General Electric Company

Mark Graham Turner

Richard David Cedar

Paul David Orkwis

Dennis E Culley

Jonathan L Kratz

A system for actuating fluid flow is disclosed. The system includes a fluid actuator, an electric motor for driving the fluid actuator, a motor controller for controlling the motor, a local energy storage device for powering the motor, a stability monitor that assesses instability of operation of the fluid actuator, and a mitigation control that mitigates instability of the fluid actuator via the motor controller based on the assessment of the stability monitor, wherein a response time of the mitigation is faster than changes in fluid flow in the system during fluid actuation.

Fluid actuator operability improvement with fast energy storage

A gas turbine engine turbine stage has an annular row of turbine airfoils including a first plurality of first airfoils having a first chord length and a second plurality of second airfoils having a second chord length shorter than the first chord length. At least one of the second airfoils is circumferentially disposed between each adjacent pair of the first airfoils. A second leading edges of the second airfoils are located downstream of first leading edges of the first airfoils. The first and second airfoils have different first and second temperature capabilities respectively and the first temperature capability is greater than the second temperature capability. The first and second airfoils may be made from different alloys and/or the second airfoils may be constructed to use lower amounts of cooling airflow than the first airfoils. More than one of the second airfoils may be disposed between each pair of the first airfoils.

Row of long and short chord length and high and low temperature capability turbine airfoils

A turbine includes three rows of airfoils which receive in sequence hot combustion gases during operation. The third row airfoils are clocked circumferentially relative to the first row airfoils for bathing the third row airfoils with relatively cool wakes discharged from the first row airfoils during the hottest running condition of the gas turbine engine being powered. The third row airfoils therefore avoid the hottest temperature of the combustion gases for reducing the cooling requirements thereof.

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Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Mark Graham Turner