General Electric Company

Ge Avio S.r.l.

Flavia Turi

Bugra Han Ertas

Xiaohua Zhang

Arthur William Sibbach

Andrea Piazza

Miriam Manzoni

Brandon Wayne Miller

Walter John Smith

A gearbox assembly includes a gearbox and a gutter for collecting a gearbox lubricant scavenge flow from the gearbox. The gutter is characterized by a lubricant extraction volume ratio between 0.01 and 0.3, inclusive of the endpoints. The lubricant extraction volume ratio is defined by Vis a gutter volume of the gutter and Vis a gearbox volume of the gearbox. A gas turbine engine includes the gearbox assembly and a lubrication system. The lubrication system includes a tank that stores a lubricant therein, one or more lubricant pumps for generating a flow of lubricant from the tank to the gearbox assembly, and a flow rate control valve. The flow rate control valve has a flow inlet and a flow outlet and defines a variable throughput from the flow inlet to the flow outlet for controlling a flowrate of the lubricant to the gearbox assembly.

Gearbox assembly with lubricant extraction volume ratio

A gearbox assembly includes a gearbox and a gutter for collecting a gearbox lubricant scavenge flow from the gearbox. The gutter is characterized by a lubricant extraction volume ratio between 0.01 and 0.3, and given by Vis a gutter volume of the gutter and Vis a gearbox volume. A gas turbine engine includes a combustion section and the gearbox assembly. A fuel delivery system includes a fuel supply line for delivering fuel to the combustion section. A lubrication system includes a lubricant supply line for delivering lubricant to the gearbox assembly. A thermal management system includes a fuel-lubricant heat exchanger for cooling the lubricant with the fuel. The thermal management system selectively directs the fuel through fuel bypass lines or the lubricant through lubricant bypass lines to bypass the fuel-lubricant heat exchanger based on a fuel temperature or a lubricant temperature.

A gas turbine engine includes a gearbox assembly that includes a gearbox and a gutter for collecting a gearbox lubricant scavenge flow from the gearbox. The gutter is characterized by a lubricant extraction volume ratio between 0.01 and 0.3, inclusive of the endpoints. The lubricant extraction volume ratio defined by: is a gutter volume of the gutter and Vis a gearbox volume. The gas turbine engine includes a lubricant flow control system that includes a variable flow lubricant pump that generates a pump variable flow of lubricant to the gearbox assembly. The gearbox assembly has a variable consumption demand for delivery of lubricant. A lubricant flow controller is configured to generate a pump control command for the variable flow lubricant pump to produce the pump variable flow of lubricant based on the variable consumption demand.

A gearbox assembly includes a gearbox having a gear assembly and a gutter for collecting a gearbox lubricant scavenge flow from the gearbox. The gutter is characterized by a lubricant extraction volume ratio between 0.01 and 0.3, inclusive of the endpoints. The lubricant extraction volume ratio is defined by is a gutter volume of the gutter and Vis a gearbox volume. A gas turbine engine includes the gearbox assembly and a lubrication system. The lubrication system includes a sump that is a primary reservoir having a first lubricant level and a secondary reservoir in the gearbox assembly. The secondary reservoir has a second lubricant level. The lubrication system fills the secondary reservoir with a lubricant between the first lubricant level and the second lubricant level. The gear assembly collects the lubricant in the secondary reservoir to supply the lubricant to the gear assembly.

A gearbox including a gear and a gutter. The gear is rotatable about a rotational axis in a rotational direction. The gear has a radial direction and an axial direction, and the gear expels oil radially outward when the gear rotates. The gutter is positioned radially outward of the gear in the radial direction of the gear to collect oil expelled by the gear when the gear rotates. The gutter includes an axial surface, a plurality of radial surfaces including a first radial surface and a second radial surface, and at least one opening to allow the oil collected in the gutter to flow therethrough. Each of the first radial surface and the second radial surface is oriented in a direction intersecting the axial surface, and the at least one opening is formed on both the axial surface and one of the first radial surface and the second radial surface.

Oil scavenge system for a gearbox

A gearbox for a gas turbine engine. The gearbox including a rotor and a gutter. The oil system is configured to supply oil to the gearbox. The rotor is rotatable about a rotation axis. The rotor expels oil radially outward when the rotor rotates. The gutter is positioned radially outward of the rotor to collect oil expelled by the rotor when the rotor rotates. The gutter is positioned eccentrically with respect to the rotor.

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Flavia Turi