Gas turbine engine vane assembly and method of mounting same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9840929-B2
Application number	US-201313903312-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2013
Priority date	May 28, 2013
Publication date	Dec 12, 2017
Grant date	Dec 12, 2017

Abstract

The gas turbine engine vane assembly has a vane having an elongated airfoil body extending to a tip and a grommet disposed around the tip. An insert having a closed loop shape with an inner surface matingly shaped to receive the outer surface of the grommet, and an outer surface matingly shaped to be snugly received in the slot. A method of mounting such a vane assembly is also disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vane assembly mountable within a slot in a case of a gas turbine engine, the vane assembly comprising:
a vane having an elongated airfoil body extending to a tip at a radially outer extremity and a grommet disposed around the tip, the grommet being of a material more resilient than a material of the airfoil body, the grommet having an outer surface surrounding the tip, a radially-inner surface and a radially-outer surface, the tip of the vane having one or more apertures extending through the airfoil body, the material forming the grommet extending through the one or more apertures and being integrally formed therewithin, and one or more fastener slots extending through the tip of the airfoil body at a location radially outwardly from the one or more apertures, from the grommet and from the case;
an insert having a closed loop shape with a radially-outer edge and a radially-inner edge, the closed loop shape having an inner surface matingly shaped to receive the outer surface of the grommet, and an outer surface matingly shaped to be snugly received in the slot, wherein one of the radially-outer edge and the radially-inner edge has an outwardly protruding lip shaped to abuttingly and sealingly engage a corresponding surface of the case around the slot, and the other one of the radially-inner edge and the radially-outer edge having hooks being resilient and inwardly flexible to engage the insert into one end of the slot, the hooks biased outwardly for engaging with a corresponding feature of the case, the insert being thereby trapped in the slot in position to snugly receive the grommet therein in a sealed engagement, and the insert having at least two insert fastener apertures disposed on opposite sides of the closed loop shape and aligned along a fastener axis; and
a fastener engaging both the vane and the insert when the grommet is snugly received in the sealed engagement, the fastener extending through the at least two insert fastener apertures and the one or more fastener slots in the tip of the vane that is disposed between the at least two insert fastener apertures, the one or more fastener slots being defined in a portion of the tip of the vane protruding radially-outward from the grommet.

2. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein a mating shape of the grommet outer surface and of the insert inner surface forms a seat for the insert to support the grommet in position, and the fastener engaged with both the insert and the vane retains the grommet in said position.

3. The vane assembly of claim 2 wherein the mating shape of the grommet outer surface and of the insert inner surface is tapered radially-inwardly to support the grommet in the radially-inner direction and the fastener is positioned radially-outwardly from the case to support the grommet in the radially-outer direction.

4. The vane assembly of claim 2 wherein the mating shape of the grommet outer surface and of the insert inner surface is radially tapered to form the seat.

5. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein the grommet is a potted grommet.

6. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein the grommet is co-moulded to the tip of the airfoil body, within the one or more apertures extending through the airfoil body.

7. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein the grommet extends on opposite sides of the tip and through the one or more apertures provided in the tip.

8. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein the tip has wings and the grommet covers the wings.

9. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein the tip is continuous to the airfoil body.

10. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein the radially-inner edge of the insert has the lip.

11. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein the outer surface of the insert and a corresponding inner surface of the slot are radially-tapered.

12. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein the corresponding feature of the case is a portion of a surface of the case around the slot.

13. A method of mounting a vane to a slot provided in a fan case of a turbofan gas turbine engine, the method comprising:
inserting an insert into one end of the slot, flexing hooks of the insert and sliding the hooks out another end of the slot, the hooks engaging onto one face of the fan case and an outwardly protruding lip of the insert abutting against an opposite face of the fan case, the insert having an inner opening extending across the fan case and having an inner surface, the insert having a fastener aperture formed in a portion thereof protruding radially-outwardly from the fan case;
inserting an airfoil body of a vane through the inner opening of the insert and sliding the airfoil body of the vane radially inwardly until a grommet, integral to a tip of the vane by being integrally formed within one or more apertures extending through the airfoil body of the vane, comes snugly into sealed engagement with the inner surface of the insert; and
using a fastener to engage both the vane and the insert together, the fastener extending through the fastener aperture of the insert and a vane fastener slot extending through the tip of the vane at a location radially outwardly from the one or more apertures, from the grommet and from the fan case, the vane fastener slot being defined in a portion of the tip of the vane protruding radially-outward from the grommet.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising co-moulding the grommet to the tip of the vane.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising potting the grommet to the tip of the vane.

16. A gas turbine engine having at least one compressor vane assembly having a plurality of vanes extending radially between an outer case and an inner case of the compressor and protruding into corresponding slots in the outer case, each vane assembly comprising:
a vane having an elongated airfoil body extending to a tip at a radially outer extremity, and a grommet disposed at the tip, the grommet being of a material more resilient than a material of the airfoil body, the grommet having an outer surface surrounding the tip, a radially-inner surface and a radially-outer surface, the tip of the vane having one or more apertures extending through the airfoil body, the material forming the grommet extending through the one or more apertures and being integrally formed therewithin, and one or more fastener slots extending through the tip of the airfoil body at a location radially outwardly from the one or more apertures, from the grommet and from the case; and
an insert having a closed loop shape with a radially-outer edge and a radially-inner edge, the closed loop shape having an inner surface matingly shaped to receive the outer surface of the grommet, and an outer surface matingly shaped to be snugly received in a slot in the outer case, wherein one of the radially-outer edge and the radially-inner edge has an outwardly protruding lip shaped to abuttingly and sealingly engage a corresponding surface of the case around the slot, and the other one of the radially-inner edge and the radially-outer edge having hooks being resilient and inwardly flexible for engaging the insert into one end of the slot, the hooks being biased outwardly for engaging with a corresponding feature of the case, the insert being thereby trapped in the slot in position to snugly receive the grommet therein in a sealed engagement, and the insert having at least two insert fastener apertures disposed on opposite sides of the closed loop shape and aligned along a fastener axis; and
a fastener engaging both the vane and the insert when the grommet is snugly received in the sealed engagement, the fastener extending through

Assignees

• Pratt & Whitney Canada

Inventors

• Barnett Barry

Classifications

• F01D9/042 Primary

  fixing blades to stators (fixing stator-rings in the casing or to each other F01D25/246) · CPC title

• Y10T29/49321

  Assembling individual fluid flow interacting members, e.g., blades, vanes, buckets, on rotary support member · CPC title