Patent ID: 8739513

Claim:
A gas turbine engine having an engine casing enclosing a compressor section, a combustor and a turbine section defining a main gas path serially extending therethrough, and comprising: an exhaust cone disposed downstream of the turbine section; and an exhaust mixer connected solely to an aft end of the engine casing such as to be cantilevered therefrom, the exhaust mixer at least partially surrounding the exhaust cone such as to define a portion of the main gas path between an outer surface of the exhaust cone and an annular wall defining a plurality of circumferentially distributed alternating inner and outer lobes of the exhaust mixer, the exhaust mixer including a support member connected to at least a number of the lobes, the support member including a circumferentially extending stiffener ring located radially inward from the lobes and a series of circumferentially spaced apart mixer struts which radially extend through the main gas path between the lobes and the stiffener ring, the mixer struts extending though at least one opening formed in the outer surface of the exhaust cone such that the stiffener ring is located radially inward of the outer surface of the exhaust cone, the stiffener ring being connected only to the support struts such as to be free to move relative to the exhaust cone.