Gas turbine blade and rotor wear-protection system
AssigneeIntegran Technologies Inc.
InventorsGINO PALUMBO, KLAUS TOMANTSCHGER, JONATHAN McCREA, DAVID LIONEL LIMOGES
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Sacrificial inserts for use in gas turbine engines to reduce friction and wear damage between compressor fan blades and the fan rotors are disclosed. The consumable metallic shims have low friction and reduce fretting and galling on fan blade roots and fan rotor dovetail slots thereby increasing their operating lives, as well as reduce engine noise and improve engine efficiency. The electroformed, compliant, multi-purpose shims may have variable thickness and, when positioned between the blade dovetail root and the rotor disk dovetail slot, prevent movement and slippage between air foil blades and the rotor.
Claims21
An assembly for a gas turbine engine, comprising:
- (i) a fan rotor having multiple dovetail shaped slots in the circumference thereof, an outer surface of the fan rotor defining the dovetail shaped slots made of a first material;
- (ii) fan blades having dovetail shaped roots shaped to fit into the dovetail shaped slots of the fan rotor, an outer surface of each of the dovetail shaped roots made of a second material;
- and
- (iii) metallic shims disposed between the fan blade dovetail shaped roots and the fan rotor dovetail shaped slots, each metallic shim comprising:
- a variable thickness along a longitudinal cross-section and/or a transversal cross-section of the metallic shim to minimize a void space between each of the fan rotor dovetail shaped slot and the fan blade dovetail shaped root;
- an outer surface made, at least in part, of a third material;
- a shim core surrounded, in part, by the outer surface of the metallic shim and made of a fourth material;
- and
- wherein the outer surface of each metallic shim contacts the outer surface of the fan blade dovetail shaped root and the outer surface of the fan rotor, the third material providing a lubricious and sacrificial surface layer on at least part of the outer surface of the metallic shim to a depth of at least 10 μm, the third material wearing preferentially when rubbed against the first material and/or the second material.
A method of protecting fan blades having dovetail shaped roots from wear against dovetail shaped slots defined in a circumference of a fan rotor of a gas turbine engine, the method comprising the steps of:
- (i) electrodepositing a metallic material on a temporary mandrel in an electrolyte solution to form a net-shaped metallic shim by passing an electric current between the temporary mandrel and a counter-electrode;
- and
- (ii) inserting the metallic shims between the dovetail shaped roots of the fan blades and their respective dovetail shaped slots in the circumference of the fan rotor to prevent direct contact between the fan blades and the fan rotor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.