General Electric Company

Akash Joshi

Shuvajyoti Ghosh

Ravindra Shankar Ganiger

Shivaram Ac

Vidyashankar Ramasastry Buravalla

Praveen Sharma

Vidya Lokammanahalli Shivashankar

Shivaram A C

Esuff Khan

A gas turbine engine includes a compressor section and a turbine section arranged in serial flow order. A shaft is provided rotatable with at least a portion of the compressor section and with at least a portion of the turbine section. A bearing is also provided supporting rotation of the shaft, with a support element in turn supporting the bearing. The gas turbine engine also includes a superelastic member formed of a shape memory alloy supporting at least one of the support element or the bearing. The superelastic member is installed in a pre-stressed condition to enhance a dampening function of the superelastic member.

Turbine bearing support

A hybrid bearing support system includes a shaft extension fixedly coupled to a rotatable member at a radial inner end of the shaft extension, a radial outer end of the shaft extension fixedly coupled to a rotatable race of a bearing supporting the rotatable member, and a recoupler device formed of a shape memory alloy (SMA) material coupled in parallel with at least a portion of the shaft extension between the radial inner end and the radial outer end.

Method and system for elastic bearing support

A support assembly for a load-bearing unit, a gas turbine engine including the support assembly, and a method of operation of the support assembly are provided. The support assembly includes a support element, a damper, and a variable stiffness member. The support element supports the load-bearing unit. The damper supports the support element and is configured to provide dampening of the load-bearing unit. The variable stiffness member is positioned between the damper and the load-bearing unit. The variable stiffness member is configured to provide a serial dampening of the load-bearing unit with the damper. The variable stiffness member includes a shape memory alloy.

Support assembly having variable stiffness member

A load reduction assembly includes an annular bearing cone configured to extend between a bearing assembly and a frame assembly and form a first load path therebetween. The load reduction assembly further includes an annular recoupler member configured to extend between the bearing assembly and the frame assembly and form a second load path therebetween. The second load path is parallel to the first load path. The recoupler member includes a shape memory alloy configured to change stiffness in response to a change in a stress condition, thereby regulating an imbalance condition of a rotor shaft coupled to the bearing assembly.

Load reduction assemblies for a gas turbine engine

A method of reducing loads in a rotor assembly during an imbalance condition, a shape memory alloy recoupler device, and a hybrid bearing support system are provided. The hybrid bearing support system includes a shaft extension fixedly coupled to a rotatable member at a radially inner end of the shaft extension, a radially outer end of the shaft extension fixedly coupled to a rotatable race of a bearing supporting the rotatable member, and a recoupler device formed of a shape memory alloy (SMA) material coupled in parallel with at least a portion of the shaft extension between the radially inner end and the radially outer end.

A rotor support system for a gas turbine engine may generally include a bearing assembly and a load reduction member configured to be coupled between the bearing assembly and a support frame of the engine. The load reduction member may include a fuse portion configured to fail when a load transmitted through the load reduction member exceeds a predetermined load threshold. The system may also include a load recoupling member provided between the bearing assembly and the support frame. The load recoupling member may be formed from a super-elastic shape memory alloy that allows the load recoupling member to undergo recoverable deformation without failing when the fuse portion fails such that the load recoupling member maintains a mechanical connection between the bearing assembly and the support frame.

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Karnataka, India

Akash Joshi