General Electric Company

Ryan T Roehm

Brandon Wayne Miller

Arthur William Sibbach

Andrew Hudecki

John C Schilling

Donald Scott Yeager

Robert Eugene Dyson

Ravindra Shankar Ganiger

Jeffrey Douglas Rambo

Kirk Douglas Gallier

Scott Hunter

Duane Howard Anstead

Narendra Anand Hardikar

Kevin Richard Graziano

Andrew J Hank

Geoffrey Whitener

Pravin Ganpati Patil

Andrew Gumpert

A turbine engine operable in a cold start condition to prevent wear on components of a gearbox assembly of the turbine engine. The turbine engine includes a gearbox assembly, a pump for directing lubricant to the gearbox assembly, a supply line heating path comprising a heat exchanger, a recirculation bypass path, a valve being positionable between a first position to direct the flow of the lubricant into the supply line heating path and a second position to direct the flow of the lubricant into the recirculation bypass path, and an electronic control unit configured to position the valve between the first position and the second position based on a temperature of the lubricant.

Systems and methods for heating a gearbox prior to fan rotation

A disclosed example non-transitory machine readable storage medium includes instructions to cause programmable circuitry to at least determine, based on output from at least one sensor, (i) a first parameter corresponding to a first position in a casing of a gas turbine engine, the first position at or downstream of a volume at which flows from respective ones of bleed offtakes are combined, and (ii) a second parameter corresponding to a second position in a casing of a gas turbine engine, the second position upstream from the first position, determine a status of at least one of the bleed offtakes or the at least one sensor based on the first and second parameters, and provide or indicate the status in response to the status indicating improper operation of at least one of the bleed offtakes or the at least one sensor.

Methods and apparatus to determine engine status with plenum measurements

Viscous damper apparatus and associated methods to control a response to a resonant vibration frequency are disclosed. An apparatus to support an aircraft engine includes a thrust link including a forward end and an aft end, the forward end of the thrust link coupled to the aircraft engine, and a damper including a piston rod coupled to the aft end of the thrust link, the piston rod including a piston, and a chamber including a fluid, the piston to move within the chamber.

Viscous damper apparatus and associated methods to control a response to a resonant vibration frequency

A lubrication system for a turbine engine includes a reservoir that stores a lubricant, a primary lubricant supply circuit including a primary supply pump fluidly coupled to the reservoir, and an auxiliary lubricant supply circuit including an auxiliary supply pump fluidly coupled to the reservoir. A clutch is mechanically coupled to the auxiliary supply pump, and the clutch configured to engage the auxiliary supply pump and a shaft of the turbine engine when activated. The lubrication system further includes a pressure sensor that monitors a lubricant pressure within the primary lubricant supply circuit. When the lubricant pressure within the primary lubricant supply circuit falls below a predetermined lubricant threshold, the clutch is activated to engage the auxiliary supply pump and the shaft of the turbine engine.

Lubrication system and methods of lubricating a gearbox assembly

A turbine engine includes a first gearbox, lubricated by oil. A first sump, located below the first gearbox, collects the oil. A first scavenge element pumps the oil from the first sump in an operational state and does not pump the oil in a failure state. A second gearbox is also lubricated by oil. A second sump, located below the second gearbox, collects the oil. A second scavenge element pumps the oil from the second sump in both the operational state and in the failure state. A conduit connects the first sump to the second sump to transfer overflow oil from the first sump to the second sump in the failure state, the overflow oil combining with the oil in the second sump, upon the oil in the first sump reaching a threshold level.

Turbine engine including a lubrication system

Fluid-filled thrust link apparatus and associated method are disclosed. A thrust link for an aircraft engine includes a first wall having a forward portion and an aft portion at opposite ends of the thrust link, the forward portion coupled to the aircraft engine, the aft portion coupled to the aircraft engine, a pylon, or an aircraft associated with the aircraft engine, and a second wall within an interior area surrounded by the first wall, the second wall spaced apart from the first wall, a space between the first wall and the second wall defining a channel within the interior area, the channel including a fluid, the fluid pressurized based on a damping ratio to withstand a resonant vibration frequency generated by the aircraft engine.

Fluid-filled thrust link apparatus and associated method

A turbine engine having a longitudinal centerline axis. The turbine engine including a fan comprising a plurality of fan blades that rotate about the longitudinal centerline axis and a rotational component coupled to the fan. The turbine engine including a fluid circuit for supplying fuel or lubricant to the turbine engine and a hydraulic fan brake coupled to the fluid circuit to prevent rotation of the rotational component, thus preventing rotation of the fan. The hydraulic fan brake including a hydraulic cylinder fluidly coupled to the fluid circuit and a valve coupled to the hydraulic cylinder and having a first valve position that disengages the hydraulic fan brake to allow rotation of the rotational component and a second valve position that engages the hydraulic fan brake to prevent rotation of the rotational component.

Gas turbine engine having a hydraulic fan brake

A lubrication system for a gearbox assembly for a turbine engine. The gearbox assembly includes a gear assembly including one or more gears and one or more bearings. The lubrication system includes a sump. The sump is a primary reservoir that has a first lubricant level. The lubrication system also includes a secondary reservoir in the gearbox assembly. The secondary reservoir has a second lubricant level that is greater than the first lubricant level. A plurality of drain ports includes a first drain port and a second drain port. The lubrication system fills the secondary reservoir with lubricant between the first lubricant level and the second lubricant level and a portion of the lubricant drains though the second drain port. The one or more gears collects the lubricant to supply the lubricant from the secondary reservoir to the one or more gears or to the one or more bearings.

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West Chester, OH, United States of America

Ryan T Roehm