Gas turbine engine systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9730275-B2
Application number	US-201213716587-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2012
Priority date	Dec 22, 2011
Publication date	Aug 8, 2017
Grant date	Aug 8, 2017

Abstract

A gas turbine engine 10 comprises at least one rigid raft assembly that has a fluid passageway 210 at least partially embedded therein. The fluid passageway 210 is at least a part of a fluid system. In addition to the fluid passageway 210 , the rigid raft assembly 200 also has at least a part of another system. For example, the rigid raft assembly may also include electrical conductors 252 , which are part of an electrical system. The rigid raft assembly 200 may be lighter, easier to assemble, more robust and more compact than conventional solutions for providing systems to gas turbine engines.

First claim

We claim:

1. A rigid raft assembly for a gas turbine engine, the rigid raft assembly comprising a rigid material that carries at least a part of a first gas turbine engine system and at least a part of a second gas turbine engine system, wherein:
the first gas turbine engine system is a fluid system that comprises at least one fluid passage having an axial direction along which fluid generally flows in use, the at least one fluid passage being at least partially embedded in the rigid raft assembly over substantially the whole axial length of the fluid passage such that the rigid material directly contacts the fluid passage over substantially the whole axial length of the fluid passage, and the at least one fluid passage being configured to carry at least one of sealing fluid, hydraulic fluid, a lubricant or fuel.

2. A rigid raft assembly according to claim 1 , wherein:
the second gas turbine engine system is an electrical system that comprises electrical conductors at least partially embedded in the rigid material.

3. A rigid raft assembly according to claim 1 , wherein:
the rigid material surrounds the fluid passage over at least one axial portion of the passage.

4. A rigid raft assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid passage is formed by a fluid pipe that is at least partially embedded in the rigid raft assembly.

5. A rigid raft assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid passage is formed by the rigid material.

6. A rigid raft assembly according to claim 4 , wherein:
the rigid raft assembly comprises two rigid rafts formed by the rigid material; and
the fluid pipe is embedded between the two rigid rafts.

7. A rigid raft assembly according to claim 6 , wherein:
the rigid rafts are thin elements having an upper major surface separated by a thickness from a lower major surface; and
the fluid pipe is located between the upper major surface of one raft and the lower major surface of the other raft.

8. A rigid raft assembly according to claim 7 , wherein the fluid pipe has a cross-section that is narrower than the cross section of the upper and lower major surfaces that it is located between, and at least a part of the space between the upper major surface of said one raft and the lower major surface of said other raft is filled with a honeycomb structure.

9. A rigid raft assembly according to claim 6 , wherein:
the rigid rafts are thin elements having an upper major surface separated by a thickness from a lower major surface;
the rigid rafts are placed side-by-side with a gap between the respective major surfaces, but substantially no gap in the thickness direction; and
the fluid pipe is located in the gap between the rigid rafts.

10. A rigid raft assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the rigid material is a rigid composite material.

11. A rigid raft assembly according to claim 1 , further comprising a fluid connector in fluid communication with the fluid passage, the fluid connector being arranged to connect the fluid passage to the rest of the fluid system.

12. A gas turbine engine comprising a rigid raft assembly according to claim 1 .

13. A gas turbine engine comprising two rigid raft assemblies according to claim 11 , the respective fluid passages of the two rigid raft assemblies being fluidly connected via respective connectors.

14. A method of assembling a gas turbine engine that comprises a rigid raft assembly according to claim 1 , the method comprising:
mounting at least one rigid raft assembly to the rest of the gas turbine engine; and
fluidly connecting the respective fluid passageway of the or each raft assembly to another part of the fluid system.

15. A method of servicing a gas turbine engine according to claim 12 , wherein the rigid raft assembly is a first rigid raft assembly, the method comprising:
removing the first rigid raft assembly from the gas turbine engine; and
installing a second, pre-prepared, rigid raft assembly onto the gas turbine engine in place of the first raft assembly.

16. A rigid raft assembly according to claim 11 , the fluid connector being embedded in the rigid material so as to be fixed relative to the rigid material.

17. A gas turbine engine comprising two rigid raft assemblies according to claim 13 , the fluid connection between the respective fluid passages comprising a non-embedded fluid pipe and/or complimentary connectors.

18. A gas turbine engine comprising a rigid raft assembly, the rigid raft assembly comprising a rigid material that carries at least a part of a first gas turbine engine system and at least a part of a second gas turbine engine system, wherein:
the first gas turbine engine system is at least one of a sealing fluid system, pneumatic fluid system, hydraulic fluid system, lubricant system or fuel system; and
the first gas turbine engine system comprises at least one fluid passage having an axial direction along which fluid generally flows in use, the at least one fluid passage being at least partially embedded in the rigid raft assembly over substantially the whole axial length of the fluid passage such that the rigid material directly contacts the fluid passage over substantially the whole axial length of the fluid passage.

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Plc

Inventors

• Broughton Paul
• Peace Richard
• Skinner Gary Alan
• Kennea Robin Charles

Classifications

• F02C7/224

  Heating fuel before feeding to the burner · CPC title

• H05B1/0236

  for vehicles · CPC title

• H05K1/0393

  Flexible materials (H05K1/038 takes precedence; specific organic compositions are classified in H05K1/0313 and subgroups) · CPC title

• H01R12/00

  Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures (printed connections to, or between, printed circuits H05K1/11) · CPC title

• B23P6/005

  using only replacement pieces of a particular form · CPC title