General Electric Company

John William Hanify

Robert Proctor

Robert William Bruce

Sridhar Adibhatla

Michael J Epstein

Julius John Montgomery

Roger Owen Barbe

Gregory Alan White

Edward P Brill

Steven Edward Nolte

Randall Brent Rydbeck

Grant Alan Ingram

Gerhard Walter Moeller

Debra Lynn Prikkel

Christopher Timothy Gallagher

Roger O Barbe

A method for reducing a turbine clearance gap between a plurality of rotor blades of a turbine engine and a shroud of the turbine engine is provided. The method includes determining that an airplane is in a first flight condition, and adjusting the turbine clearance gap to a first clearance gap distance associated with the first flight condition. The method also includes determining a demand for a second flight condition, and adjusting an engine responsiveness to a first engine responsiveness for a first predetermined change in a power parameter of the engine. The method further includes reducing the engine responsiveness from the first engine responsiveness level to a second engine responsiveness level for a second predetermined change in the power parameter of the engine, and closing a clearance control valve associated with the shroud during the second predetermined change in the power parameter of the engine.

Method, system, and apparatus for reducing a turbine clearance

Erosion- and impact-resistant ceramic coatings suitable for protecting surfaces subjected to collisions with particles, including nominally round particles that typically inflict impact damage and more aggressive irregular-shaped particles that typically inflict erosion damage. The ceramic coating is formed to have one of three compositions: at least one layer of titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN) having a thickness of about 25 to about 100 micrometers; multiple layers of chromium nitride (CrN) and TiAlN, each layer having a thickness of about 0.2 to about 1.0 micrometers to yield a total coating thickness of at least about 3 micrometers; and at least one layer of titanium silicon carbonitride (TiSiCN) having a thickness of about 15 to about 100 micrometers. The ceramic coating preferably has a total coating thickness of up to about 100 micrometers, and is deposited by a physical vapor deposition process to have a columnar and/or dense microstructure.

Erosion- and impact-resistant coatings

A butterfly valve for a gas turbine engine includes a valve shaft and a valve disk. The valve disk has a centerline axis that extends through the valve disk. The valve disk also includes a shaft opening, an outer periphery, an outer surface, a first side, and a second side. The first side is opposite the second side. The shaft opening extends through the valve disk adjacent the centerline axis, and is sized to receive the valve shaft therein. The disk outer surface extends over the first and second sides, and is tapered between the outer periphery and the centerline axis over at least one of the disk first and second sides.

Methods and apparatus for regulating turbine clearance control system airflow

To cool the shroud assembly in the high pressure turbine section of a gas turbine engine, high pressure cooling air is directed in metered flow to baffle plenums and thence through baffle perforations to impingement cool the rails and back surfaces of the shroud. Impingement cooling air then flows through elongated, convection cooling passages in the shroud sections and exits to flow along the shroud front surface with the main gas stream to provide film cooling. The aft rail of the shroud sections is provided with one or more cooling holes to impingement cool the annular retaining ring or C-clip retaining the shroud sections on the shroud hangers. This cooling air then travels aftward on the inboard side of the C-clip to provide convection cooling of the C-clip. In an alternative embodiment, cooling air is directed at the aft corners of the shroud base to avoid overheating.

Shroud cooling assembly for gas turbine engine

Growing community of inventors

West Chester, OH, United States of America

John William Hanify