Patent ID: 6067793
Filing Date: 2000-05-30
Classification: F02K

Abstract:
A thrust vectoring variable geometry axisymmetric nozzle for a gas turbine engine for an aircraft, the engine having a direction of gas flow, the nozzle comprising:a plurality of convergent master petals and a plurality of convergent slave petals forming a convergent zone defining a throat of variable area;a plurality of divergent master petals and a plurality of divergent slave petals, the plurality of divergent slave petals being connected to adjacent divergent master petals by a centering mechanism and forming a divergent zone following the convergent zone in the direction of gas flow;the petals forming the convergent and divergent zones being distributed about a longitudinal axis of the engine;each divergent master petal comprising an upstream segment and a downstream segment, the segments of each divergent master petal being articulately connected;control means for regulating the throat area and vectoring the thrust, the control means comprising an inner ring, an intermediate ring, and an outer ring, which rings are concentric to each other and to the longitudinal axis of the engine, each of the convergent master petals being articulately connected to the inner ring, and a plurality of linear actuators, each linear actuator having an upstream end and a downstream end;each of the linear actuators being articulately connected at its upstream end to a fixed structure of the engine, each actuator of a first art of the plurality of linear actuators having its downstream end articulately connected to the outer ring and each actuator of a second part of the plurality of linear actuators having its downstream end articulately connected to the intermediate ring;each of the rings being independently connected to the fixed structure of the engine by support means which do not interconnect the rings and which maintain each ring in a laterally fixed orientation;a set of two-hinged bars, one for each divergent master petal, interconnecting the downstream segments of the divergent master petals with the outer ring;thrust vectoring in the divergent zone being obtained by inclining the outer ring with a center of swing located on the longitudinal axis of the engine via the set of two-hinged bars; andthe outer ring including two outer ring segments interarticulated to each other by a pair of cylindrical articulations which permit symmetrical variation of an exit area with respect to an immobilized throat area by simultaneously swinging the two outer ring segments in opposite directions, and during vectoring of the gas flow, by independently swinging one of the two outer ring segments to correct the exit area asymmetrically while the other of the two outer ring segments remains immobilized, the swing of the two outer ring segments being limited to a single plane thereby permitting vectoring of the thrust in a single plane, the single plane corresponding to a pitch of the aircraft.