Hybrid metal/composite link rod for turbofan gas turbine engine
AssigneePratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
InventorsStephen Caulfeild, Bryan Olver
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The link rod can have a core portion supported inside an annular bypass duct with a bypass air passage extending radially therebetween, the link rod comprising a hot end fitting, a cold end, and an elongated and hollow strut body of composite material and having an aerodynamic cross-sectional shape, the strut body being secured to the hot end fitting and extending between the hot end fitting and the cold end, the hot end fitting having a metal body housing a spherical bearing mountable to the core portion, and the cold end housing a spherical bearing mountable to the bypass duct wall.
Claims19
A turbofan gas turbine engine comprising:
- a front mounting structure attached to an annular bypass duct wall at a front axial position of a bypass air passage defined radially between the bypass duct wall and a core portion of the engine, the front mounting structure supporting the core portion within the bypass duct wall;
- and
- a rear mounting structure attached to the bypass duct wall at a rear axial position of the bypass air passage, the rear mounting structure including a plurality of link rods extending across the bypass air passage and interconnecting the bypass duct wall and the core portion, each link rod having a hot end fitting, a cold end, and an elongated and tubular strut body of composite material secured to the hot end fitting and extending between the hot end fitting and the cold end, the hot end fitting having a metal body housing a spherical bearing connected to the core portion, and the cold end housing a spherical bearing connected to the bypass duct wall, wherein the composite material has a higher percentage of fibers oriented parallel to the length of the strut, and a lower percentage of fibers oriented transversally to the length of the strut, the lower percentage of transversal fibers being adapted to provide a transversal coefficient of thermal expansion comparable to a coefficient of thermal expansion of the metal.
A mounting structure for supporting an engine core portion within an annular bypass duct wall of a turbofan gas turbine engine at an axial position of a bypass air passage defined radially between the bypass duct wall and the core portion, the mounting structure comprising a plurality of link rods extending across the bypass air passage when interconnecting the bypass duct wall and the core portion, each link rod having a hot end fitting, a cold end, and an elongated and tubular strut body of composite material secured to the hot end fitting and extending between the hot end fitting and the cold end, the hot end fitting having a metal body housing a spherical bearing connected to the core portion, and the cold end housing a spherical bearing connected to the bypass duct wall, wherein the composite material has a higher percentage of fibers oriented parallel to the length of the strut, and a lower percentage of fibers oriented transversally to the length of the strut, the lower percentage of transversal fibers being adapted to provide a transversal coefficient of the thermal expansion comparable to a coefficient of thermal expansion of the metal.
A link rod for a turbofan gas turbine engine having a core portion supported inside an annular bypass duct with a bypass air passage extending radially therebetween, the link rod comprising a hot end fitting, a cold end, and an elongated and hollow strut body of composite material and having an aerodynamic cross-sectional shape, the strut body being secured to the hot end fitting and extending between the hot end fitting and the cold end, the hot end fitting having a metal body housing a spherical bearing mountable to the core portion, and the cold end housing a spherical bearing mountable to the bypass duct wall, wherein the composite material has a higher percentage of fibers oriented parallel to the length of the strut, and a lower percentage of fibers oriented transversally to the length of the strut, the lower percentage of transversal fibers being adapted to provide a transversal coefficient of thermal expansion comparable to a coefficient of thermal expansion of the metal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.