General Electric Company

Wayne Ray Bowen

Andrew J Lammas

William Terence Dingwell

Thomas Carl Mesing

Mitchell Jay Headley

David B Hester

Robert William Bruce

James C Przytulski

James Edwin Rhoda

Jay L Cornell

Frederic Gardner Haaser

James Edward Gutknecht

Nathan Gerard Cormier

Jeffrey Clayton Potter

Michael Even-Nur

Donald Charles Slavik

A variable stator vane assembly and a bushing thereof. The bushing includes a metal bushing body and a wear-resistant coating. The assembly includes a rotatable trunnion and a first metal bushing. The trunnion is capable of being located in a through hole extending between outer and inner surfaces of a compressor casing of a gas turbine engine. The first metal bushing is capable of being located in the through hole proximate the outer surface to surround a first portion of the trunnion when the trunnion is located in the through hole. The first metal bushing and the first portion have wear-resistant coatings which are in mutual contact, apart from any intervening lubricant, when the trunnion and the first metal bushing are located in the through hole and the trunnion is rotating with respect to the first metal bushing.

Variable stator vane assembly and bushing thereof

A method facilitates assembling a variable vane assembly for a gas turbine engine including a casing and an inner shroud. The method comprises providing at least one variable vane including a radially inner spindle that includes a groove defined therein that has at least one machined face, and coupling the variable vane radially between the casing and the inner shroud such that at least a portion of the radially inner spindle is inserted at least partially through an opening extending radially through the inner shroud. The method also comprises securing the variable vane to the inner shroud by engaging the spindle machined face with a retainer coupled to the inner shroud.

Gas turbine engine variable vane assembly

A multi-layer seal and washer that provide a seal between a vane stem and a casing in a turbine engine are disclosed. The seal and washer are fabricated from materials such as Teflon fibers and glass fibers and are impregnated with a polyimide resin. The seal and washer are durable and have a low coefficient of friction.

Method of manufacturing variable vane seal and washer materials

A trunnion support for a variable-position stator vane in a turbomachine. The stator vane includes an upper trunnion and a lower trunnion to allow the stator vane to be pivoted about a longitudinal axis. The lower trunnion is supported in a bushing that is carried in an opening provided in an annular stator vane carrier ring. The bushing is longitudinally split and is installed in the carrier ring while in a laterally compressed condition so that when installed in the carrier ring the bushing bears against the carrier ring opening in which it is positioned. When the carrier ring material expands with rising temperature, the pre-stress in the bushing will cause it to expand to maintain tight frictional engagement between the bushing and the opening and thereby prevent relative rotation between the bushing and the carrier ring to minimize wear of the carrier ring material.

Variable stator vane support arrangement

A torque shaft assembly includes a hollow tube with a central axis disposed between and fixedly connected to first and second crankshafts at first and second distal ends, respectively, of the tube for movement of an array of connecting members such as push rods. A hollow interior of tube between the first and second crankshafts is filled with a sufficient quantity of flowable inertia material or damping media to absorb vibratory energy by friction during operation of the engine. The hollow interior is preferably filled with a quantity of damping media to a level by volume of about 98% and a preferred flowable inertia material is round steel shot. A plurality of spaced-apart clevises are fixedly attached to a tube wall on an outer surface of the tube wall surrounding the hollow interior. Each clevis includes connection means disposed away from the wall outer surface for connection with an actuator for movement of the array of adjustable devices such as variable stator vanes.

Damped torque shaft assembly

A variable gas turbine compressor vane structure includes a gas turbine compressor vane having a vane support at an end thereof, and a case structure having a bearing support disposed to engage the vane support of the gas turbine compressor vane. The bearing support is typically a bearing bushing or a bearing washer. The bearing support is made of a metal skeleton having open-cell porosity extending therethrough, and an infiltrant material such as an organic or a ceramic infiltrated into the porosity of the metal skeleton.

Variable gas turbine compressor vane structure with sintered-and-infiltrated bushing and washer bearings

Variable vane seal and washer materials

A method and fixture assembly for assisting in the matching and assembly of components of a variable stator vane assembly of a gas turbine engine. The method generally entails a stator vane configured to be assembled to a casing with a spacer. The vane has a surface at a perimeter thereof and a seat offset from the surface. The spacer to which the vane is to be assembled has first and second surfaces offset relative to each other, the first surface being adapted to engage the seat of the vane and the second surface adapted to face the surface of the vane. The vane is installed within an opening in the casing so that a first sealing member is between the casing and the vane, the casing is between the first sealing member and a second sealing member, and the seat extends through the opening. A fixture is then mounted to the vane so that the casing and the first and second sealing members are clamped between the fixture and the vane under a load. The position of the seat of the vane is then detected, and a spacer is selected having an offset dimension between its first and second surfaces based on the position of the seat.

Method of assembling a variable stator vane assembly

A seal and a washer for a variable vane assembly in a turbine engine are described. The seal includes a first portion and a second portion that are substantially perpendicular. The seal is positioned between a variable vane and a casing. The washer is substantially flat and is located between the casing and a spacer.

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West Chester, OH, United States of America

Wayne Ray Bowen