United Technologies Corporation

Other

Pratt & Whitney

Douglas A Welch

Mark W Costa

Robert F Kasprow

Phyllis L Kurz

Robert H Zipps

Herman C Klapproth

Joseph J Cafasso

Reginald H Spaulding

Jan B Kowza

Wendy P Lopardi

Edward S Todd

Melvin Freling

Joseph Parkos, Jr

Paul W Duesler

William R Graves

Allan R Penda

Gary A Gruver

Nathan D Korn

Andrew S Foose

Marc Samit

Curt R Hetherington

Douglas J Zabawa

Patrick D Markham

A turbine engine fan casing for containing a separated blade fragment comprising a support case having an axially extending impact zone, a substantially structurally continuous penetrable covering circumscribing the impact zone; and a containment covering circumscribing the penetrable covering. The containment covering comprises a textile fabric containing threads in a warp direction and a fill direction, wherein the threads in the warp direction are of a different denier than the threads in the fill direction.

Low deflection fan case cotainment fabric

Rotor bladesfor a bladed rotor feature a chamfered attachmentthat improves the energy absorption capability of a snap ringused as one component of a blade axial retention system. The chamfered attachment plastically deforms the snap ring rather than shearing through it in response to abnormally high forces exerted on the blade.

Chamfered attachment for a bladed rotor

A fan in an axial flow gas turbine engine includes a plurality of fan blades. Each fan blade includes an airfoil portion and a root portion with a platform disposed radially therebetween. The platform of each blade extends circumferentially from the blade and is dimensioned to define, with an adjacent platform, an enlarged gap to insure that contact between adjacent platforms is avoided when a blade is released during a blade loss condition. A seal is provided to seal the enlarged gap between adjacent platforms during normal operation of the gas turbine engine.

Frangible fan blade

The invention is a penetration resistant turbine engine fan casing (12) for containing separated fragments of a fan blade (16). The casing includes a penetration susceptible support case (14), a penetrable covering (32) circumscribing an impact zone (I) of the support case and an optional, but highly recommended collapsible support covering (34) circumscribing the case but axially offset from the impact zone. A containment covering (36) circumscribes both the penetrable covering (32) and the support covering (34). In a preferred embodiment, the coverings are aromatic polyamide fiber fabrics and the support covering is a collapsible cellular array. In operation, a detached fragment of a fan blade penetrates through the case (14) and the penetrable covering (32), and is plastically deformed by the penetrable covering to reduce the fragment's potential for damaging the containment covering (36). The containment covering intercepts the deformed fragment, confining it to a predetermined radial envelope bounded by the inner surface (58) of a nacelle (52). The impact forces arising from a separated blade fragment cause the containment fabric to collapse the cellular array (32) and momentarily detension the containment fabric to maximize its penetration resistance.

Penetration resistant fan casing for a turbine engine

A hollow airfoil (34) for a gas turbine engine having a leading edge (50), a trailing edge (52), a pressure side (54), and a suction side (56) includes a solid region of enhanced chordal thickness (78), and buttresses (82, 84, 86, 88). The present invention airfoil is preferentially strengthened so as to reduce the risk of airfoil fracture due to impact of airfoil with successive airfoils during an airfoil loss condition.

Impact resistant hollow airfoils

The present invention relates to a fan blade in an axial gas turbine engine. The blade platform is constructed to fracture adjacent the airfoil portion of the blade so as to locate the fractured edge of the platform in the root portion. As a result of this benign platform, damage to successive fan blades during a blade loss condition is reduced. In addition, various construction details are developed in the airfoil and root portion of the fan blade to reduce damage to fan blades during impact with adjacent blades.

A method and apparatus for increasing blade fatigue strength in a turbine engine. The blades in the turbine engine are configured so as to reduce stress at the tip of the blades during operation of the turbine engine, thus increasing blade fatigue strength. This stress reduction helps to counteract the detrimental effect of abrasive tip coatings on blade fatigue strength. In one embodiment, the tip of the blade is chamfered in order to reduce the stress on the tip of the blade. An abrasive coating is then applied to the tip of the blade to assist the blade in seating into an abradable outer air seal. In another embodiment, an abrasive coating is applied to a center portion of the tip of the blade, with the periphery of the abrasive coating being set back from the opposing surfaces of the blade.

Method and apparatus for reducing stress on the tips of turbine or

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Portland, CT, United States of America

Douglas A Welch