Pretensioned frame
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsJohn D. Von Benken, Alan M. Carter
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improved lightweight frame for gas turbine engine is disclosed. The frame includes a hub and a radially spaced casing with two rows of circumferentially spaced tie rods extending between the hub and the casing. In a preferred embodiment, jam nuts are provided on the tie rods for accommodating compressive loads therein. The tie rods are pretensioned so that during operation in a gas turbine engine, for example, wherein the tie rods are heated by combustion gases, thermal expansion of the tie rods and resulting compressive stress will be accommodated by the pretension so that in a preferred embodiment the tie rods may operate nearly stress free at normal operation. The two rows of tie rods and jam nut pairs allow the frame to accommodate effectively blade-out loads channeled to the frame 30.
Claims17
A pretensioned frame for a gas turbine engine comprising:
- an annular hub;
- an annular casing spaced radially outwardly from said hub;
- a first row of a plurality of circumferentially spaced first tie rods joining said hub to said casing;
- a second row of a plurality of circumferentially spaced second tie rods joining said hub to said casing and spaced axially from said first row;
- and
- said first and second tie rods being pretensioned for generating a predetermined amount of tension in said first and second tie rods subjecting said casing to compressive hoop stress and said hub to tensile hoop stress, and for providing structural rigidity to the assembly of said hub, said casing, said first tie rods, and said second tie rods without additional support struts.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.