Bearing assembly for supporting a rotor shaft of a gas turbine engine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9909451-B2
Application number	US-201615198776-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 30, 2016
Priority date	Jul 9, 2015
Publication date	Mar 6, 2018
Grant date	Mar 6, 2018

Abstract

In one aspect, a bearing assembly for supporting a rotor shaft relative to a support structure of a gas turbine engine may generally include a bearing including an outer race and an inner race, an outer bearing housing configured to extend radially between the outer race of the bearing and the support structure of the gas turbine engine and an inner bearing support configured to extend radially between the inner race of the bearing and the rotor shaft. In addition, the outer bearing housing and the inner bearing support each include at least one radially extending spring arm such that the outer bearing housing and the inner bearing support collectively form two springs coupled in series between the support structure and the rotor shaft.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A bearing assembly for supporting a rotor shaft relative to a support structure of a gas turbine engine, the bearing assembly comprising:
a bearing including an outer race and an inner race;
an outer bearing housing configured to extend radially between the outer race and the support structure of the gas turbine engine; and
an inner bearing support extending radially between an outer support end configured to be disposed adjacent to the inner race of the bearing and an inner support end configured to be rotatably coupled to the rotor shaft, the inner bearing support including a first spring arm and a second spring arm extending radially between the inner and outer support ends, the inner bearing support further including a stiffening rib separating the first spring arm from the second spring arm such that the first spring arm extends radially outwardly from the stiffening rib towards the outer support end and the second spring arm extends radially inwardly from stiffening rib towards the inner support end.

2. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first and second spring arms extend axially relative to the inner and outer support ends such that the stiffening rib is spaced axially from the inner and outer support ends.

3. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the inner bearing support includes an inner bearing ring disposed at the outer support end, the inner bearing ring being configured to be coupled to the inner race of the bearing.

4. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the inner bearing support includes a mounting ring disposed at the inner support end, the mounting ring being configured to be rotationally coupled to the rotor shaft via a mounting race.

5. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the mounting ring is coupled to the mounting race using a plurality of radially extending pins, the pins being configured to fail when a moment load is transmitted through the shaft that exceeds a predetermined load threshold.

6. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 4 , wherein a sliding interface is defined between the mounting ring and the mounting race.

7. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the outer bearing housing extends radially between an outer housing end configured to be coupled to the support structure and inner housing end configured to be disposed adjacent to the outer race of the bearing, the outer bearing housing including a first housing spring arm and a second housing spring arm extending between the inner and outer housing ends.

8. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the outer bearing housing further includes a stiffening ring separating the first housing spring arm from the second housing spring arm such that the first housing spring arm extends between the stiffening ring and the outer housing end and the second housing spring arm extends between stiffening ring and the inner housing end.

9. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the first and second housing spring arms extend axially relative to the inner and outer housing ends such that the stiffening ring is spaced axially from the inner and outer housing ends.

10. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the outer bearing housing includes a mounting flange disposed at the outer housing end that is configured to be coupled to the support structure and wherein the outer bearing housing includes an outer bearing ring disposed at the inner housing end that is configured to be coupled to the outer race of the bearing.

11. A bearing assembly for supporting a rotor shaft relative to a support structure of a gas turbine engine, the bearing assembly comprising:
a bearing including an outer race and an inner race;
an outer bearing housing extending radially from an inner housing end configured to be disposed adjacent to the outer race of the bearing and an outer housing end configured to be coupled to the support structure of the gas turbine, the outer bearing housing including a first spring arm and a second spring arm extending between the inner and outer housing ends, the outer bearing housing further including a stiffening ring separating the first spring arm from the second spring arm such that the first spring arm extends between the stiffening rib and the outer housing end and the second spring arm extends between stiffening rib and the inner housing end; and
an inner bearing support configured to extend radially between the inner race of the bearing and the rotor shaft, wherein the inner bearing support extends radially between an outer support end configured to be disposed adjacent to the inner race of the bearing and an inner support end configured to be rotatably coupled to the rotor shaft, the inner bearing support including a first support spring arm, a second support spring arm extending radially between the inner and outer support ends, and a stiffening rib separating the first support spring arm from the second support spring arm such that the first support spring arm extends radially outwardly from the stiffening rib towards the outer support end and the second support spring arm extends radially inwardly from the stiffening rib towards the inner support end.

12. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the first and second spring arms extend axially relative to the inner and outer housing ends such that the stiffening ring is spaced axially from the inner and outer housing ends.

13. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the outer bearing housing includes a mounting flange disposed at the outer housing end, the mounting ring being configured to be coupled to the support structure.

14. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the outer bearing housing includes an outer bearing ring disposed at the inner housing end, the outer bearing ring being configured to be coupled to the outer race of the bearing.

15. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the first and second support spring arms extend axially relative to the inner and outer support ends such that the stiffening rib is spaced axially from the inner and outer support ends.

16. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the inner bearing support includes a mounting ring disposed at the inner support end, the mounting ring being configured to be rotationally coupled to the rotor shaft via a mounting race.

17. The bearing assembly as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the mounting ring is coupled to the mounting race using a plurality of radially extending pins, the pins being configured to fail when a moment load is transmitted through the shaft that exceeds a predetermined load threshold.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Carter Bruce Alan
• Ganiger Ravindra Shankar
• Mondal Bhaskar Nanda
• Miller Jacob Patrick
• Mahesh Sivakumar
• Kirkeng Kevin L
• Vanapalli Veeraraju

Classifications

• F01D21/045

  special arrangements in stators or in rotors dealing with breaking-off of part of rotor · CPC title

• F05D2220/32

  in gas turbines · CPC title

• F16C27/04

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

• F02C7/06 Primary

  Arrangements of bearings (bearings F16C); Lubricating ({of turbo machines F01D25/18; of machines or} engines in general F01M) · CPC title

• F16C2360/23

  Gas turbine engines · CPC title