The Boeing Company

Robert P Gerend

Belur N Shivashankara

Samuel Joseph Cowan

James W Ramsay

A gas turbine engine combustion noise suppressor for a jet engine combustor assembly of the annular, cannular, or canannular variety includes a resonant cavity-type or bulk absorber-type noise suppressor. The inner wall of the combustor assembly is configured to couple combustion noise, generated within the burner cavity formed by the inner combustor wall, into the airflow duct formed between the inner and outer walls of the combustor assembly. The outer wall is perforated to, in turn, couple the combustion noise from the airflow duct into the resonant cavity-type or bulk absorber-type noise suppressor that is mounted on the portion of the outer wall that is adjacent the burner cavity. The inner combustor wall can include a large number of small acoustic openings and/or a smaller number of larger openings that include airflow barriers to couple the combustion noise into the combustor airflow duct while simultaneously minimizing air flow into the burner cavity from the combustor airflow duct. In other embodiments, a short burner cavity is employed that includes flutes or corrugations in the inner combustor wall to effect mixing of air and combustion products normally accomplished within the aft section of a conventional burner cavity. In each embodiment the structural relationship between the combustor and the noise suppressor modifies the combustion process occurring within a conventional combustor to generate less noise than a conventional combustor. The noise suppressor functions to further reduce the noise level.

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Bellevue, WA, United States of America

Robert P Gerend