Method for forming an inspection access passage for an aircraft propulsion system
AssigneeRtx Corporation
InventorChristopher R. King
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for forming an access passage for a gas turbine engine of an aircraft propulsion system includes installing a tooling jig on an engine case of the gas turbine engine at a port at a turbine section radially outward of a turbine vane stage, aligning the tooling jig on the engine case and fixedly mounting the tooling jig on the engine case, and drilling a first access aperture of the access passage through the inner ring along the tooling axis with a drill bit inserted into the first turbine vane through a tooling aperture of the tooling jig. The access passage extends through the turbine vane stage to a rotor cavity disposed radially inward of the turbine vane stage and between an upstream rotor stage and a downstream rotor stage of a bladed turbine rotor.
Claims20
A method for forming an access passage for a gas turbine engine of an aircraft propulsion system, the method comprising:
- installing a tooling jig on an engine case of the gas turbine engine at a port, the port disposed at a turbine section of the gas turbine engine radially outward of a turbine vane stage, the tooling jig forming a tooling aperture extending through the tooling jig along a tooling axis;
- aligning the tooling jig on the engine case by inserting an alignment tool through the tooling aperture and into a first turbine vane of the turbine vane stage along the tooling axis and, with the alignment tool disposed within the tooling aperture and the first turbine vane, fixedly mounting the tooling jig on the engine case such that the tooling axis extends through an internal cavity of the first turbine vane to an inner ring of the turbine vane stage;
- and
- drilling a first access aperture of the access passage through the inner ring along the tooling axis with a first drill bit inserted into the first turbine vane through the tooling aperture, the access passage extending through the turbine vane stage to a rotor cavity disposed radially inward of the turbine vane stage, the rotor cavity further formed by and axially between an upstream rotor stage and a downstream rotor stage of a bladed turbine rotor relative to a rotational axis of the bladed turbine rotor.
A method for forming an access passage for a gas turbine engine of an aircraft propulsion system, the method comprising:
- installing a tooling jig on an engine case of the gas turbine engine at a port, the port disposed at a turbine section of the gas turbine engine radially outward of a turbine vane stage, the tooling jig forming a tooling aperture extending through the tooling jig along a tooling axis, the tooling axis extending through an internal cavity of a first turbine vane of the turbine vane stage to an inner ring of the turbine vane stage;
- drilling a first access aperture of the access passage through the inner ring along the tooling axis with a first drill bit extending through the tooling aperture;
- and
- drilling a second access aperture of the access passage through a gas seal along the tooling axis with a second drill bit extending through the tooling aperture, the gas seal mounted on the inner ring, the gas seal forming a rotor cavity disposed radially inward of the gas seal, the rotor cavity further formed by and between an upstream rotor stage and a downstream rotor stage of a bladed turbine rotor relative to a rotational axis of the bladed turbine rotor, the access passage extending through the port, the internal cavity, the first access aperture, and the second access aperture along the tooling axis.
A method for forming an access passage for a gas turbine engine of an aircraft propulsion system, the method comprising:
- removing a cooling air pipe connected at a port of the engine, the port disposed at an engine case surrounding a turbine section of the gas turbine engine radially outward of a turbine vane stage, the turbine vane stage including a first turbine vane, the first turbine vane including an internal cavity and an internal baffle disposed within the internal cavity;
- removing the internal baffle from the first turbine vane through the port;
- installing a tooling jig on the engine case at the port, the tooling jig forming a tooling aperture extending through the tooling jig along a tooling axis;
- drilling a first access aperture of the access passage through an inner ring of the turbine vane stage along the tooling axis with a first drill bit inserted into the first turbine vane through the tooling aperture, the access passage extending through the turbine vane stage to a rotor cavity disposed radially inward of the turbine vane stage, the rotor cavity further formed by and axially between an upstream rotor stage and a downstream rotor stage of a bladed turbine rotor relative to a rotational axis of the bladed turbine rotor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.