US 12,692,873 B1Granted

Airfoils and airfoil assemblies with trailing edge features

AssigneeGeneral Electric Company

InventorsTrevor H. Wood, Kishore Ramakrishnan

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Abstract

An airfoil assembly for turbine engines is provided. The airfoil assembly includes a plurality of airfoils and an airfoil includes a first surface defining a pressure side and a second surface defining a suction side, a plurality of first chord sections defining at least one first chord length, a plurality of second chord sections defining at least one second chord length, and a plurality of wave-shaped projections extending along the trailing edge. The plurality of wave-shaped projections each define a wave peak and a wave trough. The wave-shaped projections have an amplitude that is a proportion of an average local chord length of the airfoil. The wave-shaped projections may be designed according to a relationship to power coefficient, fan pressure ratio, and/or thrust coefficient of a turbine engine to produce an airfoil with a sculpted trailing edge feature that reduces noise during operation of the turbine engine.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An airfoil assembly comprising:

a plurality of airfoils, at least one airfoil of the plurality of airfoils including:
a first surface defining a pressure side opposite a second surface defining a suction side, the pressure side and the suction side each extending in an axial direction between a leading edge and a trailing edge, the pressure side and the suction side each extending in a radial direction between an inner root and an outer tip;
a plurality of first chord sections defining at least one first chord length, and a plurality of second chord sections defining at least one second chord length, the plurality of first chord sections extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge, and the plurality of second chord sections extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge;
and
a plurality of wave-shaped projections extending along the trailing edge, each wave-shaped projection of the plurality of wave-shaped projections defining a wave peak and a wave trough, wherein adjacent wave-shaped projections define a peak-to-trough distance, the plurality of wave-shaped projections each characterized by an amplitude (L) that is half of the peak-to-trough distance and an average local chord length (c), a chord length being a distance from the leading edge to the trailing edge at a point in a streamwise direction;
wherein 0.005≤L/c≤−0.0027*Cp+dP, for 0.0527≤dP≤0.0727, and Cp being a power coefficient defined by Cp=P/(ρn3D3A) during subsonic cruise operation of an engine, where n=revolutions/second of the plurality of airfoils, ρ=air density, A is an annular area defined by the at least one airfoil,
A
=
π
⁡
(
r
T
⁡
(
L
⁢
E
)
2
-
r
H
⁡
(
L
⁢
E
)
2
)
,
where rT is a tip radius at the leading edge and rH is a hub radius at the leading edge of the at least one airfoil, D=diameter at the leading edge of the at least one airfoil, and P=power absorbed by the plurality of airfoils, for Cp in a range from 1 to 10, inclusively;
wherein 0.005≤L/c≤0.07 for Cp is in a range between but not including 0 to 1;
wherein the inner root includes an integral dovetail for mounting the at least one airfoil.

32 more elements

An airfoil assembly comprising:

a plurality of airfoils, at least one airfoil of the plurality of airfoils including:
a first surface defining a pressure side opposite a second surface defining a suction side, the pressure side and the suction side each extending in an axial direction between a leading edge and a trailing edge, the pressure side and the suction side each extending in a radial direction between an inner root and an outer tip;
a plurality of first chord sections defining at least one first chord length, and a plurality of second chord sections defining at least one second chord length, the plurality of first chord sections extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge, and the plurality of second chord sections extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge;
and
a plurality of wave-shaped projections extending along the trailing edge, each wave-shaped projection of the plurality of wave-shaped projections defining a wave peak and a wave trough, wherein adjacent wave-shaped projections define a peak-to-trough distance, the plurality of wave-shaped projections each characterized by an amplitude (L) that is half of the peak-to-trough distance and an average local chord length (c), a chord length being a distance from the leading edge to the trailing edge at a point in a streamwise direction;
wherein 0.005≤L/c≤1/(B(FPR−1)1/4)≤0.07 for:
1.01<FPR<2, 35≤B≤200;
and
wherein FPR is a fan pressure ratio for subsonic cruise operation of an engine defined by FPR=PT(TE)/PT(LE) where PT is a total pressure at the trailing edge and at the leading edge, respectively,
wherein the inner root includes an integral dovetail for mounting the at least one airfoil.

7 more elements

An airfoil assembly for a turbine engine having a fan with a plurality of fan blades, the airfoil assembly comprising:

a plurality of airfoils, at least one airfoil of the plurality of airfoils including:
a first surface defining a pressure side opposite a second surface defining a suction side, the pressure side and the suction side each extending in an axial direction between a leading edge and a trailing edge, the pressure side and the suction side each extending in a radial direction between an inner root and an outer tip;
a plurality of first chord sections defining at least one first chord length, and a plurality of second chord sections defining at least one second chord length, the plurality of first chord sections extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge, and the plurality of second chord sections extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge;
and
a plurality of wave-shaped projections extending along the trailing edge, each wave-shaped projection of the plurality of wave-shaped projections defining a wave peak and a wave trough, wherein adjacent wave-shaped projections define a peak-to-trough distance, the plurality of wave-shaped projections each characterized by an amplitude (L) that is half of the peak-to-trough distance and an average local chord length (c), a chord length being a distance from the leading edge to the trailing edge at a point in a streamwise direction;
wherein 0.005<L/c≤−0.0171*CT+dT, for 0.0620≤dT≤0.0820, and CT is a thrust coefficient of an engine at a Mach 0.25 takeoff condition defined by CT=T/(ρn2D2A) where n=revolutions/second of the plurality of airfoils, ρ=air density, A is the annular area defined by the at least one airfoil,
A
=
π
⁡
(
r
T
⁡
(
L
⁢
E
)
2
-
r
H
⁡
(
L
⁢
E
)
2
)
,
where rT is a tip radius at the leading edge and rH is a hub radius at the leading edge of the at least one airfoil, D=diameter at the leading edge of the at least one airfoil, T=thrust of a fan of the engine, for CT in a range from 0.7 to 3.6, inclusively,
wherein the inner root includes an integral dovetail for mounting the at least one airfoil.

31 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.