General Electric Company

Alan R Gilchrist

Ambrose A Hauser

Roger C Walker

James C Przytulski

Dennis Paul Dry

Robert Randolph Berry

Sidney B Elston, Iii

Steve R Fledderjohn

Thomas J Sullivan

Edward M Duran

A full-round compressor casing assembly is employed in a gas turbine engine which includes alternating axially-arranged stages of movable blades and stationary vanes, with each stage of movable blades having a row of rotor blades attached to and extending radially outwardly from a rotor and each stage of stationary vanes having a row of stator vanes. The full-round casing assembly includes a plurality of vane sectors with the vanes projecting therefrom in defining each stage of stationary vanes, an inner casing inserted over the rotor and blades, and an outer casing inserted over the inner casing and spaced radially outwardly therefrom. The inner casing includes alternating axially-arranged full-round shroud bands and mounting bands. Each shroud band encircles the outer ends of the rotor blades. Each mounting band has a circumferential guide track on an interior side mounting the vane sectors in side-by-side relation around the mounting band with the vanes extending radially inwardly. Also, each mounting band has one or more openings to allow inserting the vane sectors one at a time from an exterior side of the mounting band through the openings to the mounting track and indexing the vane sectors around the interior of the mounting band in order to assemble the vane sectors and vanes to the inner casing after the rotor blades have been assembled to the rotor and the inner casing has been inserted over the rotor blades.

Full-round compressor casing assembly in a gas turbine engine

A turbine support assembly includes a turbine rotor joined to a fan shaft through a support shaft. The support shaft is joined to the fan shaft in a V-configuration having first and second legs joined together at an apex and inclined axially apart, with at least the first leg forming an integral part of the fan shaft. The second leg is rotatably supportable to a frame. The V-configuration increases the stiffness of the turbine support to reduce blade tip clearances. The present invention also provides an annular integral bolt heat shield and axial retention apparatus to axially retain bolts used for holding together two rotor elements during assembly when the bolts are otherwise subject to sliding into a closed cavity of the assembled engine or one of its modules. The integral retainer and heat shield engage the bolts disposed through bolt holes in a gas turbine engine rotor shaft so that the bolts remain straight during assembly when a second rotor element such as a second shaft is being attached to the first shaft, and bolt holes in the second shaft have to engage and fit over the bolts of the first shaft. One particular embodiment of the present invention provides a low pressure turbine rotor shaft assembly of a low pressure turbine module wherein forward and aft shafts are attached by bolts which have bolt heads in a closed cavity of the module and are slidably disposed through corresponding bolt holes of each shaft such that the bolt heads are disposed aft of the aft shaft. An integral heat shield and axial bolt retainer is mounted to the aft shaft aft of the bolt heads so as to trap and retain the bolt heads between the shield and the aft shaft.

Turbine support assembly including turbine heat shield and bolt retainer

The present invention provides a rotor blade capable of being axially loaded in slots on a gas turbine engine rotor and particularly suited for use on turbine disks. The blade has a generally axially extending dovetail root which is effective for being loaded into a rotor disk slot between adjacent disk posts. Anti-rock tangs are disposed radially outward of the root and tangentially extend from the shank and are generally linear in the axial direction. The anti-rock tangs are effective to engage the radially outwardmost facing surfaces of the adjacent dovetail posts between which is disposed the associated dovetail slot.

Anti-rock blade tang

A gas turbine engine has a forward rotor, a row of fan blades radially extending from the rotor, and a core turbine engine located rearwardly of the fan blades and rotor and coupled to the rotor for rotatably driving the rotor. An outer annular nacelle surrounds the rotor, fan blades and core engine. An inner annular splitter fairing is disposed rearwardly of the fan blades, surrounds the core engine, and is spaced radially inwardly from the nacelle so as to define therebetween a bypass air flow duct located outwardly from the core engine and rearwardly of the fan blades for producing thrust upon rotation of the rotor and fan blades. A hybrid shape spinner nose is attached about the rotor and projects forwardly therefrom within the nacelle and forwardly of the fan blades. The hybrid shape spinner nose has a forward substantially conical section spaced forwardly of the fan blades, a rearward substantially conical section projecting forwardly of and merging rearwardly with the fan blades, and a transition connecting the forward and rearward sections such that the spinner nose is provided with a compound, substantially conical configuration in which the slope of the forward substantially conical section is greater than the slope of an imaginary conical surface connecting a front end of the spinner nose and a leading edge of the annular splitter fairing, whereas the slope of the rearward substantially conical section is less than the slope of such imaginary conical surface.

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Fairfield, OH, United States of America

Alan R Gilchrist