General Electric Company

Bruce Alan Carter

Ravindra Shankar Ganiger

Charles Andrew Corman

Pradeep Hemant Sangli

Santosh Kumar Potnuru

Anand Madihalli Srinivasan

Bhaskar Nanda Mondal

Veeraraju Vanapalli

Kevin Lee Kirkeng

Jacob Patrick Miller

Satish Kumar Yadav

Krzysztof Chelstowski

Horst W Hehmann

Sivakumar Mahesh

Stephanie Frances Drummond

Venkatachalapathy Moongilpalayam Chenniappan

Nitin Deepak Rupnar

Vivek Nema

Richard Charles Wainwright

Deepak Govindan

Laxmikant Chourasia

Mark Anil Patel

Louis Charles Stokley

Raghavan P Pandalai

A bearing assembly for use in a rotating machine includes a housing and a retention nut threadably coupled to the housing and including a first retention mechanism. The bearing assembly also includes a retention bolt coupled to the housing and including a second retention mechanism configured to engage the first retention mechanism to maintain engagement of the retention nut with the housing.

Turbine engine bearing assembly and method for assembling the same

A retention housing for the outer race of a bearing of a gas turbine engine includes a spring finger housing connected to and overlying a bearing housing that is connected to the outer race of the bearing. The spring finger housing includes an arrangement of spring fingers that yields a lightweight housing capable of withstanding very high radial loads combined with very high torsional windup and axial thrust load. A plurality of edge recesses are defined in the bearing housing and a plurality of lug tabs extending radially from the engine's interface shell limit are disposed in the edge recess to limit the deflection and self-arrest the distortion of the retention housing. A gas turbine engine includes the retention housing described above.

Bearing outer race retention during high load events

A retention housing for the outer race of a bearing of a gas turbine engine includes a spring finger housing connected to and overlying a bearing housing that is connected to the outer race of the bearing. The spring finger housing includes an arrangement of spring fingers that yields a lightweight housing capable of withstanding very high radial loads combined with very high torsional windup and axial thrust load. Dowel pins extending radially from the bearing housing and through the engine's interface shell limit the deflection and self-arrest the distortion of the housing. A gas turbine engine includes the retention housing described above.

A bearing assembly for use in a gas turbine engine is provided. The bearing assembly includes a bearing retainer having an inner portion, an outer portion spaced radially apart from the inner portion, and an intermediate portion connecting the inner portion and the outer portion, wherein the inner portion and the outer portion define a space there-between. The bearing assembly also includes a bearing housing having an extended portion positioned within the space. The bearing assembly also includes a locking assembly comprising a locking plate and an axial keyway that extends axially away from the locking plate. The locking plate is coupled to the bearing retainer and the axial keyway is coupled to the extended portion of the bearing housing.

Bearing locking assemblies and methods of assembling the same

In one aspect, a bearing assembly for supporting a rotor shaft relative to a support structure of a gas turbine engine may generally include a bearing including an outer race and an inner race, an outer bearing housing configured to extend radially between the outer race of the bearing and the support structure of the gas turbine engine and an inner bearing support configured to extend radially between the inner race of the bearing and the rotor shaft. In addition, the outer bearing housing and the inner bearing support each include at least one radially extending spring arm such that the outer bearing housing and the inner bearing support collectively form two springs coupled in series between the support structure and the rotor shaft.

Bearing assembly for supporting a rotor shaft of a gas turbine engine

A housing for retention of the outer race of a bearing of a gas turbine engine includes an arrangement of spring fingers that yields a lightweight housing capable of withstanding very high radial loads combined with very high torsional windup and axial thrust load. Controlled circumferential gaps on both sides of each spring finger limit the deflection and self-arrest the distortion of the housing. An axial gap is created on the aft end by a portion of the spring finger beam structure that opposes an axial face of the housing and limits the axial distortion. A radial gap created between interface hardware of the housing and the inner retention housing also acts to retain the spring finger housing under load in a radial direction.

A damper bearing assembly for a gas turbine engine is disclosed. The damper bearing assembly is designed to define forward and aft axial gaps which allow for normal deflection under standard operating thrust loads, but then close during a fan blade out event to allow the increased load to transfer to the damper housing. Frictional forces between contacting parts limit torsional windup and increase torsional resistance with increasing load. The damper bearing assembly includes a damper housing configured substantially within a U-shaped spring finger housing and a spanner nut with a radial hook portion coupled to the spring finger housing. The damper housing is coupled to the spring finger housing such that it is substantially confined within the U-shaped void. The spanner nut is coupled to the spring finger housing such that the radial hook portion is configured to limit the deflection of the spring finger housing and damper housing during a fan blade out event.

Apparatus and method for assembling a damper bearing assembly

Dynamically-lubricated bearings and methods of dynamically lubricating bearings, including bearings used in gas turbine engines. Such a bearing includes an inner race having an inner race groove between a pair of inner race cage lands, an outer race having an outer race groove between a pair of outer race cage lands and opposes the inner race groove, rolling elements disposed between the inner and outer races and in rolling contact with the inner and outer race grooves, and a cage disposed between the inner and outer races to maintain separation between the rolling elements. A lubricant is introduced into a cavity between the inner and outer races, and rotation of the inner race relative to the outer race causes the lubricant to exit the cavity through recessed surface features in at least one of the inner and outer race cage lands.

Dynamically-lubricated bearing and method of dynamically lubricating a bearing

Dynamically-lubricated bearings and methods of dynamically lubricating bearings, including bearings used in gas turbine engines. Such a bearing includes an inner race having an inner race groove, an outer race having an outer race groove that opposes the inner race groove, rolling elements disposed between the inner and outer races and in rolling contact with the inner and outer race grooves, and a cage disposed between the inner and outer races to maintain separation between the rolling elements. A lubricant is introduced into a cavity between the inner and outer races, and rotation of the inner race relative to the outer race causes air to enter pockets of the cage that contain the rolling elements, which in turn causes the lubricant to exit the cavity of the bearing.

A method is provided for detecting airflow reversal in a sump system of a gas turbine engine. The method includes positioning a first pressure sensor at a sump vent to sense a discharge flow pressure from a sump within the sump system, positioning a second pressure sensor in the sump to sense a pressure in the sump, comparing the sensed pressures obtained from the first and second pressure sensors to determine a pressure difference, and comparing the pressure difference to a predetermined maximum allowable pressure difference.

Methods and apparatus for operating gas turbine engines

A brush seal includes a back plate against which an annular pack of bristles is disposed. A plurality of circumferentially overlapping shingle dampers engage in abutting contact the bristle pack for providing damping.

Shingle damper brush seal

An apparatus for suppressing or attenuating acoustic pressure oscillations in a gas turbine engine combustor, the apparatus having a quarter wave resonator with a cavity closed at a first end and open at a second end and a characteristic length that reflects waves 180 degrees out of phase with the incoming waves and a viscous damper at the open end of the cavity. At least one resonating tube with a closed end and an open end and a single cavity therebetween, a damping plate with a plurality of apertures therethrough disposed across the open end, and a means for mounting the tube on the engine so that the damping plate is essentially flush with the wall. The apertures preferably have a total open area that is about 8% of an inclusive area of the open end and the tube may be cylindrical and the apertures circular. The tube preferably has a centerline through the cavity with a characteristic length extending from the closed end to the damping plate wherein the characteristic length is essentially equal to a quarter of a wavelength of an acoustic pressure oscillation produced in the combustor having a predetermined acoustic frequency.

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West Chester, OH, United States of America

Bruce Alan Carter