Patent ID: 8308076

Claim:
A method of providing a fuel nozzle of a gas turbine engine to reduce fretting thereof during use, the method comprising: establishing an initial nozzle design for a one-piece stem member having an inlet end for connection to a fuel supply, an outlet end for connection to a spray tip assembly and a central portion extending between the inlet and outlet ends and including and at least one fuel conduit defined therethrough in communication with the inlet and outlet ends, the central portion including a section defined adjacent the inlet end and extending along only part of a length of the central portion; determining a first natural frequency of the initial nozzle design; determining a running frequency range of the gas turbine engine; increasing a first transverse dimension of the stem member across a length of said section until the first natural frequency of the fuel nozzle is outside the running frequency range while a second transverse dimension of said section remains at least substantially unchanged across the length thereof, the first and second transverse dimensions being defined along different directions extending perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the stem member; and providing the one-piece stem member including the section with the increased first transverse dimension and the at least substantially unchanged second transverse dimension.