Nacelle installation
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsDonald J. Dusa, Conrad D. Wagenknecht
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Nacelle installation having devices for constraining hot core exhaust gas from flowing over the trailing portion of a highly swept pylon supporting a high bypass turbofan engine. The devices can comprise a pylon ejector, a core nozzle shroud or a plurality of vortex generators and are disposed generally in the region adjacent the intersection of the core nozzle exit of the engine and the pylon shelf portion of the pylon.
Claims3
In a nacelle installation for a gas turbine engine in an aircraft which includes a core engine and a core cowl which (1) surrounds the core engine (2) defines a core exhaust nozzle for discharging hot exhaust gases, and which includes a fan driven by the core engine, a fan cowl surrounding the fan and defining, together with the core cowl, an annular outlet for discharging bypass air, and which includes a pylon having a trailing portion extending aft of the core exhaust nozzle, wherein the pylon contains a region which is subject to the hot exhaust, wherein a freestream airflow flows generally parallel with the bypass airflow, and wherein an intersection streamline is definable at the intersection of the freestream airflow and the bypass airflow, the improvement comprising:
- (a) vortex generators for maintaining a cooling layer of relatively cool air between the relatively hot engine exhaust and the pylon, the vortex generators extending from the pylon and positioned such that
- (i) some are located in a supersonic flow region and generate shock waves which increase aerodynamic drag;
- (ii) some are located aft and upward of the exhaust nozzle of the engine for reducing oblique shock waves between the vortex generators and the exhaust nozzle, thereby reducing drag induced by the oblique shock waves.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.