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US 11,236,631 B2Granted
Mechanical iris tip clearance control
AssigneesRolls-Royce North American Technologies Inc., ROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorsRichard Joseph Skertic, Joshua J. Gear, John Joseph Costello, Geoffrey L. Gatton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided that use a tip clearance control apparatus comprising a mechanical iris, where the tip clearance control apparatus controls a distance between a tip of a blade and a ring of abradable material positioned in an adjustable opening of the mechanical iris.
Claims18
A tip clearance control apparatus comprising:
- a mechanical iris having a plurality of mechanical iris leaves, radially inward facing edges of the mechanical iris leaves form an adjustable opening which approximates a circle, wherein the mechanical iris leaves overlap and are stacked in a direction parallel to an axial axis of the mechanical iris, and wherein the mechanical iris leaves are configured to slide over each other in a plane perpendicular to the axial axis which causes a size of the adjustable opening to change;
- a ring positioned in the adjustable opening of the mechanical iris, the ring defining an aperture;
- and
- a blade of a gas turbine engine, the blade positioned in the aperture of the ring,
- wherein the ring comprises abradable material, and wherein a distance between a tip of the blade and an inner surface of the ring is adjustable based on the size of the adjustable opening of the mechanical iris.
2 more elements
A system for tip clearance control comprising:
- a ring comprising abradable material, the ring encircling a volume in which a blade of a gas turbine engine is configured to rotate;
- and
- a mechanical iris having a plurality of mechanical iris leaves, radially inward facing edges of the mechanical iris leaves form an adjustable opening that encircles the ring, wherein the mechanical iris leaves overlap and are stacked in a direction parallel to an axial axis of the mechanical iris, and wherein the mechanical iris leaves are configured to slide over each other in a plane perpendicular to the axial axis which causes a size of the adjustable opening to change, and wherein a distance between a tip of the blade and an inner surface of the ring is adjustable by the size of the adjustable opening of the mechanical iris.
A method for controlling tip clearance, the method comprising:
- determining a tip clearance, the tip clearance indicative of a distance between a tip of a blade of a gas turbine engine and an inner surface of a ring within which the blade is configured to rotate, the ring positioned in an adjustable opening of a mechanical iris having a plurality of mechanical iris leaves, radially inward facing edges of the mechanical iris leaves form the adjustable opening which approximates a circle, wherein the mechanical iris leaves overlap and are stacked in a direction parallel to an axial axis of the mechanical iris, and wherein the mechanical iris leaves are configured to slide over each other in a plane perpendicular to the axial axis which causes a diameter of the adjustable opening to change;
- and
- adjusting the tip clearance by adjusting the diameter of the adjustable opening of the mechanical iris.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.