Gas turbine engine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12463515-B2
Application number	US-202519063592-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 26, 2025
Priority date	Mar 12, 2024
Publication date	Nov 4, 2025
Grant date	Nov 4, 2025

Abstract

A gas turbine engine includes: first spool including first compressor and first turbine drivingly coupled by first main shaft; second spool including a second compressor and second turbine drivingly coupled by second main shaft; combustion equipment; electrical machine arrangement including: first rotor drivingly coupled to first main shaft and carrying array of rotor elements; second rotor drivingly coupled to second main shaft and carrying array of rotor elements; and stator arrangement including array of stator coils arranged around an axis, axis being coaxial with an axis of rotation of first rotor and an axis of rotation of second rotor. Stator arrangement is axially translatable relative to first and second rotors, between: a first axial position in which array of stator coils interacts with array of rotor elements of first rotor; and a second axial position in which array of stator coils interacts with array of rotor elements of second rotor.

First claim

I claim:

1 . An aircraft gas turbine engine, comprising:
a first spool comprising a first compressor and a first turbine drivingly coupled by a first main shaft; a second spool comprising a second compressor and a second turbine drivingly coupled by a second main shaft; a combustion equipment; an electrical machine arrangement comprising:
a first rotor drivingly coupled to the first main shaft and carrying an array of rotor elements;
a second rotor drivingly coupled to the second main shaft and carrying an array of rotor elements; and
a stator arrangement comprising an array of stator coils arranged around an axis, the axis being coaxial with an axis of rotation of the first rotor and an axis of rotation of the second rotor,
wherein the stator arrangement is axially translatable relative to the first and second rotors between:
a first axial position in which the array of stator coils interacts with the array of rotor elements of the first rotor; and
a second axial position in which the array of stator coils interacts with the array of rotor elements of the second rotor.

2 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein in the first axial position, the array of stator coils is radially aligned with the array of rotor elements of the first rotor, and in the second axial position, the array of stator coils is radially aligned with the array of rotor elements of the second rotor.

3 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the electrical machine arrangement comprises an axially translating carriage, wherein the stator arrangement is fixed relative to the carriage.

4 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein an axial position of the stator arrangement is fixed, and the first and second rotors are axially translatable along the axes of rotation.

5 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the array of stator coils comprises a plurality of electrically isolated polyphase winding sets.

6 . The gas turbine engine of claim 5 , wherein the array of stator coils comprises two or four electrically isolated polyphase winding sets.

7 . The gas turbine engine of claim 5 , wherein a circumference of the stator arrangement is divided into a plurality of sectors and each one of the plurality of electrically isolated polyphase winding sets occupies a respective one of the plurality of sectors.

8 . The gas turbine engine of claim 5 , wherein a first polyphase winding set of the plurality of polyphase winding sets is electrically connected to first DC power channel, and a second polyphase winding set of the plurality of polyphase winding sets is electrically connected to second DC power channel.

9 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein:
the first rotor carries a first array of rotor elements and a second array of rotor elements axially spaced from the first array of rotor elements; the second rotor carries a third array of rotor elements and a fourth array of rotor elements axially spaced from the third array of rotor elements; the array of stator coils is a first array of stator coils, and the stator arrangement further comprises a second array of stator coils arranged around the axis and axially spaced from the first array of stator coils; in the first axial position, the first array of stator coils interacts with the first array of rotor elements, and the second array of stator coils interacts with the second array of rotor elements; and in the second axial position, the first array of stator coils interacts with the third array of rotor elements, and the second array of stator coils interacts with the fourth array of rotor elements.

10 . The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein the stator arrangement is axially translatable relative to the first and second rotors to:
a third axial position axially between the first and second axial positions, in which the first array of stator coils interacts with the second array of rotor elements, and the second array of stator coils interacts with the third array of rotor elements.

11 . The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein:
the first array of stator coils is electrically connected to a first DC power channel; and the second array of stator coils is electrically connected to a second DC power channel.

12 . The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein:
the first array of stator coils comprises first and second electrically isolated polyphase winding sets; and the second array of stator coils comprises third and fourth electrically isolated polyphase winding sets.

13 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the rotor elements are permanent magnets.

14 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , further comprising a controller configured to control the axial position of the stator arrangement relative to the first and second rotors.

15 . The gas turbine engine of claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to monitor one or more operating conditions of the gas turbine engine and to select an axial position based on the one or more operating conditions.

16 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein:
the first spool is a low-pressure (LP) spool or an intermediate-pressure (IP) spool; and the second spool is a high-pressure (HP) spool.

17 . An aircraft comprising the gas turbine engine of claim 1 .

18 . An electrical machine arrangement for an aircraft gas turbine engine, comprising:
a first rotor configured to be coupled to a first main shaft of a gas turbine engine and carrying an array of rotor elements; a second rotor configured to be coupled to a second main shaft of the gas turbine engine and carrying an array of rotor elements; and a stator arrangement comprising an array of stator coils arranged around an axis, the axis being coaxial with an axis of rotation of the first rotor and an axis of rotation of the second rotor, wherein the stator arrangement is axially translatable relative to the first and second rotors between:
a first axial position in which the array of stator coils interacts with the array of rotor elements of the first rotor; and
a second axial position in which the array of stator coils interacts with the array of rotor elements of the second rotor.

19 . The electrical machine arrangement of claim 18 , wherein:
the first rotor carries a first array of rotor elements and a second array of rotor elements axially spaced from the first array of rotor elements; the second rotor carries a third array of rotor elements and a fourth array of rotor elements axially spaced from the third array of rotor elements; the array of stator coils is a first array of stator coils, and the stator arrangement further comprises a second array of stator coils arranged around the axis and axially spaced from the first array of stator coils; in the first axial position, the first array of stator coils interacts with the first array of rotor elements, and the second array of stator coils interacts with the second array of rotor elements; in the second axial position, the first array of stator coils interacts with the third array of rotor elements, and the second array of stator coils interacts with the fourth array of rotor elements.

20 . The electrical machine arrangement of claim 19 , wherein the stator arrangement is axially translatable relative to the first and second rotors to:
a third axial position axially between the first and second axial positions, in which the first array of stator coils interacts with the second array of rotor elements, and the second array of stator coils i

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Plc

Inventors

• Cartwright Matthew S

Classifications

• H02K2213/09

  Machines characterised by the presence of elements which are subject to variation, e.g. adjustable bearings, reconfigurable windings, variable pitch ventilators · CPC title

• H02K7/1823

  structurally associated with turbines or similar engines · CPC title

• F02C7/32

  Arrangement, mounting, or driving, of auxiliaries · CPC title

• F02C6/20

  Adaptations of gas-turbine plants for driving vehicles · CPC title

• F05D2220/323

  for aircraft propulsion, e.g. jet engines · CPC title