Patent Publication Number: US-10309236-B2

Title: Subsonic shock strut

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/783,604, filed 14 Mar. 2013, the disclosure of which is now expressly incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL HELD 
     The present disclosure generally relates to gas turbine engine struts. More particularly, but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to gas turbine engine struts having improved performance. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Providing gas turbine engine struts having increased thickness with minimal or no impact on performance remains an area of interest. Some existing systems have various shortcomings relative to certain applications. Accordingly, there remains a need for further contributions in this area of technology. 
     SUMMARY 
     One embodiment of the present invention is a unique gas turbine engine strut. Other embodiments include apparatuses, systems, devices, hardware, methods, and combinations for improving performance of gas turbine engine struts. Further embodiments, forms, features, aspects, benefits, and advantages of the present application shall become apparent from the description and figures provided herewith. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  depicts an embodiment of a gas turbine engine; 
         FIG. 2  depicts an embodiment of the gas turbine engine having struts; 
         FIG. 3  depicts an embodiment of a gas turbine engine strut; 
         FIG. 4A  depicts an example curvature distribution; and 
         FIG. 4B  depicts an example curvature distribution. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications in the described embodiments, and any further applications of the principles of the invention as described herein are contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , one embodiment of a gas turbine engine  50  is depicted which includes a fan  52 , compressor  54 , combustor  56 , and turbine  58 . Air is received into and compressed by the compressor  54  prior to being delivered to the combustor  56  where it is mixed with fuel and burned. A flow of air and products of combustion is then delivered to the turbine  58  which expands the flow stream and produces work that is used to drive the compressor  54  as well as to drive the fan  52 . The fan  52  is used to develop thrust by accelerating air through a bypass passage  66  which is exhausted out of the rear of the engine  50 . 
     The gas turbine engine  50  can be used to provide power to an aircraft and can take any variety of forms. As used herein, the term “aircraft” includes, but is not limited to, helicopters, airplanes, unmanned space vehicles, fixed wing vehicles, variable wing vehicles, rotary wing vehicles, unmanned combat aerial vehicles, tailless aircraft, hover crafts, and other airborne and/or extraterrestrial (spacecraft) vehicles (e.g. dual stage to orbit platform). Further, the present inventions are contemplated for utilization in other applications that may not be coupled with an aircraft such as, for example, industrial applications, power generation, pumping sets, naval propulsion, weapon systems, security systems, perimeter defense/security systems, and the like known to one of ordinary skill in the art. 
     Though the engine  50  is depicted as a single spool engine, other embodiments can include additional spools. The embodiment of the engine  50  depicted in FIG. is in the form of a turbofan engine, but it will be appreciated that some embodiments of the gas turbine engine can take on other forms such as, but not limited to, open rotor, turbojet, turboshaft, and turboprop. In some forms, the gas turbine engine  50  can be a variable cycle and/or adaptive cycle engine. 
     In any of the embodiments of the gas turbine engine  50 , various turbomachinery components will be provided which include rotatable blades and stationary vanes, whether of the static or pivoting kind. In addition, the gas turbine engine  50  may include a variety of struts that extend across a flow path that can be used to provide structural support and/or provide a passageway for services such as, but not limited to, electrical, hydraulic, and/or pneumatic. As will be appreciated, struts useful to provide structural support and/or passageways for services typically have increased thickness to chord ratios relative to gas turbine engine blades and vanes. In fact, in some applications such as a strut located in an exit area of a high-pressure compressor, the thickness of the strut in a pre-diffuser placed in that location can be very large and result in a significant loss and blockage performance penalty. The struts, blades, and vanes typically have an airfoil-like shape that includes a leading edge, a trailing edge, a top, and a bottom. These airfoil like shapes can be used to change a pressure of a working fluid flowing through a duct, the shapes can be used to alter direction of the working fluid, and, in some forms, the shapes can impart relatively lithe pressure and/or direction change to the working fluid. Various embodiments will be described further below regarding a particular airfoil-like shape useful within the gas turbine engine  50 . 
     The struts etc can be a standalone component that is integrated into a gas turbine engine with other structure (e.g. through fasteners, bonding techniques, etc) and alternatively can be integral with other structure. To set forth just one non-limiting example, a strut can used in a gas turbine engine diffuser and can be integral with end walls and a splitter(s) of the gas turbine engine diffuser. The strut can be integral with other endwalls in other gas turbine engine components. In some forms, the strut is standalone and is later fastened internal to the gas turbine engine. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , one embodiment of the gas turbine engine  50  is depicted as a three spool turbofan engine having the fan  52 , intermediate compressor  54   a , high-pressure compressor  54   b , combustor  56 , and turbine  58 . It will be appreciated that the turbine  58  depicted in  FIG. 2  is shown for sake of simplicity and, although a single turbine is depicted, it will be appreciated that three spool engines typically have 3 different turbines. The gas turbine engine  50  also includes struts  60 ,  62 , and  64  disposed in various locations of the gas turbine engine  50 . The strut  60  is located in a bypass passage  66 ; the strut  62  is disposed between the fan  52  and the intermediate compressor  55   a ; and the strut  64  is disposed between the intermediate-pressure compressor  54   a  and the high-pressure compressor  54   b . Various embodiments of an airfoil member described below can be used for any of the members having airfoil-like properties including the struts  60 ,  62 , and  64 . 
     One depiction of an airfoil member useful in a variety of locations within the gas turbine engine  50  is depicted in  FIG. 3  which illustrates a strut  68  having a forebody  70  and an aft body  72 . The aft body  72  is generally the portion of the strut  68  aft of a maximum thickness that extends to a trailing edge  74  and that includes a curvature distribution having a discontinuity. In the illustrated embodiment, the discontinuity is in the form of an inflection point  76 . As will be discussed further below, the curvature distribution is useful to create a “subsonic shock” that allow for struts having increased thickness-to-chord ratios in reduced trailing edge thicknesses, improved pressure recovery, and reduced loss and blockage generation of the flow over the struts. In some forms, the subsonic shock is also useful to fix the separation of the flow over the struts at the strut trailing edge location where “at the trailing edge location of the strut” includes exactly the precise corner of the strut in the illustrated embodiment, but also includes some small amount of variation as would be appreciated by those in the art. As used herein, the term “subsonic shock” is used to generally refer subsonic flow that, because of the nature of a flow surface, induces a profile in coefficient of pressure that includes a “rise” and subsequent pressure “fall” in the axial downstream direction similar in character to pressure rises and subsequent falls seen in association in shocks associated with supersonic flow. 
     A discontinuity in the aft body  72  useful to generate the subsonic shock is in the form of a discontinuous change in second derivative of arc length which can take the form of the inflection point  76 . One example of a discontinuity in the second derivative of arc length is shown in  FIG. 4A  and  FIG. 4B . The discontinuity is formed by an upstream portion  78  of the aft body  72  having a constant radius curve of radius r 1  that transitions into a downstream portion  80  of the aft body  72  having a constant radius curve of radius r 2 . An inflection point  82 , shown in  FIG. 4A , illustrates the change in curvature of the aft body  72 .  FIG. 4B  illustrates a plot of radius of curvature of the portion of the aft body  72  depicted in  FIG. 4A . As will be appreciated, the change in radius from r 1  to r 2  creates discontinuity in the curvature distribution at the point at which the curves change radius. Other examples are also contemplated herein. For example, the aft body  72  can be obtained using NURB splines, such as, but not limited to, 4th order NURB splines with 6 control points. A curvature inflection point in the aft body  72  can be created by a non-smooth distribution of the NURB-spline control points at the desired location of the inflection point. The pressure recovery attained downstream of the inflection point allows a thickness of the trailing-edge to be reduced by a factor of 2 in some embodiments. Such result can yield a significant improvement and dump loss and blockage performance. Though the aft body  72  is illustrated having a discontinuity in the curvature distribution, derivative continuity can be maintained between the forebody  70  and the aft body  72 . 
     Returning now to  FIG. 3 , and with continuing reference to  FIGS. 4A and 4B , the strut  68  also has various other characteristics. The upstream portion  78  can extend a distance  84  in the thickness direction away from a point of maximum thickness  86 . A distance in the thickness direction from the inflection point  76  to the trailing edge  74  can be the same as, greater than, or less than the distance  84 . The trailing edge  74  illustrated in  FIG. 3  is depicted as blunted and having a squared off shape with distinct corners. The thickness  88  of the blunt trailing edge  74 , and its precise shape, can vary from embodiment to embodiment and, although the illustrated proportion of the trailing edge to other parts of the strut  68  can be used in some embodiments, the proportion of the trailing edge to other parts of the strut  68  can vary in other embodiments from that depicted in the figure. The strut  68  can be symmetrical about the centerline  90 . 
     In some embodiments, the downstream portion  80  acts to suppress the growth in shape factor of the strut boundary layer and provides an adequate reattachment length for the flow such that the flow separates only at the trailing edge point of the strut geometry. 
     In some embodiments of the strut  68 , the pressure recovery due to a duct in which the strut  68  is disposed can be terminated at a meridional plane coincident with the strut maximum thickness  86 . In those embodiments in which the strut  68  is situated in a pre-diffuser duct, the duct end-walls can be terminated at the meridional plane coincident with the strut maximum thickness  86 . In some additional and/or alternative embodiments of the strut  68 , the trailing edge  74  of the strut  68  can coincide with a trailing edge of an end wall but in other forms the trailing edge  74  can either be located upstream or downstream of the trailing edge of the end wall. 
     In some forms, the strut  68  can include active boundary layer flow control. For example, an aperture or series of apertures can be formed in the aft body  72  through which boundary layer is withdrawn via a suction action. Such active flow control can be used to further control boundary layer and achieve a more aggressive pressure recovery and an increased flow stability for high-performance engine designs. 
     The forebody  70  can include a shape determined from a variety of approaches. In some applications, the forebody  70  can be designed to ensure a strut profile from the leading edge of the strut up to its maximum thickness that subjects the flow to a minimum amount of accelerations by minimizing the value of the pressure suction peak, resulting in the highest strut surface pressure possible at the maximum thickness point before the next phase of pressure recovery across the “subsonic shock”. One particular approach useful to designing the forebody  70  will be appreciated in the literature, such as a reference “A New Method of Two-Dimensional Aerodynamic Design” by Lighthill, M. J., A.R.C. RM No. 2112, 1945, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiments have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the inventions are desired to be protected. It should be understood that while the use of words such as preferable, preferably, preferred or more preferred utilized in the description above indicate that the feature so described may be more desirable, it nonetheless may not be necessary and embodiments lacking the same may be contemplated as within the scope of the invention, the scope being defined by the claims that follow. In reading the claims, it is intended that when words such as “a,” “an,” “at least one,” or “at least one portion” are used there is no intention to limit the claim to only one item unless specifically stated to the contrary in the claim. When the language “at least a portion” and/or “a portion” is used the item can include a portion and/or the entire item unless specifically stated to the contrary.