Exhaust nozzle with centerbody support structure for a gas turbine engine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11313320-B2
Application number	US-202016803521-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 27, 2020
Priority date	Feb 27, 2020
Publication date	Apr 26, 2022
Grant date	Apr 26, 2022

Abstract

An exhaust nozzle for use with a gas turbine engine includes an outer shroud, an inner plug spaced radially apart from the outer shroud, and at least one support vane that is coupled to the outer shroud. The outer shroud and the inner plug cooperate to provide an exhaust nozzle flow path therebetween. The at least one support vane interconnects the outer shroud and the inner plug to support the inner plug in the exhaust nozzle flow path.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A gas turbine engine comprising
an engine core including a compressor configured to receive and compress an airflow, a combustor configured to receive a compressed airflow from the compressor and combust the compressed airflow to produce hot, high-pressure combustion products, and a turbine configured to interact with the high-pressure combustion products, and
an exhaust nozzle configured to receive the high-pressure combustion products from the engine core and discharge the high-pressure combustion products to the atmosphere, the exhaust nozzle including an outer shroud arranged circumferentially about a central axis to define an outer boundary surface of an exhaust nozzle flow path, an inner plug arranged circumferentially about the axis to define an inner boundary surface of the exhaust nozzle flow path, and at least one support vane that extends between the outer shroud and the inner plug through the exhaust nozzle flow path,
wherein the inner plug includes a plug-support frame coupled to the support vane to position the inner plug in the exhaust nozzle flow path and an outer plug shell coupled to the plug-support frame to provide an outer flow path boundary for the inner plug, the plug-support frame being configured to support the outer plug shell relative to the plug-support frame and allow thermal expansion and contraction of the outer plug shell from a cold-build state to a hot-use state as a temperature of the exhaust nozzle changes,
wherein the plug-support frame includes a main body that extends longitudinally along the central axis, a load-bearing disk coupled to the main body, and a plurality of load-bearing rods that interconnect the main body and the outer plug shell,
wherein the outer plug shell includes a load-transfer ring at least partially aligned with the load-bearing disk,
wherein the load-bearing disk is formed to include a plurality of first axially-extending slots spaced circumferentially about the central axis to provide a plurality of first keys that engage the load-transfer ring to transfer loads from the outer plug shell to the main body, and
wherein the load-transfer ring is configured to translate axially along the central axis and relative to the load-bearing disk as the exhaust nozzle changes from the cold-build state to the hot-use state.

2. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of load-bearing rods includes a support shaft that is coupled to the main body for pivotable movement relative to the main body.

3. The gas turbine engine of claim 2 , wherein each support shaft is coupled to the outer plug shell for pivotable movement relative to the outer plug shell.

4. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the outer plug shell includes a centerbody section that has a cylindrical shape and a nozzle section that has a droplet shape and each of the plurality of load-bearing rods is coupled to the nozzle section.

5. The gas turbine engine of claim 4 , wherein each of the plurality of load-bearing rods is coupled to the nozzle section downstream of where the nozzle section has a greatest diameter.

6. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the load-transfer ring is aligned with the load-bearing disk relative to the central axis in the cold-build state.

7. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of load-bearing rods is arranged symmetrically about the central axis in the cold-build state and the hot-use state.

8. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of load-bearing rods includes a support shaft that is mounted to the main body for pivotable movement relative to the main body and the outer plug shell, a first mount coupled to the main body, and a second mount coupled to the outer plug shell, and wherein the first mount and the second mount are spaced axially from one another a first distance in the cold-build state and a second distance, less than the first distance, in the hot-use state.

9. A gas turbine engine comprising
an engine core including a compressor configured to receive and compress an airflow, a combustor configured to receive a compressed airflow from the compressor and combust the compressed airflow to produce hot, high-pressure combustion products, and a turbine configured to interact with the high-pressure combustion products, and
an exhaust nozzle configured to receive the high-pressure combustion products from the engine core and discharge the high-pressure combustion products to the atmosphere, the exhaust nozzle including an outer shroud arranged circumferentially about a central axis to define an outer boundary surface of an exhaust nozzle flow path, an inner plug arranged circumferentially about the axis to define an inner boundary surface of the exhaust nozzle flow path, and at least one support vane that extends between the outer shroud and the inner plug through the exhaust nozzle flow path,
wherein the inner plug includes a plug-support frame coupled to the support vane to position the inner plug in the exhaust nozzle flow path and an outer plug shell coupled to the plug-support frame to provide an outer flow path boundary for the inner plug, the plug-support frame being configured to support the outer plug shell relative to the plug-support frame and allow thermal expansion and contraction of the outer plug shell from a cold-build state to a hot-use state as a temperature of the exhaust nozzle changes,
wherein the plug-support frame includes a main body that extends longitudinally along the central axis, a load-bearing disk coupled to the main body, and a plurality of load-bearing rods that interconnect the main body and the outer plug shell,
wherein the outer plug shell includes a load-transfer ring that is aligned with the load-bearing disk relative to the central axis in the cold build state, and
wherein the load-bearing disk is formed to include a plurality of first axially-extending slots spaced circumferentially about the central axis to provide a plurality of first keys that engage the load-transfer ring to transfer loads from the outer plug shell to the main body.

10. The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein the load-transfer ring is formed to include a plurality of second axially-extending slots spaced circumferentially about the central axis to provide a plurality of second keys that interlock with the plurality of first keys of the load-bearing disk.

11. The gas turbine engine of claim 10 , wherein the load-transfer ring translates axially forward relative to the load-bearing disk in the hot-use state.

12. The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of load-bearing rods includes a support shaft that is coupled to the main body for pivotable movement relative to the main body.

13. The gas turbine engine of claim 12 , wherein each support shaft is coupled to the outer plug shell for pivotable movement relative to the outer plug shell.

14. The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein the outer plug shell includes a centerbody section that has a cylindrical shape and a nozzle section that has a droplet shape and each of the plurality of load-bearing rods is coupled to the nozzle section.

15. An exhaust nozzle for a gas turbine engine, the exhaust nozzle comprising
an outer shroud arranged circumferentially about a central axis to define an outer boundary surface of an exhaust nozzle flow path,
an inner plug arranged circumferentially about the axis to define an inner boundary surface of the exhaust nozzle flow path, and
at least one support vane that extends between the outer shroud and the inner plug through the exhaust no

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Nam Tech Inc
• Rolls Royce Corp

Inventors

• Sutterfield David L
• Petty Jack D
• Lerg Bryan H
• Sanderson Andrew

Classifications

• F02K1/08

  by axially moving or transversely deforming an internal member, e.g. the exhaust cone · CPC title

• F05D2220/32

  in gas turbines · CPC title

• F05D2260/941

  particularly aimed at mechanical or thermal stress reduction · CPC title

• F02K1/04 Primary

  Mounting of an exhaust cone in the jet pipe · CPC title

• F02K1/80

  Couplings or connections · CPC title