Patent Application
20130015653
The present disclosure relates to an articulated scissor duct, and more particularly to a damped scissors duct.
In some launch vehicles, in flight trajectory control is provided through steerable rocket engines. Such steerability may be achieved by interconnecting actuators to a gimbaled rocket engine. To accommodate such steerability, propellant lines may utilize flexible interconnects often known as flex joints. Such flex joints may include multiple bellows fabricated from stainless steel which can be stretched, compressed or angulated to provide the steerability required
Flex joints may be subject to unstable flow regimes in which fluids that flow along internal convolutions of the flex joint bellows may produce flow disturbances. One type of flow disturbance is flow induced vortex shedding. Flow induced vortex shedding is an unsteady flow that may occur at certain fluid flow velocities. The flow disturbances and structural response may result in feedback which may cause large displacements of the bellows convolutions and high cycle fatigue.
Usually, attempts are made to confine the flow velocity to regimes that do not have the potential to excite the bellow convolutions, but this may be difficult in systems with a highly throttleable flow.
Various features will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the disclosed non-limiting embodiment. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows:
The flex joint assembly 20 generally includes a center ring assembly 24, a first ring 26, a second ring 28, a first stabilizer linkage 30, a second stabilizer linkage 32 and a damper 34 between the stabilizer linkages 30, 32. A first bellows 36 is located between the center ring assembly 24 and the first ring 26 and a second bellows 38 is located between the center ring assembly 24 and the second ring 28 to accommodate expansion, compression and angular movement. The center ring assembly 24 and stabilizing linkages 30, 32 provide resistance to bellow system buckling or “squirm”. A torsional bellows 40 may be located between a first center ring 42 and a second center ring 44 of the center ring assembly 24 to accommodate torsional flexibility.
The stabilizer linkage 30 generally include a first arm 46 pivotally attached to the first ring 26 at a pivot 48 and a second arm 50 pivotally attached to the first center ring 42 at a pivot 52. The first arm 46 is pivotally attached to the second arm 50 at a pivot 54. The stabilizer linkage 32 likewise generally includes a first arm 56 pivotally attached to the second ring 28 at a pivot 58 and a second arm 60 pivotally attached to the second center ring 44 at a pivot 62. The first arm 56 is pivotally attached to the second arm 60 at a pivot 64. It should be understood that multiple stabilizer linkages 30, 32 may be circumferentially located about the respective bellows 36, 38 to provide the desired control.
The stabilizing linkages 30, 32 advantageously provide a location to attach the damper 34 such as a hydraulic or mechanical damper. In the event of a flow instability (
The flex joint assembly 20 effectively damps vibration due to flow induced vibration of the fluid interacting with the bellows convolutions. The flex joint assembly 20 will also damp out center ring assembly 24 dynamic response due to engine or vehicle induced random, sinusoidal, or shock induced vibration. The load acting on the damper is a dynamic vibratory relative motion across the two linkages. This vibratory load may be provided by the motion of an automobile, train, bridge, airplane, vessel, building structure, gas pipeline, etc.
It should be understood that relative positional terms such as “forward,” “aft,” “upper,” “lower,” “above,” “below,” and the like are with reference to the normal operational attitude of the vehicle and should not be considered otherwise limiting.
It should be understood that like reference numerals identify corresponding or similar elements throughout the several drawings. It should also be understood that although a particular component arrangement is disclosed in the illustrated embodiment, other arrangements will benefit herefrom.
Although particular step sequences are shown, described, and claimed, it should be understood that steps may be performed in any order, separated or combined unless otherwise indicated and will still benefit from the present disclosure.
The foregoing description is exemplary rather than defined by the limitations within. Various non-limiting embodiments are disclosed herein, however, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that various modifications and variations in light of the above teachings will fall within the scope of the appended claims. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the disclosure may be practiced other than as specifically described. For that reason the appended claims should be studied to determine true scope and content.
