General Electric Company

Kurt David Murrow

Darek Tomasz Zatorski

Randy M Vondrell

Andrew Breeze-Stringfellow

Patrick Michael Marrinan

Thomas Lee Becker, Jr

Dominic L Barone

Rollin George Giffin

Glenn David Crabtree

Jeffrey Anthony Hamel

Matthew Ryan Polakowski

Jixian Yao

Brandon Wayne Miller

Narendra Digamber Joshi

Oladapo Fakunle

Justin Paul Smith

Brendan Michael Freely

Michael James McMahon

Samuel Jacob Martin

Manoj Ramprasad Shah

James William Bray

Kattalaicheri Srinivasan Venkataramani

Alexis Raquel Nunes

Ching-Pang Lee

Thomas Ory Moniz

Daniel Alan Niergarth

Christopher Charles Glynn

Jeffrey Donald Clements

Robert Joseph Orlando

Paul Robert Gemin

Ian Francis Prentice

John Russell Yagielski

Nikolai N Pastouchenko

Syed Arif Khalid

Tsuguji Nakano

Lawrence Butler

Donald Albert Bradley

Daniel Lawrence Tweedt

Philip Michael Cioffi

Donald Scott Yeager

Nicholas Rowe Dinsmore

Craig Miller Kuhne

Brandon Flowers Powell

Ivett Alejandra Leyva

Matthew Timothy Franer

Lawrence Nmn Butler

Jia Xiaochuan

Thomas Lee Becker

Rollin George Griffin, Iii

Michael Mcmahon

Randy Marinus Vondrell

Jr Thomas Lee Becker

Darek T Zatorski

Glenn Crabtree

Dominic Barone

An aircraft equipped with a multi-fan propulsion system for controlling flight orientation transitions is provided. In one example aspect, an aircraft includes a fuselage and a pair of wings. The aircraft includes a propulsion system having a first propulsor and a second propulsor each mounted to the fuselage. The first propulsor has a fan positioned primarily above and the second propulsor has a fan positioned primarily below the pair of wings. The aircraft also includes a computing system having one or more processors configured to cause, in response to a demand to change an orientation of the aircraft for a flight orientation transition, the fans of the first and second propulsors to produce different amounts of thrust with respect to one another so that the aircraft performs the flight orientation transition. The thrust differential causes the aircraft to transition between orientations.

Aircraft with a multi-fan propulsion system for controlling flight orientation transitions

A propulsion assembly includes a first torque source coupled with a first shaft and a second torque source coupled with a second shaft. A coupler selectively couples the first and second torque sources. When the first and second torque sources are coupled via the coupler, in response to a command to decouple the first torque source, an unloading operation is performed to decrease the torque output provided by the first torque source to a threshold, and when reached, the first shaft is decoupled from the coupler. When the first torque source is coupled with the coupler but the second torque source is not, in response to a command to couple the second torque source, a speed matching operation is performed to increase the speed of the second shaft to match a speed of the first shaft, and when the speeds are matched, the second shaft is coupled to the coupler.

Hybrid-electric propulsion system equipped with a coupler for switching between modes of operation

A hybrid propulsion system for an aircraft can include a propulsor assembly having at least one propulsor and a power generation system. The power generation system can include a first power assembly, a second power assembly, a first electric machine, and a second electric machine. The first power assembly can be drivingly coupled to the first electric machine to produce a first amount of electric power. The second power assembly can be drivingly coupled to the second electric machine to produce a second amount of electric power. A controller can be operably coupled to the first power assembly, the first electric machine, or both and to the second power assembly, the second power assembly, or both. The controller can be configured to combine at least a portion of the first and second amount of power for electric transfer to the propulsor assembly.

Propulsion system for an aircraft

A method of operating an aircraft engine coupled to a wing of an aircraft including: setting a pitch of a plurality of rotor blades of a rotor assembly of the aircraft engine at non-uniform pitch angles along a circumferential direction of the aircraft engine such that the plurality of rotor blades define a first pitch at a first position and a second pitch at a second position, wherein the second position is 180 degrees offset from the first position, and wherein the first pitch is different from the second pitch.

Aircraft engine

An aircraft defines a vertical direction and includes a fuselage and a propulsion system comprising a power source and a plurality of vertical thrust electric fans driven by the power source. A wing extends from the fuselage. The plurality of vertical thrust electric fans are arranged along a length of the wing along a lengthwise direction of the wing. The wing comprises a diffusion assembly along the lengthwise direction of the wing and includes a first diffusion member positioned downstream of at least one of the plurality of vertical thrust electric fans. The first diffusion member defines a curved shape relative to a longitudinal direction of the aircraft. The longitudinal direction is generally perpendicular to the lengthwise direction of the wing.

Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft

An aircraft equipped with a distributed fan propulsion system and methods of operating such aircraft are provided. In one aspect, an aircraft includes a wing having a top surface and a bottom surface. The aircraft also has a distributed propulsion system that includes a suction fan array having one or more fans mounted to the wing and a pressure fan array having one or more fans mounted to the wing. The fans of the suction fan array are each positioned primarily above the top surface of the wing and the fans of the pressure fan array are each positioned primarily below the bottom surface of the wing. The fans of the suction fan array are controllable independent of the fans of the pressure fan array so that the air pressure above and/or below the wing can be locally controlled, allowing for adjustment of lift on the wing.

Aircraft equipped with a distributed propulsion system having suction and pressure fans

Pitch angles of an aircraft engine rotor assembly

An electric machine for a drive system having a first DS rotor and a second DS rotor includes a first EM rotor rotatable about an axis in a first circumferential direction and including a plurality of magnets, the first EM rotor configured for mechanical coupling to the first DS rotor; and a second EM rotor rotatable about the axis in a second circumferential direction and including a plurality of windings, the second EM rotor configured for mechanical coupling to the second DS rotor and the plurality of magnets of the first EM rotor operably engaged with the plurality of windings of the second EM rotor.

Dual rotor electric machine

In one aspect the present subject matter is directed to a gas-electric propulsion system for an aircraft. The system may include a turbofan jet engine, an electric powered boundary layer ingestion fan that is coupled to a fuselage portion of the aircraft aft of the turbofan jet engine, and an electric generator that is electronically coupled to the turbofan jet engine and to the boundary layer ingestion fan. The electric generator converts rotational energy from the turbofan jet engine to electrical energy and provides at least a portion of the electrical energy to the boundary layer ingestion fan. In another aspect of the present subject matter, a method for propelling an aircraft via the gas-electric propulsion system is disclosed.

Gas-electric propulsion system for an aircraft

A propulsion system of an aircraft has at least one unducted fan and at least one ducted fan, the at least one unducted fan and the at least one ducted fan being powered by an electric power source and rotatable between a vertical thrust position and a forward thrust position, and a controller configured to distribute electrical power between the at least one unducted fan and the at least one ducted fan. During a first mode when the at least one unducted fan and the at least one ducted fan are in the vertical thrust position, the controller is configured to distribute the electrical power between the plurality of unducted fans and the plurality of ducted fans such that the at least one unducted fan is a primary source of thrust.

Tiltrotor propulsion system for an aircraft

A turbomachine and method for operating a turbomachine comprising a first rotatable component and a second rotatable component each defining a rotatable speed mechanically independent of one another, and an electric machine electrically coupled to the first rotatable component and the second rotatable component such that a load level relative to the first rotatable component and the second rotatable component is adjustable is generally provided. The method includes adjusting a first load at a first rotor assembly of the electric machine electrically coupled to the first rotatable component such that a first speed of the first rotatable component is increased or decreased based on an engine condition and the first load; adjusting a second load at a second rotor assembly of the electric machine electrically coupled to the second rotatable component such that a second speed of the second rotatable component is decreased or increased based on the engine condition and the second load; and transferring electrical energy generated from at least one of the first rotatable component or the second rotatable component.

Turbomachine with an electric machine assembly and method for operation

An aircraft including a fuselage and an aft engine is provided. The fuselage extends from a forward end of the aircraft towards an aft end of the aircraft. The aft engine is mounted to the fuselage proximate the aft end of the aircraft and includes a fan and a nacelle. The fan is rotatable about a central axis of the aft engine and includes a plurality of fan blades. The nacelle of the aft engine surrounds the plurality of fan blades and defines a bottom portion having a forward end. Additionally, the nacelle defines a curved surface at the forward end of the bottom portion, the curved surface including a reference point where the curved surface defines the smallest radius of curvature. The nacelle further defines a normal reference line extending normal from the reference point. The normal reference line defines an angle with the central axis of the aft engine greater than zero to, e.g., allow for a maximum amount of airflow into the aft engine.

Aft engine nacelle shape for an aircraft

A lift fan apparatus includes: a rotor having at least one rotatable hub carrying at least one row of blades; a duct surrounding the rotor, the duct including spaced-apart peripheral walls extending between an inlet and an exit, the peripheral walls collectively defining a flow channel which includes a diffuser disposed downstream of the rotor, in which a flow area at the exit is greater than a flow area at the rotor; and a plurality of spaced-apart splitters disposed in the diffuser, each of the splitters having opposed side walls extending between an upstream leading edge and a downstream trailing edge, wherein the splitters divide the diffuser into a plurality of side-by-side flow passages.

Lift fan with diffuser duct

An aircraft includes a fuselage; a propulsion system including a power source and a vertical thrust electric fan driven by the power source; and a wing extending from the fuselage. The vertical thrust electric fan is positioned on or within the wing, the wing including a diffusion assembly movable between a first position and a second position and positioned at least partially downstream of the vertical thrust electric fan when in the second position, the diffusion assembly including a first member and a second member, the second member movable generally along the vertical direction relative to the first member such that the first member and second member together define at least in part an exhaust flowpath for the first vertical thrust electric fan when the diffusion assembly is in the second position.

Growing community of inventors

Liberty Township, OH, United States of America

Kurt David Murrow