Gearing arrangement and method for manufacturing the gearing arrangement
11187158 · 2021-11-30
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
F02C7/36
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F01D25/34
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F02C3/107
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F16H1/28
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F05D2220/32
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F02K3/06
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F16H57/08
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F16H2001/289
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F05D2260/40311
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
Y02T50/60
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
International classification
F02C7/36
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F16H1/28
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F02K3/06
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F16H57/08
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F01D25/34
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
Abstract
A gearbox assembly for a gas turbine engine comprises a planetary gearbox having at least one ring gear and at least one planet gear, which exerts a force on the ring gear in the direction of a force vector as it rolls on said ring gear; and a holding device for fastening the at least one ring gear on another structure, having a first section, which extends in the axial direction on one side of the force vector and/or of a straight-line extension thereof, and having a second section, which extends in the axial direction on the other side of the force vector and/or of the straight-line extension thereof. A gas turbine engine and a method for producing a gearbox assembly are furthermore made available.
Claims
1. A gearbox assembly for a gas turbine engine, comprising: a planetary gearbox including at least one ring gear and at least one planet gear, which exerts a force on the at least one ring gear in a direction of a force vector as the at least one planet gear rolls on the at least one ring gear; and a holding device for fastening the at least one ring gear on a supporting structure, the holding device including: a first section, which extends in an axial direction on one side of the force vector and/or is a straight-line extension of the force vector, the first section including a first end and a second end, and a second section, which extends in the axial direction on the other side of the force vector and/or is the straight-line extension of the force vector, wherein the second section is connected to the supporting structure; wherein the first section first end is connected to the at least one ring gear and the first section second end is connected to the second section such that the first section and the at least one ring gear are connected to the supporting structure via the second section; wherein the first section and the second section each have a rotational stiffness, wherein a ratio of the rotational stiffnesses is 1.0+/−0.1.
2. The gearbox assembly according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of the rotational stiffnesses is 1.0+/−0.05.
3. The gearbox assembly according to claim 1, wherein the planetary gearbox has helical gearing.
4. The gearbox assembly according to claim 3, wherein the at least one ring gear includes two ring gears in a double helical configuration such that axial forces are directed away from each other as the at least one planet gear rolls on the two ring gears.
5. The gearbox assembly according to claim 1, wherein the holding device provides a flexible suspension for the at least one ring gear.
6. The gearbox assembly according to claim 1, wherein the first section and the second section are formed integrally with one another or wherein the first section, the second section and the at least one ring gear are formed integrally with one another.
7. The gearbox assembly according to claim 1, wherein the first and the second section have different material thicknesses.
8. An aircraft engine, comprising: a core shaft; a fan having a plurality of fan blades; and the gearbox assembly according to claim 1 driven by the core shaft, wherein the fan is driven at a lower speed than the core shaft by the gearbox assembly.
9. A gas turbine engine for an aircraft, comprising: a core engine comprising a turbine, a compressor, and a core shaft connecting the turbine to the compressor; a fan, which is positioned upstream of the core engine, wherein the fan comprises a plurality of fan blades; and the gearbox assembly according to claim 1 driven by the core shaft, wherein the fan is driven at a lower speed than the core shaft by the gearbox assembly.
10. The gas turbine engine according to claim 9, wherein: the turbine is a first turbine, the compressor is a first compressor, and the core shaft is a first core shaft; the core engine further comprises a second turbine, a second compressor, and a second core shaft which connects the second turbine to the second compressor; and the second turbine, second compressor, and second core shaft are arranged to rotate at a higher speed than the first core shaft.
11. A method for producing a gearbox assembly, comprising the following steps: providing a planetary gearbox including at least one ring gear and at least one planet gear, which exerts a force on the at least one ring gear in a direction of a force vector as the at least one planet gear rolls on the at least one ring gear; and providing a holding device for fastening the at least one ring gear on a supporting structure, the holding device including: a first section, which extends in an axial direction on one side of the force vector and/or is a straight-line extension of the force vector, the first section including a first end and a second end, and a second section, which extends in the axial direction on the other side of the force vector and/or is the straight-line extension of the force vector, wherein the second section is connected to the supporting structure; providing that the first section first end is connected to the at least one ring gear and the first section second end is connected to the second section such that the first section and the at least one ring gear are connected to the supporting structure via the second section; providing that the first section and the second section each have a rotational stiffness, wherein a ratio of the rotational stiffnesses is 1.0+/−0.1.
12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising the following step: determining a geometry and/or material properties of the first section and of the second section of the holding device in an optimization procedure.
13. The method according to claim 12, and further comprising performing the optimization procedure using an FEM algorithm.
14. The method according to claim 12, and further comprising performing the optimization procedure iteratively.
15. The gearbox assembly according to claim 1, wherein the planetary gearbox has double helical gearing.
Description
(1) Embodiments will now be described by way of example, with reference to the figures, in which:
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10) In operation, the core airflow A is accelerated and compressed by the low-pressure compressor 14 and directed into the high-pressure compressor 15, where further compression takes place. The compressed air exhausted from the high-pressure compressor 15 is directed into the combustion device 16, where it is mixed with fuel and the mixture is combusted. The resultant hot combustion products then expand through, and thereby drive, the high-pressure and low-pressure turbines 17, 19 before being exhausted through the nozzle 20 to provide some propulsive thrust. The high-pressure turbine 17 drives the high-pressure compressor 15 by means of a suitable interconnecting shaft 27. The fan 23 generally makes available the majority of the propulsive thrust. The epicyclic planetary gearbox 30 is a reduction gearbox.
(11) Note that the terms “low-pressure turbine” and “low-pressure compressor” as used herein may be taken to mean the lowest pressure turbine stages and lowest pressure compressor stages (i.e. not including the fan 23) respectively and/or the turbine and compressor stages that are connected together by the interconnecting shaft 26 with the lowest speed in the engine (i.e. not including the gearbox output shaft that drives the fan 23). In some literature, the “low-pressure turbine” and “low-pressure compressor” referred to herein may alternatively be known as the “intermediate-pressure turbine” and “intermediate-pressure compressor”. Where such alternative nomenclature is used, the fan 23 may be referred to as a first, or lowest pressure, compression stage.
(12) The geometry of the gas turbine engine 10, and components thereof, is/are defined by a conventional axis system, comprising an axial direction (which is aligned with the rotational axis 9), a radial direction (in the bottom-to-top direction in
(13) An exemplary arrangement for a geared fan gas turbine engine 10 is shown in
(14) In the present case, the planet carrier 34 comprises a bearing pin 34a, which is framed by a front planet carrier plate 34b and a rear planet carrier plate 34c. The planet carrier 34 is connected to a linkage 36 by means of a spherical bearing 35 and a spherical bearing unit mounted therein (for the compensation of tilting movements). The planet carrier 34 is coupled via the linkage 36 to the fan 23 in order to drive its rotation about the engine axis 9. The linkage 36 is thus designed to transmit torque.
(15) Radially outwardly of the planet gears 32 and intermeshing therewith is an annulus or ring gear 38. In the present case, the planetary gearbox 30 comprises two ring gears 38. Each of the two ring gears 38 is situated radially outwardly of the planet gears 32 and intermeshes therewith, in the present case with two axially spaced, toothed sections of the individual planet gears 32.
(16) The two ring gears 38 are spaced apart in the axial direction. The ring gears 38 are coupled non-rotatably, via a holding device 40, to another structure, namely a fixed supporting structure 24 of the gas turbine engine 10. The fixed supporting structure 24 is connected in a fixed manner to the engine nacelle 21, for example. The holding device 40 is used as a ring gear carrier.
(17) The planetary gearbox 30 and the holding device 40 together form a gearbox assembly.
(18) The holding device 40 is of annular design, for example, and surrounds the ring gears 38 at the respective outer circumferences thereof. By virtue of this embodiment of the holding device 40, the ring gears 38 cannot be moved (or can be moved only to an insignificant extent) in the circumferential direction around the main axis of rotation 9, that is to say are mounted non-rotatably on the fixed supporting structure 24, as already mentioned. In relation to the radial and/or axial direction, the holding device 40 provides a flexible suspension for the ring gears 38. Thus, the ring gears 38 can be moved radially and/or axially relative to the fixed supporting structure 24 by effective forces. In the radial and/or axial direction, the ring gears 38 can be moved to a significantly greater extent relative to the fixed supporting structure 24 than in the circumferential direction. It is thereby possible to accommodate loads during the operation of the gas turbine engine 10, e.g. those due to load changes or thermal expansion or contraction of individual components. The planetary gearbox 30 is decoupled from loads by the holding device 40.
(19) The planetary gearbox 30 has helical gearing. In the present case, the two ring gears 38 (and, correspondingly, the respective sections of the planet gears 32 that intermesh therewith) have opposed helical gearing. In this case, the teeth are aligned in such a way that, in the course of the rolling action during the operation of the gas turbine engine 10, they first of all make contact axially on the inside and the tooth contact runs axially outwards (not towards one another). It is thereby possible to discharge lubricating oil in a simple manner.
(20) As illustrated by means of
(21) During the operation of the gas turbine engine 10, the planet gears 32 exert forces on the ring gears 38, and these forces have an axial component by virtue of the helical gearing. In
(22) The planetary gearbox 30 is shown in greater detail by way of example in
(23) The force vectors K of the planet gears 32 on the ring gear 38 are also illustrated in
(24)
(25) The gearbox assembly shown in
(26)
(27) The holding device 40′ shown in
(28) To be specific, in a cross-sectional area or of the ring gear 38 (said cross-sectional area being generated by the central axis, corresponding to the main axis of rotation 9, and a radius), the first section 40a is arranged on one side of the force vector K (or of a straight-line extension thereof) projected onto the cross-sectional area, while the second section 40b is arranged on the other side of the force vector K (or of the straight-line extension thereof).
(29) The force vector K (or the extension thereof) projected onto the cross-sectional area intersects the holding device 40′ at a point of intersection S. If the planet gears 32 roll over the entire inner circumference of the ring gear 38, the point of intersection S of the accompanying force vector K describes a ring. The first section 40a of the holding device 40′ extends on one side of the point of intersection S (and of the corresponding ring). The second section 40b extends on the other side thereof.
(30) A ring section 40c of the holding device 40′ surrounds the ring gear 38 and is connected in a fixed manner thereto.
(31) In relation to the central axis of the ring gear 38, the first and the second section 40a, 40b are of oblique design, at least in some section or sections. The first and the second section 40a, 40b extend substantially over the entire width of the ring gear 38 in the axial direction. The holding device 40′ can be mounted on the fixed structure on one side of the ring gear 38 in the axial direction, and the first section 40a adjoins the ring gear 38 on the other side in the axial direction. The holding device 40′ thus overlaps the ring gear 38, at least approximately.
(32) (In the cross section along the central axis of the ring gear 38), the first section 40a is connected at one end to the ring section 40c (optionally being formed integrally therewith or alternatively being mounted thereon, e.g. by means of flanges resting against one another). At its other end, the first section 40a is connected to one end of the second section 40b (once again optionally being formed integrally therewith or alternatively being mounted thereon). The second section 40b is connected at its other end to the fixed supporting structure 24 (likewise optionally being formed integrally therewith or alternatively being mounted thereon). In other words, it is possible, in particular, for the ring gear 38 to be connected via the first section 40a and the second section 40b (in this order) to the fixed supporting structure 24. As an option, the entire part comprising the holding device 40 (including the ring section 40c, the first and the second section 40a, 40b) is formed integrally.
(33) The first section 40a and the second section 40b are flexible (as is optionally also the ring section 40c, particularly in the radial direction, which may improve the load distribution between the planet gears 32).
(34) It is envisaged that the first and the second section 40a, 40b have rotational stiffnesses K1, K2, the ratio of which is 1.0+/−0.2, in particular 1.0+/−0.1, in particular 1.0+/−0.05 (alternatively, the first and the second section 40a, 40b have radial stiffnesses with these ratios). In the example shown, the ratio is 1.0. It is thereby possible to ensure that, despite the helical gearing, the forces of the planet gears 32 do not lead to tilting of the ring gear 38 but merely push the latter radially outwards. The ring gear is held horizontally. In other holding devices known to the applicant from the art, the displacement is composed of radial and axial components in accordance with the angle of the force vector. Owing to the identical or substantially identical rotational stiffnesses, especially around an axis perpendicular to the radius and to the central axis of the ring gear 38, the elastic rotations of the two sections (indicated by means of arrows in
(35) In the present case, the point of intersection S is arranged between a left-hand and a right-hand outer edge of the holding device 40′ (when viewed in the axial direction). The point of intersection is spaced apart from the left-hand edge by a distance X and by a distance Y from the right-hand edge in the axial direction. The distance X (from the left-hand outer edge) is smaller than the distance Y (from the right-hand outer edge).
(36)
(37) Point of intersection S1 results from (steep-angled) helical gearing and is not arranged between the outer edges of the holding device 40′ but in front of the left-hand edge. The distance between point of intersection S1 from the right-hand edge is thus greater than the distance between the two outer edges. In this case, the holding device would be shaped in such a way that the first and the second section 40a, 40b extended as far as this point of intersection S1.
(38) Point of intersection S2 results from helical gearing with a force vector oriented inwards (towards the second ring gear 38). The gearing, in particular the helix angle, is designed and the holding device configured in such a way that point of intersection S2 lies in a central plane M. The central plane M is arranged in the center (in the axial direction) between the two ring gears 38 and extends perpendicularly to the central axis 9.
(39)
(40) In the present case, the first section 40a and the second section 40b are of different lengths in cross section (in the plane of the radius and of the central axis). In order to obtain identical rotational stiffnesses, one of the sections (namely the shorter first section 40a) can be formed from a softer material, for example, with weak points and/or with a smaller material thickness in comparison with the other one of the sections. In the present case, the first section 40a has a smaller material thickness than the second section 40b (see
(41) The rotational stiffnesses can be measured, for example, by holding fast the end of the respective section 40a, 40b which faces away from the other section 40a, 40b, exerting a torque on the point of intersection S and determining the deflection. This can optionally be performed by means of a piece cut out radially from the holding device 40′.
(42) As an option, one or more through holes are formed in the first and/or the second section 40a, 40b to allow lubricating oil to pass through.
(43)
(44) In a step S1, a planetary gearbox 30 having two ring gears 38 and a plurality of planet gears 32 is made available, wherein the planet gears 32 exert a force in the direction of a respective force vector K on each ring gear as they roll on the ring gear 38. Here, the force vector K represents the resultant of the forces which the respective planet gear 32 exerts in one position on the respective ring gear 38.
(45) In a step S2, a geometry (in particular a material thickness) and/or material properties (in particular the selection of material, e.g. steel) of a first and a second section 40a, 40b respectively of a holding device 40; 40′ for fastening the ring gears 38 on a fixed supporting structure 24 are determined in an optimization procedure. For this purpose, one or more of the parameters mentioned is varied with the aim of achieving rotational stiffnesses for the first and the second section 40a, 40b which are as far as possible the same.
(46) In this case, the first and the second section 40a, 40b are defined by the fact that they are situated on opposite sides of the (revolving) force vector K in the axial direction. In relation to a radial cross section, the first and the second section 40a, 40b are defined by the axially opposite sides of the vector formed from the axial component and the radial component of the force vector K and by the straight-line extension thereof.
(47) Once the planet gears 32 are rolling on the inner circumference of the ring gears 38, the accompanying force vector K and the straight-line extension thereof (for each ring gear 38) describe a cone, to be specific a right circular cone. This cone describes the transition between the first section 40a and the second section 40b.
(48) As an option, the optimization procedure comprises an FEM algorithm and/or is performed iteratively.
(49) In a step S3, the holding device 40; 40′ is formed in accordance with the geometry determined.
(50) In a step S4, the holding device 40; 40′ is mounted on the ring gears 38, namely in such a way that (for each ring gear 38) the respective first and second sections 40a, 40b of the holding device 40; 40′ are arranged on opposite sides, in the axial direction, of the force vector K and/or of the straight-line extension thereof, in particular exclusively on opposite sides. The gearbox assembly can be mounted on a gas turbine engine (e.g. the gas turbine engine shown in
(51) The epicyclic planetary gearbox 30 illustrated by way of example in
(52) It will be appreciated that the arrangement shown in
(53) Optionally, the planetary gearbox 30 can drive additional and/or alternative components (e.g. the intermediate-pressure compressor and/or a booster compressor).
(54) Other gas turbine engines to which the present disclosure may be applied may have alternative configurations. For example, engines of this kind may have an alternative number of compressors and/or turbines and/or an alternative number of interconnecting shafts. By way of further example, the gas turbine engine shown in
(55) It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments above-described and various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the concepts described herein. Except where mutually exclusive, any of the features may be employed separately or in combination with any other features and the disclosure extends to and includes all combinations and sub-combinations of one or more features described herein.
LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS
(56) 9 Main axis of rotation and central axis of ring gear 10 Gas turbine engine 11 Core engine 12 Air intake 14 Low-pressure compressor 15 High-pressure compressor 16 Combustion device 17 High-pressure turbine 18 Bypass thrust nozzle 19 Low-pressure turbine 20 Core thrust nozzle 21 Engine nacelle 22 Bypass duct 23 Fan 24 Fixed supporting structure 26 Shaft 27 Interconnecting shaft 28 Sun gear 30 Planetary gearbox 32 Planet gear 34 Planet carrier 34a Bearing pin 34b Front planet carrier plate 34c Rear planet carrier plate 35 Spherical bearing 36 Linkage 38 Ring gear 40; 40′ Holding device 40a First section 40b Second section 40c Ring section A Core airflow B Bypass airflow K Force vector M Center plane P Point S, S0-S2 Point of intersection T1, T2 Part of the holding device X, Y Distance