Patent ID: 11861270
Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE CORPORATION
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A gas turbine engine manufacturing method comprising:
identifying, with a controller, a plurality of virtual combinations of a plurality of scanned virtual vane components, each scanned virtual vane component comprising a respective first data set that indicates a respective first three-dimensional virtual representation of a first different one of a plurality of physical vane components manufactured and three-dimensionally scanned to generate the plurality of scanned virtual vane components;
determining, with the controller, a plurality of virtual throat areas for the plurality of virtual combinations, wherein determining the plurality of virtual throat areas comprises, for each combination:
virtually aligning, with the controller, mating surfaces of scanned virtual a respective virtual combination, the virtually aligning comprising virtually aligning inner mating surfaces of a pair of scanned virtual airfoils to a pair of mating surfaces of a scanned virtual inner endwall by highlighting data points of the inner mating surfaces and the pair of mating surfaces in order to execute a pair of local best fit algorithms according to a movement constraint on the inner mating surfaces and the pair of mating surfaces only, without remaining portions of the scanned virtual inner endwall and the pair of scanned virtual airfoils;
in response to the virtually aligning, determining, with the controller, an aligned virtual vane corresponding to the respective virtual combination, the aligned virtual vane comprising a second data set indicating a second three-dimensional virtual representation of a second different one of a plurality of physical combinations of the plurality of physical vane components; and
calculating, with the controller, a respective virtual throat area of the aligned virtual vane;

selecting a physical combination of a set of physical vane components of the plurality of physical vane components, the selection dependent on an optimal virtual combination having an optimal virtual throat area from among the plurality of virtual throat areas, wherein the physical combination corresponds to the optimal virtual combination; and
assembling together the set of physical vane components of the selected physical combination to form a vane of a gas turbine engine having an optimal physical throat area.