Patent Abstract:
Disclosed herein is an impingement sleeve for a gas turbine combustion transition piece. The impingement sleeve includes, a housing positionable proximate a first portion of a transition piece body having at least two flanges integrally formed thereon, and a cover positionable proximate a second portion of the transition piece body having at least two lips integrally formed thereon, the at least two lips are weldlessly attachable to the at least two flanges to position the impingement sleeve radially outwardly of the transition piece body.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The subject matter disclosed herein relates to an impingement sleeve for a gas turbine engine. Such impingement sleeves are typically fixedly attached about a transition piece. The geometry of some transition pieces necessitates that the impingement sleeve be made of two or more portions that are assembled around the transition piece and fixedly attached to one another. In such applications, it is common practice to weld the two or more portions of the impingement sleeves together. Such welding operations can be difficult to perform and can make replacing defective impingement sleeves in the field time consuming and difficult. As such, impingement sleeves that are easily assembled and disassembled may be well received in the art. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Disclosed herein is an impingement sleeve for a gas turbine combustion transition piece. The impingement sleeve includes, a housing positionable proximate a first portion of a transition piece body having at least two flanges integrally formed thereon, and a cover positionable proximate a second portion of the transition piece body having at least two lips integrally formed thereon, the at least two lips are weldlessly attachable to the at least two flanges to position the impingement sleeve radially outwardly of the transition piece body. 
         [0003]    Further disclosed herein is a method of assembling an impingement sleeve at a transition piece body. The method includes, positioning a housing of the impingement sleeve over a first portion of the transition piece body, positioning a cover of the impingement sleeve over a second portion of the transition piece body, and weldlessly attaching at least one flange of the impingement sleeve housing to at least one lip of the impingement sleeve cover. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]    The following descriptions should not be considered limiting in any way. With reference to the accompanying drawings, like elements are numbered alike: 
           [0005]      FIG. 1  depicts a perspective view of an impingement sleeve disclosed herein assembled to a gas turbine combustion transition piece; 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  depicts an exploded view of the impingement sleeve and the transition piece of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0007]      FIG. 3  depicts a cross sectional perspective view of the impingement sleeve and the transition piece of  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0008]      FIG. 4  depicts a cross sectional view of the impingement sleeve and the transition piece of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the disclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way of exemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures. 
         [0010]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an embodiment of an impingement sleeve  10  disclosed herein is illustrated. The impingement sleeve  10  includes, an impingement sleeve housing  14  having mounting flanges  18 , an impingement sleeve cover  22  having mounting lips  26 , and a plurality of fasteners  30 , depicted herein as screws. In the assembled configuration, as illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the impingement sleeve  10  is positioned radially outwardly of a gas turbine combustion transition piece  34 , which has an outer surface  42 . Both the housing  14  and the cover  22  have a plurality of holes  38  therethrough that allow cooling fluid, such as air, to pass therethrough. 
         [0011]    Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the housing  14  is formed to closely mimic a shape of a portion  46  of the transition piece  34  to which the housing  14  is positioned in close proximity. As such, a controlled gap  50  is created between the housing  14  and the portion  46 . Similarly, the cover  22  is formed to closely mimic a shape of a portion  54  of the transition piece  34  to which the cover  22  is positioned in close proximity. As such, a controlled gap  58  is created between the cover  22  and the portion  54 . During operation cooling fluid flows through the holes  38  in the housing  14  and cover  22 , across the gaps  50  and  58 , and impinges on the outer surface  42  of the portions  46  and  54 , respectively, thereby cooling the transition piece  34 . 
         [0012]    The housing  14  and the cover  22  are configured such that the flanges  18  and the lips  26  are substantially parallel with one another when the housing  14  and the cover  22  are positioned in an encasing configuration about the transition piece  34 . When in this position, a plurality of holes  62  in the flanges  18  aligns with a plurality of holes  66  in the lips  26 , through which a plurality of fasteners  30  is fastened. The fasteners  30 , in this embodiment, are screws that screw into threaded holes in plates  69 ; however, alternate embodiments could use rivets, pins or other fasteners to attach the flanges  18  to the lips  26 . In still other embodiments the flanges  18  could be attached to the lips  26  by other techniques that do not involve welding, such as by crimping of one of the flanges  18  and the lips  26  to the other of the flanges  18  and the lips  26 , or by attaching the flanges  18  to the lips  26  with an adhesive, for example. 
         [0013]    A first end  68  of each of a pair of support brackets  70  are attached by a pair of the fasteners  30  to one of the flanges  18  and one of the lips  26  on either side of the housing  14  or cover  22 . A second end  74  of each of the support brackets  70  is attached to one of a pair of protrusions  78  from a first end  82  of the transition piece  34 . The brackets  70  positionally support the housing  14  and the cover  22  relative to the first end  82  of the transition piece  34 . Additional support between the housing  14  and the first end  82  of the transition piece  34  is provided by an edge  86  of the housing  14  that extends into a slot  90  in the first end  82 . Similarly, additional support between the cover  22  and the first end  82  of the transition piece  34  is provided by an edge  94  of the cover  22  that extends into the slot  90  in the first end  82 . In addition to supporting the housing  14  and the cover  22 , engagement of the edges  86 ,  94  with the slot  90  provides a fluidic seal that blocks cooling fluid from flowing into the gaps  50 ,  58  through this interface. 
         [0014]    The housing  14  and the cover  22  are supported and sealed to a conduit  98  located near a second end  102  of the transition piece  34 . An edge  106  of the housing  14  forms a lap joint  110  with the conduit  98 , and an edge  114  of the cover  22  forms a lap joint  118  with the conduit  98 . Hoop strength generated by assembly of the housing  14  with the cover  22  maintains the edges  106  and  114  in contact with the conduit  98  to assure support thereto and sealing therebetween. 
         [0015]    While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims. Also, in the drawings and the description, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms may have been employed, they are unless otherwise stated used, in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention therefore not being so limited. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item.

Technology Classification (CPC): 8