Patent ID: 8505304

Claim:
A method for assembling a fuel nozzle for use with a combustion chamber defined within a gas turbine engine, said method comprising: providing a support flange; providing a swirler assembly; providing a burner tube, including a base region, a side wall, and a plurality of air passage openings formed in the side wall adjacent to the base region; providing a baffle plate assembly including a baffle plate and an air guide vane coupled downstream of the baffle plate and located radially inward from the burner tube; coupling the burner tube to the support flange in a detachable manner, such that an inner surface of the burner tube circumscribes an outer surface of the swirler assembly during fuel nozzle operation; and coupling the baffle plate assembly to a stem that is radially inward from the burner tube, wherein the baffle plate assembly is oriented to channel airflow within the fuel nozzle towards the swirler assembly, wherein the swirler assembly is fabricated from a first material having a first coefficient of thermal expansion and the burner tube is fabricated from a second material having a second coefficient of thermal expansion that is different from the first coefficient of thermal expansion, and wherein at resting temperature, the burner tube is axially slidable towards and away from the support flange.