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US 12,709,398 B2Granted
Aircraft with an unducted fan propulsor
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsSara Elizabeth Carle, Daniel L. Tweedt, Syed Arif Khalid, Andrew Breeze-Stringfellow, William Bowden, Arthur W. Sibbach
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure is generally related to aircraft having one or more unducted fan propulsors at locations within specific regions relative to an airfoil, such as a wing or horizontal stabilizer. More specifically, the specific regions are located where there is a relatively higher pressure air flow beneath the wings or above a horizontal stabilizer. That higher pressure air flow can be utilized to provide increased thrust from the unducted fan propulsor.
Claims13
An aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- a pair of wings extending from the fuselage;
- two or more unducted fan propulsors, each of the unducted fan propulsors is mounted relative to one of the wings on a high pressure side thereof, the unducted fan propulsor having a centerline (CL), a plurality of blades arranged in a forward array and a plurality of blades arranged in a rearward array, wherein only one of the forward and rearward array of blades are rotating blades and the rotating blades define a maximum outer diameter (D);
- a point (P) located at an intersection of the CL and a line HP perpendicular to the CL that passes through an axial midpoint between a rearward trailing edge at a root of a blade of the rearward array and a forward leading edge at a root of a blade of the forward array when the forward leading edge and rearward trailing edge of the respective blades are aligned with each other;
- and
- an airfoil section having an effective quarter chord point QC;
- a positioning line (R) having a length (RL) and extending from the QC to the point P of the unducted fan propulsor at an angle θ measured positive in a counter-clockwise direction when the high pressure side of the airfoil section is below the airfoil section when viewed looking from an outboard position towards an inboard position of the wing;
- wherein 0.07≤RL/D≤2.0 and θ is between 187° and 342°;
- wherein each of the two or more unducted fan propulsors comprises a turbomachine comprising a drive turbine and defining a working gas flowpath and an inlet into the working gas flowpath;
- wherein the rotating blades include a fan blade formed of a composite material, the fan blade defining a leading edge fan radius RFan_LE and a trailing edge fan radius RFan_TE, and the fan defining a leading edge hub radius RHub_LE and a trailing edge hub radius RHub_TE, the unducted fan propulsor defining a bypass ratio equal to a mass flowrate of an airflow from the rotating blades over the turbomachine to a mass flowrate of an airflow from the rotating blades through the inlet to the working gas flowpath during operation of unducted fan propulsor in a cruise operating mode, the bypass ratio being greater than or equal to 10 and less than or equal to 30;
- and
- a reduction gearbox mechanically coupling the drive turbine of the turbomachine to the rotating blades;
- wherein the unducted fan propulsor defines a Fan Leading Edge to Trailing Edge Compression Factor (FLTCF) greater than or equal to 1.05 and less than or equal to 1.8, the FLTCF being equal to:
- R
- F
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- R
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- .
49 more elements
An aircraft, comprising:
- a fuselage;
- an airfoil extending from the fuselage, the airfoil having an airfoil section defining an effective quarter chord point (QC);
- an unducted fan propulsor mounted relative to the airfoil section on a high pressure side thereof, the unducted fan propulsor having a centerline (CL), a plurality of blades arranged in a forward array and a plurality of blades arranged in a rearward array, wherein only one of the forward and rearward array of blades are rotating blades and the rotating blades define a maximum outer diameter (D);
- a point (P) located at an intersection of the CL and a line HP perpendicular to the CL that passes through an axial midpoint between a rearward trailing edge at a root of a blade of the rearward array and a forward leading edge at a root of a blade of the forward array when the forward leading edge and rearward trailing edge of the respective blades are aligned with each other;
- and
- an ellipse origin positioning line (EOR) having a length (EORL) extending from the QC to an ellipse origin (OR) at an angle θ measured positive in a counter-clockwise direction when the high pressure side of the airfoil section is below the airfoil section, and measured positive in a clockwise direction when the high pressure side of the airfoil section is above the airfoil section, when viewed looking for an outboard position towards an inboard position;
- wherein the P of the unducted fan propulsor is located within a first ellipse having a first major axis length (1MajAL) and a first minor axis length (1MinAL) with a first ellipse origin defined by EORL/D of 0.938 and θ of 253.6°, and where 1MajAL/D is 2.8 and 1MinAL/D is 1.7;
- wherein each of the two or more unducted fan propulsors comprises a turbomachine comprising a drive turbine and defining a working gas flowpath and an inlet into the working gas flowpath;
- wherein the rotating blades include a fan blade formed of a composite material, the fan blade defining a leading edge fan radius RFan_LE and a trailing edge fan radius RFan_TE, and the fan defining a leading edge hub radius RHub_LE and a trailing edge hub radius RHub_TE, the unducted fan propulsor defining a bypass ratio equal to a mass flowrate of an airflow from the unducted fan propulsor over the turbomachine to a mass flowrate of an airflow from the rotating blades through the inlet to the working gas flowpath during operation of the unducted fan propulsor in a cruise operating mode, the bypass ratio being greater than or equal to 10 and less than or equal to 30;
- and
- a reduction gearbox mechanically coupling the drive turbine of the turbomachine to the rotating blades;
- wherein the unducted fan propulsor defines a Fan Leading Edge to Trailing Edge Opening Ratio (FLTOR) greater than or equal to 1.03 and less than or equal to 1.5, the FLTOR being equal to:
- R
- F
-
- a
-
- n
- L
-
- E
- ×
- R
- H
-
- u
-
- b
- L
-
- E
- R
- F
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- R
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- TE
- .
46 more elements
An aircraft, comprising:
- a fuselage;
- an airfoil extending from the fuselage, the airfoil having an airfoil section defining an effective quarter-chord point (QC);
- an unducted fan propulsor mounted relative to the airfoil section on a high pressure side thereof, the unducted fan propulsor having a centerline (CL), a plurality of blades arranged in a forward array and a plurality of blades arranged in a rearward array, wherein one of the forward and rearward array of blades are rotating blades and the rotating blades define a maximum outer diameter (D);
- a point (P) located at an intersection of the CL and a line HP perpendicular to the CL that passes through an axial midpoint between a rearward trailing edge at a root of a blade of the rearward array and a forward leading edge at a root of a blade of the forward array when the forward leading edge and rearward trailing edge of the respective blades are aligned with each other;
- and
- a positioning line (R) having a length (RL) and extending from the QC to the point P of the unducted fan propulsor at an angle θ measured positive in a counter-clockwise direction when the high pressure side of the airfoil section is below the airfoil section, and measured positive in a clockwise direction when the high pressure side of the airfoil section is above the airfoil section, when viewed looking from an outboard position towards an inboard position (e.g. the fuselage) OR when viewed with the LE to the left of the TE;
- wherein 0.065<RL/D<1.98 and θ is between 187° and 340°;
- and wherein RL/D and θ of the P of the unducted fan propulsor adhere to the following expressions:
- R
-
- L
- D
- +
- (
- 1.4161
- *
- [
- 1.88978
- *
- sin
- 2
- (
- θ
- )
- -
- 0.0875
- *
- cos
- 2
- (
- θ
- )
- +
- 0.477
- *
- sin
-
- (
- θ
- )
- *
- cos
-
- (
- θ
- )
- ]
- +
- 1.764
- *
- sin
-
- (
- θ
- )
- +
- 0.19146
- *
- cos
-
- (
- θ
- )
- )
- 1.96
- *
- sin
- 2
- (
- θ
- )
- +
- 0
- .
- 7
-
- 2
-
- 2
-
- 5
- *
- cos
- 2
- (
- θ
- )
- >
- 0
- and
- R
-
- L
- D
- +
- (
- -
- 1.4161
- *
- [
- 1.88978
- *
- sin
- 2
- (
- θ
- )
- -
- 0.0875
- *
- cos
- 2
- (
- θ
- )
- +
- 0.477
- *
- sin
-
- (
- θ
- )
- *
- cos
-
- (
- θ
- )
- ]
- +
- 1.764
- *
- sin
-
- (
- θ
- )
- +
- 0.19146
- *
- cos
-
- (
- θ
- )
- )
- 1.96
- *
- sin
- 2
- (
- θ
- )
- +
- 0
- .
- 7
-
- 2
-
- 2
-
- 5
- *
- cos
- 2
- (
- θ
- )
- >
- 0
- ;
- wherein each of the two or more unducted fan propulsors comprises a turbomachine comprising a drive turbine and defining a working gas flowpath and an inlet into the working gas flowpath;
- wherein the rotating blades include a fan blade formed of a composite material, the fan blade defining a leading edge fan radius RFan_LE and a trailing edge fan radius RFan_TE, and the fan defining a leading edge hub radius RHub_LE and a trailing edge hub radius RHub_TE, the unducted fan propulsor defining a bypass ratio equal to a mass flowrate of an airflow from the rotating blades over the turbomachine to a mass flowrate of an airflow from the rotating blades through the inlet to the working gas flowpath during operation of unducted fan propulsor in a cruise operating mode, the bypass ratio being greater than or equal to 10 and less than or equal to 30;
- and
- a reduction gearbox mechanically coupling the drive turbine of the turbomachine to the rotating blades;
- wherein the unducted fan propulsor defines a Fan Leading Edge to Trailing Edge Compression Factor (FLTCF) greater than or equal to 1.05 and less than or equal to 1.8, the FLTCF being equal to:
- R
- F
-
- a
-
- n
- L
-
- E
- ×
- R
- H
-
- u
-
- b
- T
-
- E
- R
- F
-
- a
-
- n
- T
-
- E
- ×
- R
- H
-
- u
-
- b
- L
-
- E
- .
214 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.