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AssigneePratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
InventorsDavid DENIS, Philippe BONNIERE, Milica KOJOVIC, Oleg KORSHIKOV, Lena RAYKOWSKI, Czeslaw WOJTYCZKA
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A bearing arrangement rotatably supports a shaft of an aircraft engine. The bearing arrangement comprises a bearing having rolling elements disposed between inner and outer races. The inner race is affixed to the shaft. A decoupler normally structurally couples the outer race of the bearing to a stator structure of the engine. The decoupler is configured to release the bearing from the stator structure when subject to a predetermined critical load. A bumper is mounted to the stator structure and encircles the bearing. The bumper has a radially inwardly facing surface disposed in close proximity to a radially outer surface of the outer race of the bearing and defines therewith a radial gap to accommodate and constrain an orbiting motion of the rotor about the central axis of the engine after decoupling at the bearing. The bumper further has an axially forwardly facing surface which is axially spaced by a predetermined axial fore gap from a first flange projecting radially outwardly from a front end portion of the outer race of the bearing. The first flange of the outer race is axially trapped between the stator structure and the bumper. After decoupling, the bearing is free to axially and radially move within the radial gap and the axial fore gap.
A bearing arrangement for supporting a fan rotor of an aircraft engine, comprising a bearing having rolling elements disposed between inner and outer races, a bearing support for supporting the bearing on a stator structure of the engine, a decoupler between the bearing and the bearing support, the decoupler being configured to release the bearing from the bearing support when subject to a predetermined critical load, a bumper surrounding the bearing, a portion of the bearing being axially trapped between the bearing support and the bumper to provide rotor axial retention upon decoupling of the bearing from the bearing support structure, the bumper and the outer race of the bearing defining a radial gap and an axial gap therebetween, the bearing being free to move within said radial and axial gaps when the fan rotor rotates at windmilling speed after decoupling of the bearing from the bearing support.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.