General Electric Company

Larry Dean Cline

Ambrose A Hauser

Gerald Alexander Pauley

Mark S Zlatic

Philip Robert Griggs

James E Sidenstick

Chen-Yu J Chou

Dan Lee Neal

A method for removing metal cladding adhered to an airfoil, such as a turbine blade, wherein the airfoil comprises a substrate and wherein at least a portion of the cladding is adhered to at least one surface of the substrate of the airfoil. In this method the cladding is treated with a chemical etchant of the metal that the cladding is made of for a period of time sufficient to remove at least the portion of the cladding adhered to the at least one surface of the substrate. The substrate is made of a material that is chemically resistant to the etchant.

Method for removing metal cladding from airfoil substrate

A method for repairing a discrete damaged portion of an article surface, for example of a laminated composite material, includes applying an uncured repair material at the damaged portion and then subjecting the repair material and the discrete damaged portion to a vacuum to remove air entrapped in the repair material and the discrete damaged portion. One form of the invention uses a vacuum tool comprising an outer wall including an opening there through having a peripheral edge shaped to conform generally with a portion of the article surface about the damaged portion, and gas evacuation means. The tool is combined with a releasable gas seal generally shaped to interface between the peripheral edge and the article surface and release from the article surface.

Method and apparatus for repairing a discrete damaged portion of an article surface

A drill guide that is capable of guiding the drilling holes, in particular lockwire holes, transversely through one corner of a nut at an oblique angle to a face thereof and a method for using same. The drill guide comprises at least one guide component having a first and a second side transverse to the first side. The first side has a recess with first and second surfaces for receiving the corner of the nut, the first surface being closer to the second side. Also included is a drill bit guide for guiding a drill bit of a drill that is accessible from the second side and extends towards the first surface of the recess along a longitudinal axis in the direction of the second surface of the recess so that the drill bit is capable of drilling a hole transversely through the corner of the nut at an oblique angle to the face of the nut that the drill bit initially engages.

Drill guide and method for drilling holes

A system is provided inside a turbomachine for controlling operational clearance between a turbine rotor and a surrounding turbine shroud. The system comprises a plurality of control rings, integrated into the turbine casing, that are thermally expanded and contracted to control radial positioning of the turbine shroud. Compressor air is directed through internal passages in the rings to cause the expansion and contraction. The system utilizes the pressure and temperature of compressor air, in combination with size, location, and structure of the control rings to match thermal growth of the control rings and turbine shroud to thermal growth of the turbine rotors, thereby controlling clearance.

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Fairfield, OH, United States of America

Larry Dean Cline