General Electric Company

L D Shotts

Raymond W Wisbey

Melvin Bobo

Dean Thomas Lenahan

Jeffrey Glover

Bandadi S Shetty

Albert W Sears

James W Heyser

Improved operation can be achieved from an enhanced gas turbine engine having a segmented annular shroud which radially expands and contracts to match the expansion and contraction of engine rotor blades. The segmented annular shroud is supported by a structure which includes an annular ring having two radially outwardly extending flanges, and forward and aft annular segmented brackets which attach the segmented shroud to the forward and aft side of the ring respectively. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, two circumferentially extending separate and distinct air impingement manifolds surrounds each of the outwardly extending flanges. Each manifold is provided with a valve for controlling the amount and temperature of the airflow entering each manifold. The air from each manifold then impinges upon each of the outwardly extending flanges, thereby controlling the radial movement of the corresponding shroud segments and the associated clearances with the rotor blade tips. The use of separate and distinct manifolds and the corresponding values which regulate the amount and temperature of airflow to each manifold allows individual shroud portions to be separately expanded or contracted.

Clearance control system for separately expanding or contracting

A curved slot is formed between an internal cavity of an airfoil and the trailing edge thereof by temporarily deflecting the airfoil trailing edge portion toward the suction side thereof, forming a straight slot in the trailing edge portion while it is in the deflected position, and releasing the deflecting pressure to allow the trailing edge portion to spring back into an unstressed condition so as to thereby curve the slot within the trailing edge portion. Further curvatures may be effected by subsequent reformation of the trailing edge portion toward the pressure side of the airfoil.

Method of forming a curved trailing edge cooling slot

A segment of a turbomachine nozzle is tangentially held in position by a pair of lugs extending radially from the outer and inner bands, respectively, at opposite ends of the segment, and resting against the adjacent support structure. In this way, the stress in the vanes and bands is maintained at a low level to thereby allow the use of high temperature, relatively low strength materials and reduced cooling measures. The lugs form integral end caps on the vane's one end and the cooling air enters the opposite end thereof.

Turbine nozzle

Growing community of inventors

Forest Park, OH, United States of America

L D Shotts