This disclosure relates generally to a gas turbine engine and, more particularly, to a root spacer for arranging between a rotor disk and a root of a rotor blade.
A fan rotor for a typical turbofan gas turbine engine includes a plurality of fan blades arranged circumferentially around a rotor disk. Each fan blade may include an airfoil connected to a dovetail root. The root is inserted into a respective dovetail slot within the rotor disk to connect the fan blade to the rotor disk. A radial height of the root is typically less than a radial height of the slot to facilitate fan blade assembly with the rotor disk. A gap may therefore extend between a radial inner surface of the root and a radial inner surface of the slot. Such a gap is typically filled with a root spacer, which is sometimes also referred to as a fan blade spacer. Various types and configurations of root spacers are known in the art. While these known root spacers have various benefits, there is still room in the art for improvement.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a rotor assembly is provided that includes a rotor disk, a rotor blade and a rotor spacer. The rotor disk includes a slot. The rotor blade includes a blade root arranged within the slot. The root spacer is arranged within the slot between the rotor disk and the blade root. The root spacer is configured as or otherwise includes a cellular structure with a plurality of internal cells.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, another rotor assembly is provided that includes a rotor disk, a rotor blade and a rotor spacer. The rotor disk includes a slot. The rotor blade includes a blade root arranged within the slot. The root spacer is arranged within the slot radially between the rotor disk and the blade root. The root spacer is configured with a plurality of apertures in the root spacer. A first of the apertures has a lateral width that is less than a radial thickness of the root spacer at the first of the apertures.
According to still another aspect of the present disclosure, another rotor assembly is provided that includes a rotor disk, a rotor blade and a rotor spacer. The rotor disk includes a slot. The rotor disk is configured to rotate about an axis. The rotor blade includes a blade root arranged within the slot. The root spacer is arranged within the slot between the rotor disk and the blade root. The root spacer has a corrugated geometry in a reference plane perpendicular to the axis.
The slot may extend longitudinally into the rotor disk from an axial side of the rotor disk. The root spacer may include a plurality of longitudinally extending corrugations.
The first of the apertures may include a cavity embedded within the root spacer.
The root spacer may include a cellular core forming the plurality of apertures.
The internal cells may include a plurality of closed cells.
The internal cells may include a plurality of open cells.
The cellular structure may be formed from a porous material. The internal cells may include a plurality of pores within the porous material.
The cellular structure may include: a first sidewall engaging the blade root; a second sidewall engaging the rotor disk; and a cellular core between and connected to the first sidewall and the second sidewall.
The cellular core may include a plurality of core elements extending between the first sidewall and the second sidewall.
A first of the core elements may be configured as or otherwise include a column.
A first of the core elements may be configured as or otherwise include a rail.
The cellular core may be configured as or otherwise include a honeycomb core.
The first sidewall may be non-perforated. An addition or alternatively, the second sidewall may be non-perforated.
A first portion of the cellular structure may have a first porosity. A second portion of the cellular structure may have a second porosity that is different than the first porosity.
The root spacer may be radially between the rotor disk and the blade root. The root spacer may have a radial thickness at a first of the internal cells. The first of the internal cells may have a lateral width that is less than the radial thickness.
The root spacer may be radially between the rotor disk and the blade root. A first of the internal cells may have a radial height and a lateral width that is less than the radial height.
The rotor blade may be configured as a gas turbine engine fan blade.
The slot may be one of a plurality of slots that extend longitudinally into the rotor disk. The rotor blade may be one of a plurality of rotor blades that are arranged circumferentially around an axis. Each of the rotor blades may include a respective blade root that is arranged within a respective one of the slots. The root spacer may be one of a plurality of root spacers. Each of the root spacers may be arranged within a respective one of the slots between the rotor disk and a respective one of the blade roots.
The present disclosure may include any one or more of the individual features disclosed above and/or below alone or in any combination thereof.
The foregoing features and the operation of the invention will become more apparent in light of the following description and the accompanying drawings.
The engine sections 28-31B are arranged sequentially along the axial centerline 22 within an engine housing 34. This engine housing 34 includes an inner case 36 (e.g., a core case) and an outer case 38 (e.g., a fan case). The inner case 36 may house one or more of the engine sections 29A-31B; e.g., a core of the gas turbine engine 20. The outer case 38 may house at least the fan section 28.
Each of the engine sections 28, 29A, 29B, 31A and 31B includes a respective bladed rotor 40-44. Each of these bladed rotors 40-44 includes a plurality of rotor blades arranged circumferentially around and connected to one or more respective rotor disks. The rotor blades, for example, may be formed integral with or mechanically fastened, welded, brazed, adhered and/or otherwise attached to the respective rotor disk(s).
The fan rotor 40 is connected to a geartrain 46, for example, through a fan shaft 48. The geartrain 46 and the LPC rotor 41 are connected to and driven by the LPT rotor 44 through a low speed shaft 49. The HPC rotor 42 is connected to and driven by the HPT rotor 43 through a high speed shaft 50. The shafts 48-50 are rotatably supported by a plurality of bearings 52; e.g., rolling element and/or thrust bearings. Each of these bearings 52 is connected to the engine housing 34 by at least one stationary structure such as, for example, an annular support strut.
During operation, air enters the gas turbine engine 20 through the airflow inlet 24. This air is directed through the fan section 28 and into a core flowpath 54 and a bypass flowpath 56. The core flowpath 54 extends sequentially through the engine sections 29A-31B; e.g., the engine core. The air within the core flowpath 54 may be referred to as “core air”. The bypass flowpath 56 extends through a bypass duct, which bypass flowpath 56 bypasses (e.g., extends outboard of) the engine core. The air within the bypass flowpath 56 may be referred to as “bypass air”.
The core air is compressed by the LPC rotor 41 and the HPC rotor 42 and directed into a (e.g., annular) combustion chamber 58 of a (e.g., annular) combustor 60 in the combustor section 30. Fuel is injected into the combustion chamber 58 through one or more fuel injectors and mixed with the compressed core air to provide a fuel-air mixture. This fuel-air mixture is ignited and combustion products thereof flow through and sequentially cause the HPT rotor 43 and the LPT rotor 44 to rotate. The rotation of the HPT rotor 43 and the LPT rotor 44 respectively drive rotation of the HPC rotor 42 and the LPC rotor 41 and, thus, compression of the air received from an inlet to the core flowpath 54. The rotation of the LPT rotor 44 also drives rotation of the fan rotor 40, which propels bypass air through and out of the bypass flowpath 56. The propulsion of the bypass air may account for a majority of thrust generated by the gas turbine engine 20, e.g., more than seventy-five percent (75%) of engine thrust. The gas turbine engine 20 of the present disclosure, however, is not limited to the foregoing exemplary thrust ratio.
The rotor disk 66 extends axially along the rotational axis 64 between and to a forward, upstream side 72 of the rotor disk 66 and an aft, downstream side 74 of the rotor disk 66. The rotor disk 66 extends radially out to a distal, outer side 76 of the rotor disk 66. The rotor disk 66 extends circumferentially around the rotational axis 64, which provides the rotor disk 66 of
The rotor disk 66 includes one or more blade root slots 78 (e.g., dovetail slots) arranged circumferentially about the rotational axis 64 in an array. Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The outer sidewall 120 may be configured from or otherwise include a solid layer of material; e.g., a non-perforated, non-porous layer of material. This outer sidewall 120 at least partially or completely forms the spacer outer surface 110. The outer sidewall 120 has a radial thickness 126.
The inner sidewall 122 may be configured from or otherwise include a solid layer of material; e.g., a non-perforated, non-porous layer of material. This inner sidewall 122 at least partially or completely forms the spacer inner surface 108. The inner sidewall 122 has a radial thickness 128 that may be equal to or different (e.g., greater or less) than the outer sidewall thickness 126.
The cellular core 124 is arranged radially between the outer sidewall 120 and the inner sidewall 122. The cellular core 124 of
The cellular core 124 is connected to the outer sidewall 120 and the inner sidewall 122. The cellular core 124, for example, may be formed integral with the outer sidewall 120 and/or the inner sidewall 122 using additive manufacturing, casting, and/or other manufacturing techniques. With such a configuration, the cellular core 124 and, more broadly, the root spacer 70 may be formed as a single monolithic body. In another example, the cellular core 124 is formed discrete from and then bonded and/or otherwise attached to the outer sidewall 120 and/or the inner sidewall 122.
The cellular structure 118 and its cellular core 124 and, more generally, the root spacer 70 are configured to elastically (e.g., temporarily) and/or plastically (e.g., permanently) deform under certain conditions. The cellular structure 118 and its cellular core 124, for example, may be configured to deform when the rotor blade 68 exerts more than a threshold load onto the root spacer 70. This threshold load may be selected to be, for example, slightly (e.g., by a safety factor) less than an impact load that may be exerted when the rotor blade 68 comes into contact with a relatively large foreign object; e.g., a relatively large bird. With such an arrangement, the root spacer 70 may operate as a damper for the rotor blade 68 thereby reducing or eliminating impact related damage (e.g., foreign object damage (FOD)) to the rotor blade 68. The deformation of the cellular structure 118 and its cellular core 124, for example, may facilitate controlled pitching, pivoting and/or other movement of the impacted rotor blade 68 relative to the rotor disk 66.
The cellular core 124 of
Each of the core elements 132 of
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In some embodiments, referring to
In some embodiments, referring to
In some embodiments, the root spacer 70 may be formed from a single material. In other embodiments, the root spacer 70 may be formed from multiple materials, where the different materials are selectively placed to enhance/tune the deformation. Examples of root spacer materials include, but are not limited to, metal (e.g., aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti) and/or alloys thereof) and composite material (e.g., fiber-reinforced polymer). The present disclosure, however, is not limited to the foregoing exemplary materials.
The rotor assembly 62 and/or its root spacers 70 may be included in various gas turbine engines other than the one described above. The rotor assembly 62 and/or its root spacers 70, for example, may be included in a geared gas turbine engine where a geartrain connects one or more shafts to one or more rotors in a fan section, a compressor section and/or any other engine section. Alternatively, the rotor assembly 62 and/or its root spacers 70 may be included in a direct drive gas turbine engine configured without a geartrain. The rotor assembly 62 and/or its root spacers 70 may be included in a gas turbine engine configured with a single spool, with two spools (e.g., see
While various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of the disclosure. For example, the present disclosure as described herein includes several aspects and embodiments that include particular features. Although these features may be described individually, it is within the scope of the present disclosure that some or all of these features may be combined with any one of the aspects and remain within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.
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Number | Date | Country |
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Entry |
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EP search report for EP23206768.6 dated Jan. 31, 2024. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20240141794 A1 | May 2024 | US |