Method and apparatus for performing gas turbine engine maintenance
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsRonald Alan Pasquinelli, Kenneth Foster Cook
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for performing maintenance on a gas turbine engine assembly includes unplugging a first connector from a first socket, the first connector electrically coupled to the engine control unit, the first socket electrically coupled to the hydromechanical unit, plugging a second connector into the first socket, the second connector electrically coupled to a driver simulator, cranking the engine core to a low speed value, and operating the driver simulator to reposition at least one of the variable stator vane assembly and the variable bypass valve from a first operational position to a second operational position that is different than the first operational position.
Claims15
A driver simulator for performing maintenance on a gas turbine engine assembly that includes an engine control unit and a gas turbine engine including at least one variable stator vane assembly, at least one variable bypass valve, a hydromechanical unit that is configured to be electrically coupled to the engine control unit and includes a first servo motor operatively coupled to the at least one variable stator vane assembly and a second servo motor operatively coupled to the at least one variable bypass valve, the engine control unit configured to transmit a control signal to the hydromechanical unit to facilitate operating at least one of the first servo motor and the second servo motor, said driver simulator comprising:
- a first system configured to be electrically coupled to the hydromechanical unit and configured to reposition the variable stator vane assembly from a first operational position to a second operational position;
- and
- a second system configured to be electrically coupled to the hydromechanical unit and configured to reposition the variable bypass valve from a first operational position to a second operational position, said driver simulator configured to removably couple at least one of said first system and said second system to the hydromechanical unit to operate at least one of the first servo motor and the second servo motor when the engine control unit ceases to transmit the control signal to the hydromechanical unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.