Bearing outer race retention during high load events

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10323541-B2
Application number	US-201715459125-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2017
Priority date	Mar 15, 2017
Publication date	Jun 18, 2019
Grant date	Jun 18, 2019

Abstract

A housing for retention of the outer race of a bearing of a gas turbine engine includes an arrangement of spring fingers that yields a lightweight housing capable of withstanding very high radial loads combined with very high torsional windup and axial thrust load. Controlled circumferential gaps on both sides of each spring finger limit the deflection and self-arrest the distortion of the housing. The spring fingers define at least one side edge that extends at an angle relative to the axial direction. An axial gap is created on the aft end by a portion of the spring finger beam structure that opposes an axial face of the housing and limits the axial distortion. A radial gap created between interface hardware of the housing and the inner retention housing also acts to retain the spring finger housing under load in a radial direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A retention housing defining an axial direction and a radial direction perpendicular to the axial direction, the retention housing comprising:
a ball bearing housing;
a spring finger housing defining a plurality of axially extending struts, each strut defining a forward end and an axially opposite aft end, and a plurality of axially extending fingers, each finger defining a forward end and an axially opposite aft end;
a bridge web extending between and connecting the ball bearing housing to the spring finger housing;
wherein the aft end of each of the plurality of fingers defines a pair of side edges that are circumferentially spaced apart from each other, wherein each side edge of the aft end of each finger is spaced apart from an opposing side edge of a respective adjacent strut at the aft end of the spring finger housing to define a circumferential gap; and
wherein at least one of the pair of side edges of each of the plurality of fingers extends at a non-zero first angle relative to the axial direction and the opposing side edge of the respective adjacent strut extends at the first angle relative to the axial direction.

2. The retention housing of claim 1 , wherein the first angle is greater than about five degrees.

3. The retention housing of claim 1 , wherein the first angle is about ten degrees.

4. The retention housing of claim 1 , wherein the first angle is defined in a clockwise direction relative to the axial direction when looking inward along the radial direction onto the spring finger housing.

5. The retention housing of claim 1 , wherein the first angle is defined in a counterclockwise direction relative to the axial direction when looking inward along the radial direction onto the spring finger housing.

6. The retention housing of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the pair of side edges of each of the plurality of fingers extends at a non-zero second angle relative to the radial direction and the opposing side edge of the respective adjacent strut extends at the second angle relative to the radial direction.

7. The retention housing of claim 6 , wherein the second angle is greater than about five degrees.

8. The retention housing of claim 1 , wherein the aft end of each of the plurality of fingers defines an aft edge that is spaced apart from an opposing edge of the aft end of the spring finger housing and defines an axial gap between the aft edge of the respective finger and the opposing edge of the aft end of the spring finger housing.

9. The retention housing of claim 8 , wherein the opposing edge extends substantially parallel to the aft edge of each of the plurality of fingers.

10. The retention housing of claim 9 , wherein an arcuate recess is defined by the opposing edge of the aft end of the spring finger housing.

11. The retention housing of claim 10 , wherein the opposing side edge of the respective adjacent strut extends along the first angle to intersect a portion of the opposing edge of the aft end of the spring finger housing that defines the arcuate recess.

12. A gas turbine engine, comprising:
a fan including a plurality of blades extending radially from a hub and rotatable about a first axis of rotation defined centrally through the hub;
a compressor disposed downstream from the fan;
a turbine disposed downstream of the compressor;
a rotatable input shaft mechanically coupling the compressor to rotate in unison with the turbine;
and an engine envelope surrounding the fan, the compressor, and the turbine;
a ball bearing having an inner race rotatable with respect to an outer race, wherein the inner race is non-rotatably coupled to the input shaft; and
a retention housing that non-rotatably couples the engine envelope to the outer race of the ball bearing; and
wherein the retention housing further includes:
a ball bearing housing defining a cylindrical inner surface that is disposed equidistantly from an axis of rotation that extends in an axial direction, a radial direction being defined in a direction that is normal to the axial direction,
a spring finger housing disposed radially outwardly from the ball bearing housing and concentrically around the ball bearing housing and defining a forward end disposed axially apart from an aft end,
a bridge web extending in the radial direction between the ball bearing housing and the spring finger housing and connecting the ball bearing housing to the spring finger housing,
the spring finger housing defining a plurality of axially extending struts, each strut defining a forward end and an aft end disposed axially spaced apart from and opposite to the forward end of each respective strut, the plurality of struts forming a monolithic structure with the spring finger housing,
the spring finger housing defining a plurality of axially extending fingers, each finger defining a forward end and an aft end disposed axially spaced apart from and opposite to the forward end of each respective strut, the plurality of forward ends of the fingers forming a monolithic structure with the spring finger housing, and
wherein the aft end of each of the plurality of fingers defines an aft edge that is spaced apart from an opposing edge of the aft end of the spring finger housing and defines an axial gap between the aft edge of the respective finger and opposing edge of the aft end of the spring finger housing,
wherein the aft end of each of the plurality of fingers defines a pair of side edges that are circumferentially spaced apart from each other, wherein each side edge of the aft end of each finger is spaced apart from the aft end of the spring finger housing and defines a circumferential gap between the respective side edge and the aft end of the spring finger housing, and
wherein at least one of the pair of side edges of each of the plurality of fingers extends at a non-zero first angle relative to the axial direction.

13. The gas turbine engine of claim 12 , wherein the first angle is greater than about five degrees.

14. The gas turbine engine of claim 12 , wherein the first angle is defined in a clockwise direction relative to the axial direction when looking inward along the radial direction onto the spring finger housing.

15. The gas turbine engine of claim 12 , wherein the first angle is defined in a counterclockwise direction relative to the axial direction when looking inward along the radial direction onto the spring finger housing.

16. The gas turbine engine of claim 12 , wherein at least one of the pair of side edges of each of the plurality of fingers extends at a non-zero second angle relative to the radial direction.

17. The gas turbine engine of claim 12 , wherein the opposing edge extends substantially parallel to the aft edge of each of the plurality of fingers.

18. The gas turbine engine of claim 17 , wherein an arcuate recess is defined by the opposing edge of the aft end of the spring finger housing.

19. The gas turbine engine of claim 18 , wherein the arcuate recess is positioned immediately aft of one of the side edges of the plurality of fingers along the axial direction.

20. A retention housing for the outer race of a ball bearing for a high pressure spool of a gas turbine engine, the retention housing comprising:
a ball bearing housing defining a cylindrical inner surface that is disposed equidistantly from an axis of rotation that extends in an axial direction, a radial direction being defined in a direction that is normal to the axial direction;
a spring finger housing disposed radially outwardly

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Ganiger Ravindra Shankar
• Basavanna Shivakumar
• Miller Jacob Patrick
• Corman Charles Andrew
• Hopper Mark Leonard

Classifications

• F16C27/04

  Ball or roller bearings, e.g. with resilient rolling bodies · CPC title

• F04D29/522

  especially adapted for elastic fluid pumps · CPC title

• F16C35/067

  Fixing them in a housing (with interposition of an element F16C35/07) · CPC title

• F05D2260/30

  Retaining components in desired mutual position · CPC title

• F01D21/08

  Restoring position · CPC title