Simplification of engine core removal for maintenance of gas turbine engine
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorLarry Wayne Napier
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus for simplification of engine core removal for maintenance of gas turbine engines. Ordinarily, to remove a high-pressure compressor in a twin-spool engine, many components of the engine must be removed, such as parts of a booster, in order to gain access to a mounting nut which is threaded onto a shaft supporting the high-pressure compressor. The removal is necessary because the nut must be extracted from the engine after disengagement from the shaft. Under the invention, this removal-of-components is largely eliminated, by providing a stowage location for the nut within the engine. The nut is removed, and then threaded onto a set of threads specifically provided for storage of the nut, and for nothing else.
Claims11
Apparatus, comprising:
- a) a gas turbine engine containing a shaft which bears a shaft thread;
- b) a nut having a mating thread to the shaft thread;
- c) a second thread on the nut;
- and
- d) a thread mounted on a component of the engine, other than the shaft, of the same pitch, pitch diameter, and type as the second thread.
Apparatus, comprising:
- a) a gas turbine engine containing a shaft which bears a shaft thread;
- b) a nut having a mating thread to the shaft thread;
- c) a second thread on the nut;
- and
- d) a thread mounted on a component of the engine, other than the shaft, to which the nut is mountable using the second thread.
A method of removing a core from a gas turbine engine, the core including a casing within which lies a shaft bearing a high-pressure compressor and a high pressure turbine, the method comprising:
- a) removing a nut from the shaft;
- b) threading the nut onto a thread which is axially displaced from the core during normal engine operation;
- and
- c) withdrawing the core from the engine.
A method, comprising:
- a) transporting a core to a partly disassembled gas turbine engine, which contains a nut in a stowed position;
- b) inserting the core into the engine;
- and
- c) removing the nut from the stowed position and threading the nut onto a shaft in the core.
Apparatus, comprising:
- a) a gas turbine engine which includes a core, which includes a casing within in which lies a shaft bearing a high-pressure compressor and a high pressure turbine;
- b) an annular seal axially displaced from the core;
- c) an internal thread on an inner surface of the annular seal;
- d) an external thread on the shaft;
- and
- e) a nut having inner threads and outer threads, such that
- i) when the nut is torqued to a predetermined level on the thread of the shaft, the core is held in an operative position;
- and
- ii) when the nut is stowed on the internal thread of the seal, the core is removable from the engine.
Method, comprising:
- a) removing a coupling nut from a shaft of a gas turbine engine;
- b) stowing the coupling nut on an annulus within the engine, such that internal threads of the coupling nut are fully exposed;
- and
- c) performing at least one of the following:
- inspecting, cleaning, and lubricating the coupling nut, while mounted on the annulus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.