General Electric Company

Sami Aslam

Bharat S Bagepalli

Mahmut Faruk Aksit

Richard Michael Hatley

Donald E Woodmansee

Kenneth John Hatley

Thomas Wagner

Sean Michael McDonnell

Michael John Bousquet

Kathleen Lynne Bentzel

Bernard Arthur Couture

Maz Sutcu

Leslie Boyd Bedell

Bharat Sampathkumar Bagepalli

Thomas Arthur Wagner

Robert James Lloyd Bland

Jeffrey Arthur Ebnoit

A method of inspecting and recording inspection data of machine components, the method including selecting a machine component among a plurality of machine components for inspection; identifying predefined areas of the selected machine component for inspection; identifying a fixed set of conditions allowed to be reported for the select machine component; inspecting the predefined areas of the select machine component; and recording inspection data as continuous numerical values to quantify entry for subsequent querying over a chosen set of machine components.

Method for inspecting and recording machine component condition data

The method for in situ inspection includes providing a pair of adjacent impingement sleeves forming part of a combustor. A robotic inspection tool carrying an inspection head is inserted through an opening in the outer casing of the gas turbine and manipulated to locate the inspection head between the adjacent impingement sleeves. After inspecting the exterior surface of an impingement sleeve, the inspection tool is withdrawn from the casing. Additionally, a transition piece body forming part of a combustor is inspected by securing a robotic manipulator to an open end of the combustion casing, locating an inspection head on an inspection arm of the manipulator and manipulating the arm to locate the inspection head to inspect interior wall portions of the transition body by displacing the head axially and radially toward wall portions of the transition body. Side seam welds of the transition piece body are also inspected by providing a guide with a contoured surface corresponding to the contour of the side seam weld and displacing an inspection head along the guide through the transition piece body and impingement sleeve to inspect the weld of the transition piece body.

Methods for robotically inspecting gas turbine combustion components

A combustion liner and cooling sleeve assembly for a turbine combustor includes a substantially cylindrical combustion liner; and a substantially cylindrical outer cooling sleeve surrounding at least an axial portion of the combustion liner; wherein the outer cooling sleeve is secured to the combustion liner by a weld at one end of the cooling sleeve at its aft end, with a predetermined radial gap therebetween, the gap determined by respective operating temperatures and thermal expansion coefficients. A method of reducing crack propensity in a substantially cylindrical combustion liner and substantially cylindrical cooling sleeve assembly where one end of said cooling sleeve is welded to the combustion liner, includes the steps of: a) determining a radial gap between the combustion liner and the outer cooling sleeve as a function of operating temperatures and thermal expansion coefficients of the liner and the cooling sleeve; b) forming the outer cooling sleeve with a diameter sufficient to provide the radial gap; c) swaging the outer end of the cooling sleeve to bring the end of the outer cooling sleeve into engagement With the combustion liner; and d) welding the outer cooling sleeve to the combustion liner.

Fracture resistant support structure for a hula seal in a turbine combustor and related method

A turbine spline seal includes an elongated turbine seal member. The seal member has an elongated, imperforate, and manually-flexible first portion and a manually-rigid second portion lengthwise adjoining the first portion. The turbine assembly includes the turbine spline seal and also includes first and second turbine members. The first and second turbine members are spaced apart to define a fluid-path leakage gap therebetween, and the seal member is placed in the gap. Each lengthwise edge of the seal member engages a respective one of two opposing surface grooves of the first and second turbine members.

Turbine spline seal and turbine assembly containing such spline seal

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Clifton Park, NY, United States of America

Sami Aslam