Fluid reaction surfaces (i.e. – impellers) – Rotor having flow confining or deflecting web – shroud or... – Axially extending shroud ring or casing
Patent
1994-11-01
1995-11-07
Look, Edward K.
Fluid reaction surfaces (i.e., impellers)
Rotor having flow confining or deflecting web, shroud or...
Axially extending shroud ring or casing
F01D 522
Patent
active
054643260
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to air compressing rotors and in particular to a fan rotor for a gas turbine engine.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional fan rotor for compressing air comprises a disc having a plurality of radially extending blades mounted thereon. The fan blades are mounted on the disc by inserting the radially inner end of the blades in correspondingly shaped retention grooves in the radially outer face of the disc. The fan blades do not have platforms so the inner wall of an annulus for the compressed air is formed by fastening separate wall members to the radially outer face of the disc. The separate wall members bridge the space between pairs of adjacent blades to define the inner annulus wall.
Each separate wall member has resilient strips bonded to the edges adjacent the fan blades. The resilient strips protrude so that they abut the adjacent fan blades. The resilient strips thus seal between the wall members and the fan blade to prevent air leaking past the inner wall of the flow annulus.
A drawback of such an arrangement is that the resilient strips are a close fit with the adjacent blades which leads to difficulties in assembly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention seeks to provide a rotor in which the inner wall of the flow annulus is defined by a plurality of wall members which are provided with resilient strips which allow for easier assembly.
According to the present invention a rotor for a gas turbine engine comprises a rotor disc which has a radially outer face on which a plurality of radially extending blades are mounted, the blades being curved in an axially extending direction, separate wall members are provided to bridge the space between adjacent blades to define an inner wall of a flow annulus through the rotor, each of the wall members is adapted for attachment to the radially outer face of the disc and has opposing side faces which are spaced circumferentially from the adjacent blades and which are curved to follow the curvature of the adjacent blades, resilient seal strips being mounted adjacent the opposing side faces of the wall members, characterised in that each resilient seal strip has a flange portion which is inclined radially inward along a curved edge adjacent the opposing side face of the wall member, the edge having a curvature corresponding to the curvature of the opposing side face of the wall member and the angle of inclination of the flange portion varying along the edge to produce undulations in the flange portion which enhance the flexibility of the flange portion, whereby in operation the flange portion of the resilient seal strip is deflected radially outwards by centrifugal forces as the rotor rotates about a central axis of the engine so that the flange portion comes into contact with the adjacent fan blade to seal the inner wall of the flow annulus.
Preferably the angle of inclination of the flange portion is varied to produce substantially sinusoidal undulations in the flange portion. The resilient seal strips may be made from a woven material such as carbon or glass fibre. The flange portion of the resilient seal strip may have a rubber strip attached to the flange portion which comes into contact with the adjacent fan blades when the flange portion is deflected radially outward by centrifugal forces.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which;
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a gas turbine engine incorporating a rotor in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view of a rotor in accordance with the present invention in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part of the rotor shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a pictorial view of a seal strip for use in a rotor in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows the deflection under centrifugal forces of the flange portion of a seal strip in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
REFERENCES:
patent: 3464709 (1969-09-01), Furgason et al.
patent: 3712757 (1973-01-01), Goodwin
patent: 3936230 (1976-02-01), Helmintoller, Jr. et al.
patent: 4045149 (1977-08-01), Ravenhall
patent: 4183720 (1980-01-01), Brantley
patent: 5049035 (1991-09-01), Marlin
patent: 5277548 (1994-01-01), Klein et al.
Larson James A.
Look Edward K.
Rolls-Royce PLC
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