Aircraft engine
AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorMark SPRUCE
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gas turbine engine for an aircraft includes an engine core having a turbine, a compressor, and a core shaft connecting the turbine to the compressor. A fan is positioned upstream of the engine core and includes a plurality of fan blades. A gearbox is configured to receive rotational input from the core shaft and to drive the fan at a rotational speed lower than that of the core shaft, thereby defining a gear ratio between the core shaft and the fan. The gearbox has an overall gear mesh stiffness, and the core shaft has an effective linear torsional stiffness. The engine is configured such that a ratio of the overall gear mesh stiffness of the gearbox to the effective linear torsional stiffness of the core shaft is greater than or equal to 0.2.
Claims20
A gas turbine engine for an aircraft comprising:
- an engine core comprising a turbine, a compressor, and a core shaft connecting the turbine to the compressor;
- a fan located upstream of the engine core, the fan comprising a plurality of fan blades and having a fan diameter;
- and
- a gearbox arranged to receive an input from the core shaft and to output drive to the fan so as to drive the fan at a lower rotational speed than the core shaft, thereby defining a gear ratio, the gearbox having an overall gear mesh stiffness, and wherein:
- the core shaft has an effective linear torsional stiffness;
- and
- a gear mesh to core shaft stiffness ratio of
- the
-
- overall
-
- gear
-
- mesh
-
- stiffness
-
- of
-
- the
-
- gearbox
- the
-
- effective
-
- linear
-
- torsional
-
- stiffness
-
- of
-
- the
-
- core
-
- shaft
- is greater than or equal to 0.2.
A gas turbine engine for an aircraft comprising:
- an engine core comprising a turbine, a compressor, and a core shaft connecting the turbine to the compressor;
- a fan located upstream of the engine core, the fan comprising a plurality of fan blades and having a fan diameter;
- and
- a gearbox arranged to receive an input from the core shaft and to output drive to the fan so as to drive the fan at a lower rotational speed than the core shaft, thereby defining a gear ratio, the gearbox having an overall gear mesh stiffness, and wherein:
- the core shaft has an effective linear torsional stiffness;
- and
- a gear mesh and core shaft stiffness product defined as the overall gear mesh stiffness of the gearbox multiplied by the effective linear torsional stiffness of the core shaft is in the range from 1.0×1017 to 3.0×1019 N2m−2.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.