General Electric Company

Thomas Anthony Hauer

William C Lippmeier

Cy W Overbeck

Thomas G Wakeman

Necip Doganaksoy

Alan Luis Arvidson

James Mark Loman

Omar Aquib Hasan

Gerald John Hahn

Jonathan M Wood

A method of operating an exhaust nozzle assembly includes translating a translatable structure between a plurality of operational positions to open and close a flow diverting port extending in an exhaust duct. The longitudinal position of a throat constriction varies with translation of the translatable structure. Additionally, the cross-sectional area of the exhaust duct at the throat constriction may vary with translation of the translatable structure. An exemplary exhaust nozzle is operable in-flight for providing at least partial reverse thrust to at least partly control the velocity of an aircraft. An exemplary exhaust nozzle is operable on the ground to spoil ground idle thrust.

Method of operating an exhaust nozzle assembly

Apparatus including an exhaust nozzle assembly having a translatable structure operable to open and close a flow diverting port in an exhaust duct. The translatable structure includes a forward region partly defining a converging nozzle region. The translatable structure includes a rearward region partly defining a diverging nozzle region. The forward region and the rearward region join at an inner edge that partly defines a throat constriction. The translatable structure is translatable between a plurality of operational positions each associated with a longitudinal position of the throat constriction. In a first operational position, the flow diverting port is fully closed. In a second operational position, the flow diverting port is fully opened. In a first intermediate operational position, the flow diverting port is fully closed. In a second intermediate operational position, the flow diverting port is at least partly opened. The cross-sectional area of the exhaust duct may vary with the longitudinal position of the throat constriction.

Exhaust nozzle assembly

A method for applying design for reliability into design for Six Sigma is described. The method includes establishing an appropriate model for reliability as a function of time; determining a reliability transfer function; calculating defects per opportunity per unit of time; entering said defects per opportunity per unit of time into a calculation of value of sigma; selecting one or more noise factors likely to have an impact on reliability; and performing a closed form analytical solution of said impact on reliability using a Monte Carlo analysis. The noise parameters may include one or more assumptions of the hours of usage per year, temperature of use, material quality, part quality, layout of components, extrinsic stresses, supplier quality, interconnection quality, test coverage, shipping damage, installation errors, errors in instructions, customer misuse or other noise factors beyond the control of the designer.

Method for applying design for reliability into design for six sigma

A method of developing a confidence level in reliability or producibility prediction scores that includes generating data for a set of factors, inserting the data into scorecards and dashboards, and calculating an overall Z score and Z confidence range. The scorecards and dashboards are used to calculate the confidence level in reliability scores. Each reliability or producibility factor may be weighted as to its importance to the overall confidence level. Factors included in the method include accuracy of the critical to quality flowdown; completeness of the critical to quality flowdown; percentage of the design analyzed; comprehensiveness of the design analysis; risk assessment analysis; percentage of component. subassembly or product reuse from other projects; percentage of the design complete; verification of the process capability; plant integration; order to remittance process integration; extent of pilot run; and effectiveness of a test plan.

Method and system of confidence scoring

A nozzle cooling system for selectively cooling longitudinally extending and circumferentially adjacent divergent exhaust flow confining elements bounding a hot exhaust gas flowpath in a divergent section of an aircraft gas turbine engine exhaust nozzle and providing pivoting capability for divergent flaps and seals in an axisymmetric vectoring nozzle. The apparatus includes axially adjacent forward and aft sections of at least one of the exhaust flow confining elements (typically referred to as flaps and seals), the adjacent forward and aft sections have forward and aft interior hot surfaces respectively, and mounting apparatus for mounting the aft section to the forward section in one of at least two positions. A first one of these two positions spaces apart the sections to form a gap (106) between the sections which allows cooling air (102) to flow onto the aft interior hot surface and a second one of these two positions places the sections in close abutting relationship so as to essentially prevent cooling air (102) from flowing onto the aft interior hot surface.

Convertible ejector selectively cooled thrust vectoring exhaust nozzle

A thrust vectoring axisymmetric vectoring exhaust nozzle having universally pivoting divergent flaps is provided with a surrounding thermal shield of overlapping outer flaps and seals generally disposed in an aftwards converging conical arrangement and having a means for changing its shape from axisymmetrical to asymmetrical. Additional thermal and cooling protection is provided by a series of ejector slots located on the divergent universally pivotal flaps and adjacent interflap seals of the nozzle to both cool and thermally shield the flaps and seals.

Growing community of inventors

West Chester, OH, United States of America

Thomas Anthony Hauer