to the U.S. Government in this invention are set forth in Patent Rights Clause 7-302.23(b) of the aforesaid Contract.
This invention is especially applicable to the design of support systems for marine power plants with specific application in the field of submarine vessels. The invention incorporates steam turbine condensers into the design of the support and uses the condensers as part of the supporting structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,531,178 represents one form of support system for a marine power plant available in the prior art. In that patent, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, a ship's service turbine-generator set is mounted on a support system which includes heavy base plates for the exciter and generator pedestal, the generator itself, the reduction gears and the turbine flex plates. In addition to these multiple base plates, the support system further includes fore to aft channel members and starboard to port channel members which when tied together form a massive rectangular subbase. The condenser is then hung from this subbase using plates which act in part as a flexure member. The condenser provides resistance to torsional deformation but does not support the subbase vertical load but rather adds to it. Moreover, the condenser and subbase as shown in the patent require redundant plate metal, in light of the present invention, thus adding unnecessarily to the payload of the ship.
If the patented design were to include two such marine power plants mounted side by side, the traditional plan of construction would require a ship centerline support in the form of a massive fore to aft box-beam supported on spaced apart "A" frame supports. The double-span construction introduced by the present invention obviates the heretofore required central box beam. Thus, weight savings are further provided by the combined turbine support system and condenser and by deleting the centerline box beam.
Since "A" frame members in the present invention do not carry vertical loads, further weight savings are achieved by diminished cross-sections. The present invention utilizes "A" frame members as a centering device for the condenser turbine support for accommodating rolling ship movement.
In addition, flex rails mounted on each side of the condenser turbine support permit thermal expansion of the support system while also accommodating hull deflections.
The present invention further addresses a marine power plant which also includes a propulsion turbine connected to a reduction or low speed gear and provides a mounting platform for these components comprised of plate metal box girders. Likewise, isolation of rotating component vibration is assured at the base of each component rather than between the overall base and the vessel hull.
It is an object of the invention to provide a weight reduced support system for a marine power plant.
It is another object of the invention to provide a support system for a marine power plant capable of withstanding vertical shock loads, hull deflections, and thermal expansions.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a support system for a marine power plant wherein reduced weight is accompanied by acceptable structure-borne noise vibration isolation.
The novel features believed characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention, itself, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood with reference to the following description taken in connection with the drawings.
A structural support system of reduced weight is proposed for a marine power plant which may include a steam driven propulsion turbine drivingly connected to a gear and propeller shaft and further including a ship service steam turbine generator set. The structural support system comprises a plurality of girders which span the entire width of the ship's hull and are spaced apart in the fore to aft direction. Plate members are attached to the top and side of the girders to form an enclosure which functions as a support and condenser for the aforementioned turbines. End caps including inlet and outlet headers are attached to selected girders and a drain well is attached at the bottom of the enclosure to further define the complete condenser. Cut-outs are provided in the top side of the plate to provide a discharge annulus for each steam turbine into the condenser. A unique "A" frame support limits movement of the condenser from side to side. Distributed isolation mounts are provided to minimize the passage of structure-borne noise from the rotating equipment into the condenser support structure.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
| 458257 |
Jul 1949 |
CAX |
| 651246 |
Mar 1951 |
GBX |
Patent Grant
4747360
