Patent Application
20190154055
Embodiments of the subject matter described herein relate to turbofan engine fan blades and a method for setting turbofan engine fan blades.
Modern turbofan engines usually comprise a fan rotor and one or more core rotors. Generally, in operation, the rotor blades in the fan rotor rotate about the shaft to compress a flow of air. The resulting supply of compressed air is then supplied to the core rotors when further compression occurs and then to the combustor where energy in the form of combusted fuel is added to the flow stream. The resulting flow of hot gases from the combustor is expanded through several sets of turbines, which causes the turbine rotor blades to rotate about the shaft. In this manner, the energy contained in the fuel is converted into the mechanical energy of the rotating blades, which may be used to rotate the rotor blades of the fan and/or the coils of a generator to generate electricity.
The ever-increasing demand for energy makes the objective of engineering more efficient turbofan engines an ongoing and significant one. Specifically, it's desired to improve the turbofan engine's overall pressure ratio (OPR) for better efficiency. Furthermore, it is also desired to reduce the booster stage count to get a more compact turbofan engine.
In one embodiment, the invention relates to a turbofan engine, the turbofan engine comprising a fan rotor, a plurality of main blades, the main blades are circumferentially mounted on the fan rotor; a plurality of spinner blades, the spinner blades are circumferentially mounted on the fan rotor, the spinner blades are located forward to the leading edge of the main blade; each spinner blade is circumferentially offset to a corresponding main blade.
In another embodiment, the invention relates to a method for setting the turbofan engine's blade orientation, the method comprising: circumferentially mounting a plurality of main fan blades on the fan rotor; circumferentially mounting a plurality of spinner blades on the fan rotor, the spinner blades are located forward of the leading edge of the main fan blade; setting the plurality of main blades and the plurality of spinner blades to make each spinner blade circumferentially offset to a corresponding main blade.
A more particular description of embodiments of the inventive subject matter briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the inventive subject matter and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, embodiments of the inventive subject matter will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
In the background and the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the technology described herein. It will be evident to one skilled in the art, however, that the exemplary embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, structures and devices are shown in diagram form in order to facilitate description of the exemplary embodiments.
The exemplary embodiments are described with reference to the drawings. These drawings illustrate certain details of specific embodiments that implement a module, method, or computer program product described herein. However, the drawings should not be construed as imposing any limitations that may be present in the drawings.
In embodiments of the invention, the radius ratio of the main blades 21 is set to 0.25-0.3. The term radius ratio refers to radius of the fan at the hub leading edge to the radius of the fan at the blade tip. The relatively lower radius ratio (0.25-0.3) design could achieve higher airflow with reduced fan diameter. It also helps to increase the amount of core flow of the engine and therefore decreases bypass ratio.
In embodiments of the invention, the setting pattern of main blades and spinner blades is different from the aforementioned prior art. As shown in
The offset amount will be measured by the method described below, as shown in
In embodiments of the invention, as shown in
In another embodiment of the invention, the turbofan engine's compressor comprises a spinner blisk and spinner blades belonging to the spinner blisk. The plurality of main blades 42 are mounted on a fan disk 47, the fan disk is mounted on the rotor. The spinner blisk and the fan disk are connected by bolts via flange 45. The fan spinner 46 is connected to the spinner blisk (41, 43) by bolt 44 which located in front of the spinner blisk (41, 43).
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
