Electric heating for turbomachinery clearance control
AssigneeRaytheon Technologies Corporation
InventorsNeil Terwilliger, Christopher J. Hanlon, Patrick D Couture, Coy Bruce Wood
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A clearance control system for a gas turbine engine may comprise a rotor blade, an outer structure disposed radially outward from the rotor blade, and a heating element configured to cause the outer structure to be heated in response to electric current being supplied to the heating element, wherein a gap between the rotor blade and the outer structure is at least one of increased, decreased, and maintained in response to the outer structure being heated.
Claims15
A gas turbine engine, comprising:
- an engine case;
- a rotor blade disposed within the engine case, the rotor blade configured to rotate about an engine centerline axis;
- an outer structure disposed radially outward from the rotor blade, wherein the outer structure comprises an outer air seal;
- at least one case support associated with the engine case, wherein the at least one case support extends radially inward from the engine case;
- a clearance control ring positioned adjacent the at least one case support to form an internal cavity between the engine case and the clearance control ring, and wherein the at least one case support provides support for the clearance control ring;
- and
- a heating element operatively coupled to the clearance control ring;
- wherein the clearance control ring is mounted to the outer air seal such that the clearance control ring can move independently of the engine case;
- in response to electric current being supplied to the heating element, the heating element causes the clearance control ring to be heated and, in response to the clearance control ring being heated, the clearance control ring and the outer air seal move together in a first direction with respect to the engine case and the at least one case support;
- and
- a volume of the internal cavity varies in response to the clearance control ring moving with respect to the engine case.
A method for controlling blade tip clearance for a gas turbine engine, comprising:
- detecting, by a controller, a condition of the gas turbine engine;
- sending, by the controller, electric current to a heating element;
- heating, by the heating element, a clearance control ring, wherein the clearance control ring is positioned adjacent at least one case support to form an internal cavity between an engine case and the clearance control ring, and wherein the clearance control ring is mounted to an outer air seal such that the clearance control ring can move independently of the engine case;
- and
- moving the clearance control ring together with the outer air seal in a first direction with respect to the engine case and the at least one case support to maintain a gap between a rotor blade and the outer air seal,
- wherein the at least one case support extends radially inward from the engine case, and the at least one case support provides support for the clearance control ring.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.