General Electric Company

Eugene J Antuna

Donald F Keck

Robert H Roth

Thomas G Wakeman

James W Brantley

William James Strock

Jeffrey B Fravel

Alan B Corbeil

An apparatus and method for the disassembly of an ultra high bypass turbine engine having an outer engine portion and an inner engine portion. A plurality of fan blades and acoustic panels are removed from the inner portion of the engine. The outer portion of the engine which includes a plurality of fan outlet guide vanes and fan casing are disconnected from the engine and axially removed. Certain outer portions of the engine including a hinged thrust reverser and hinged fan cowling may be coupled to an aircraft pylon and used interchangeably with replacement engines.

Apparatus and method for the diassembly of an ultra high bypass engine

A gas turbine engine has a core frame separable from a vane frame for removably attaching the vane frame to a core structure through a mid ring. The mid ring includes an annular forward panel and an annular aft panel, each of which has a radially outer flange and a radially inner flange. The inner flanges are welded to the core frame and the outer flanges are bolted to the vane frame. A plurality of circumferentially spaced stiffeners extend between the forward and aft panels, with each of the stiffeners including a pair of stringers extending diagonally across the stiffeners. Panels may be incorporated with the stringers between the triangular shaped areas adjacent the forward and aft panels of the stiffener. The bolted connection between the mid ring and the vane frame includes a plurality of tongue and groove joints formed in the flanges of the mid ring and vane frame. The tongue and groove joints provide additional radial support for the core engine within the vane frame. Preferably, the tongue and groove joints are formed with angular sides so that conformance between the joints can be achieved by simply tightening the bolts attaching the joints. In one embodiment, the tongue and groove joints may only be used at preselected circumferential positions with the remainder of the flange connections using overlapping lap joints.

Apparatus for removably attaching a core frame to a vane frame with a

Growing community of inventors

Springdale, OH, United States of America

Eugene J Antuna