PLANETARY GEAR BOX AND GAS TURBINE ENGINE WITH PLANETARY GEAR UP BOX

Abstract

The invention relates to a planetary gear box in a gas turbine engine, characterized by at least one protective device in the interior of a casing of the planetary gear box, wherein the protective device is designed and configured to divert at least one particle which is moving in the casing, in particular in an event of damage, and/or to extract kinetic energy from the moving at least one particle, in particular by deformation of the protective device, wherein the protective device is coupled to the casing of the planetary gear box, to a planet gear and/or to a planet carrier. The invention also relates to a gas turbine engine.

Claims

1. A planetary gear box in a gas turbine engine, wherein at least one protective device in the interior of a casing of the planetary gear box, wherein the protective device is designed and configured to divert at least one particle which is moving in the casing, in particular in an event of damage, and/or to extract kinetic energy from the moving at least one particle, in particular by deformation of the protective device, wherein the protective device is coupled to the casing of the planetary gear box, to a planet gear and/or to a planet carrier.

2. The planetary gear box according to claim 1, wherein at least one protective device is at least partially of annular form or has at least one annular section, wherein the plane of the annulus is perpendicular to the main axis of rotation of the gas turbine engine.

3. The planetary gear box according to claim 1, wherein at least one protective device is arranged in a recess of the planet carrier.

4. The planetary gear box according to claim 3, wherein the recess is arranged in a radial or axial direction in the planet carrier.

5. The planetary gear box according to claim 3, wherein at least one protective device is arranged in the recess by way of a non-positively locking connection or a screw connection.

6. The planetary gear box according to claim 1, wherein at least one protective device extends at least partially over the entire circumference of the gear box, in particular of the planet carrier.

7. The planetary gear box according to claim 1, wherein at least one protective device is arranged at least partially on the outer circumference of the planet carrier.

8. The planetary gear box according to claim 1, wherein at least one protective device projects partially or entirely into at least one recess of at least one planet gear, wherein the recess is arranged in particular radially and/or axially in the at least one planet gear.

9. The planetary gear box according to claim 1, wherein the gap between the at least one protective device and the base of the recess in a radial direction amounts to less than 10%, in particular less than 5%, of the recess depth, in particular less than 3%.

10. The planetary gear box according to claim 1, wherein at least one protective device is produced from metal, plastic, a textile material or a composite material or has these materials, wherein the at least one protective device is of homogeneous or inhomogeneous construction.

11. The planetary gear box according to claim 1, wherein the protective device has a plastically deformable region for a targeted deformation by the at least one particle.

12. The planetary gear box according to claim 11, wherein the plastically deformable region is arranged in the interior of the at least one annular protective device.

13. The planetary gear box according to claim 1, wherein the greatest width of the at least one protective device amounts to between 2 and 20%, in particular between 5 and 15%, of the width of the planet gears.

14. The planetary gear box according to claim 1, wherein the protective device has a means for comminuting the particles, in particular an abrasive means or a chipping means.

15. A gas turbine engine for an aircraft, said gas turbine engine comprising the following: 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 a gear box which can be driven by the core shaft, wherein the fan can be driven by means of the gear box at a lower speed than the core shaft, wherein the gear box is designed according to claim 1.

16. The gas turbine engine as claimed in claim 15, 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.

Description

[0050] Embodiments will now be described by way of example, with reference to the figures, in which:

[0051] FIG. 1 shows a lateral sectional view of a gas turbine engine;

[0052] FIG. 2 shows a close-up lateral sectional view of an upstream portion of a gas turbine engine;

[0053] FIG. 3 shows a partially cut-away view of a gear box for a gas turbine engine;

[0054] FIG. 4 shows a perspective detail view of an embodiment of a planetary gear box having a protective device in the planet carrier;

[0055] FIG. 5 shows a sectional view through a planet gear from the embodiment as per FIG. 4;

[0056] FIG. 6 shows a perspective detail view of the planet carrier of the embodiment as per FIG. 4;

[0057] FIG. 7 shows a schematic sectional view through an embodiment of a planetary gear box having a protective device;

[0058] FIG. 8 shows a schematic sectional view through an annular protective device;

[0059] FIG. 9 shows a sectional view through a planet gear having a protective device according to a further embodiment;

[0060] FIG. 10 shows a sectional view through a planet gear having a protective device which is oriented in an axial direction.

[0061] FIG. 1 illustrates a gas turbine engine 10 having a main axis of rotation 9. The gas turbine engine 10 comprises an air inlet 12 and a fan 23 that generates two air flows: a core air flow A and a bypass air flow B. The gas turbine engine 10 comprises a core 11 that receives the core air flow A. When viewed in the order corresponding to the axial direction of flow, the core engine 11 comprises a low-pressure compressor 14, a high-pressure compressor 15, a combustion device 16, a high-pressure turbine 17, a low-pressure turbine 19, and a core thrust nozzle 20. An engine nacelle 21 surrounds the gas turbine engine 10 and defines a bypass duct 22 and a bypass thrust nozzle 18. The bypass air flow B flows through the bypass duct 22. The fan 23 is attached to and driven by the low-pressure turbine 19 via a shaft 26 and an epicyclic planetary gear box 30.

[0062] During operation, the core air flow 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 expelled 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 resulting hot combustion products then propagate through the high-pressure and the low-pressure turbines 17, 19 and thereby drive said turbines, before being expelled through the nozzle 20 to provide a certain propulsive thrust. The high-pressure turbine 17 drives the high-pressure compressor 15 by means of a suitable connecting shaft 27. The fan 23 generally provides the major part of the propulsive thrust. The epicyclic planetary gear box 30 is a reduction gear box.

[0063] An exemplary arrangement for a geared fan gas turbine engine 10 is shown in FIG. 2. The low-pressure turbine 19 (see FIG. 1) drives the shaft 26, which is coupled to a sun gear 28 of the epicyclic planetary gear box 30. Multiple planet gears 32, which are coupled to one another by a planet carrier 34, are situated radially to the outside of the sun gear 28 and mesh therewith. The planet carrier 34 guides the planet gears 32 in such a way that they circulate synchronously around the sun gear 28, whilst enabling each planet gear 32 to rotate about its own axis. The planet carrier 34 is coupled via linkages 36 to the fan 23 in order to drive its rotation about the engine axis 9. Radially to the outside of the planet gears 32 and meshing therewith is an external gear or ring gear 38 that is coupled, via linkages 40, to a stationary supporting structure 24.

[0064] It is noted that the terms “low-pressure turbine” and “low-pressure compressor” as used herein may be taken to mean the lowest-pressure turbine stage and lowest-pressure compressor stage (i.e. not including the fan 23) respectively, and/or the turbine and compressor stages that are connected together by the connecting shaft 26 with the lowest rotational speed in the engine (i.e. not including the gear box output shaft that drives the fan 23). In some documents, the “low-pressure turbine” and the “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 can be referred to as a first, or lowest-pressure, compression stage.

[0065] The epicyclic planetary gear box 30 is shown by way of example in greater detail in FIG. 3. The sun gear 28, planet gears 32 and ring gear 38 in each case comprise teeth on their periphery to allow intermeshing with the other gearwheels. However, for clarity, only exemplary portions of the teeth are illustrated in FIG. 3. Although four planet gears 32 are illustrated, it will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that more or fewer planet gears 32 may be provided within the scope of protection of the claimed invention. Practical applications of an epicyclic planetary gear box 30 generally comprise at least three planet gears 32.

[0066] The epicyclic planetary gear box 30 illustrated by way of example in FIGS. 2 and 3 is a planetary gear box in which the planet carrier 34 is coupled to an output shaft via linkages 36, with the ring gear 38 being fixed. However, any other suitable type of planetary gear box 30 may be used. As a further example, the planetary gear box 30 may be a star arrangement, in which the planet carrier 34 is held fixed, with the ring gear (or external gear) 38 allowed to rotate. In such an arrangement, the fan 23 is driven by the ring gear 38. As a further alternative example, the gear box 30 can be a differential gear box in which both the ring gear 38 and the planet carrier 34 are allowed to rotate.

[0067] It will be appreciated that the arrangement shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is by way of example only, and various alternatives are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure. Purely by way of example, any suitable arrangement may be used for locating the gear box 30 in the gas turbine engine 10 and/or for connecting the gear box 30 to the gas turbine engine 10. As a further example, the connections (for example the linkages 36, 40 in the example of FIG. 2) between the gear box 30 and other parts of the gas turbine engine 10 (such as the input shaft 26, the output shaft and the fixed structure 24) may have a certain degree of stiffness or flexibility. As a further example, any suitable arrangement of the bearings between rotating and stationary parts of the gas turbine engine 10 (for example between the input and output shafts of the gear box and the fixed structures, such as the gear casing) may be used, and the disclosure is not limited to the exemplary arrangement of FIG. 2. For example, where the gear box 30 has a star arrangement (described above), a person skilled in the art would readily understand that the arrangement of output and supporting linkages and bearing positions would usually be different from that shown by way of example in FIG. 2.

[0068] Accordingly, the present disclosure extends to a gas turbine engine having any arrangement of gear box types (for example star or epicyclic-planetary), supporting structures, input and output shaft arrangement, and bearing positions.

[0069] Optionally, the gear box may drive additional and/or alternative components (for example the intermediate-pressure compressor and/or a booster compressor).

[0070] Other gas turbine engines in which the present disclosure can be used may have alternative configurations. For example, such engines may have an alternative number of compressors and/or turbines and/or an alternative number of connecting shafts. By way of a further example, the gas turbine engine shown in FIG. 1 has a split flow nozzle 20, 22, meaning that the flow through the bypass duct 22 has its own nozzle that is separate from and radially outside the core engine nozzle 20. However, this is not restrictive, and any aspect of the present disclosure can also apply to engines in which the flow through the bypass duct 22 and the flow through the core 11 are mixed or combined before (or upstream of) a single nozzle, which may be referred to as a mixed flow nozzle. One or both nozzles (whether mixed or split flow) can have a fixed or variable area. Whilst the described example relates to a turbofan engine, the disclosure may be applied, for example, to any type of gas turbine engine, such as an open-rotor (in which the fan stage is not surrounded by an engine nacelle) or turboprop engine, for example. In some arrangements, the gas turbine engine 10 may not comprise a gear box 30.

[0071] 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 axis of rotation 9), a radial direction (in the bottom-to-top direction in FIG. 1), and a circumferential direction (perpendicular to the view in FIG. 1). The axial, radial and circumferential directions run so as to be mutually perpendicular.

[0072] In particular, very high torques are transmitted in a planetary gear box 30 in a gas turbine 10, wherein, for example, rotating parts (planet gears 32, planet carriers 34 etc.) rotate at high speeds. Here, if spalling of material occurs during operation, spalled particles 52 can exhibit very high kinetic energy. If such a particle 52 strikes another part within the casing 51 of the planetary gear box 30, this can lead to further damage. This can impair the function of the planetary gear box, and in the worst case lead to failure.

[0073] In conjunction with FIGS. 4 to 6, an embodiment of a planetary gear box 30 will be described in which a protective device 50 serves for minimizing the adverse effects of high-energy particles 52 within the casing 51.

[0074] FIG. 4 illustrates a detail from the region of the planet carrier 34. Here, one of the planet gears 32 can be seen in the detail. Here, the planet gear 32 has two tooth surfaces which are parallel to one another and between which a recess 54 is arranged. Said tooth surfaces mesh with the inside of the ring gear 38, which is not illustrated here.

[0075] It is entirely possible that a particle 52 (illustrated only very schematically in FIGS. 4 and 5) spalls from the highly loaded planet gears 32 during operation and moves at high speed through the interior of the casing 51 (not illustrated here).

[0076] To minimize the effect of this moving high-energy particle 52, it is the case in the illustrated embodiment that a protective device 50 is provided in particular for intercepting the particles 32, which protective device is in this case of annular form and is arranged in a recess 53 of the planet carrier 34.

[0077] Now, if the particle 52 strikes the protective device 50, it can basically be diverted in terms of a movement direction. Alternatively or in addition, the protective device 50 may be deformed by the kinetic energy of the particle 52, such that said particle is either absorbed by the protective device 50 or at least loses energy, such that the moving particle no longer poses such a major hazard. The protective device 50 can thus serve for the containment of the particle 52. The protective device 50 may also have a means for comminuting the particle 52, such that the impact energy is used to break up the particle 52. For this purpose, it would for example be possible for chipping means to be used on the protective device 50.

[0078] For the sake of clarity, only one particle 52 is illustrated here, wherein it is entirely possible in reality for more or significantly more particles 52 to arise.

[0079] The protective device 50 is formed here as a ring which runs in encircling fashion around the planet carrier 34 and which has a flat cross section. Here, the annular protective device 50 is arranged in non-positively locking fashion in the recess 53. It is however basically also possible for other connection types, such as positive locking and/or cohesion, or else a screw connection, to be used. The flat ring of the protective device 50 is arranged here in a plane which is perpendicular to the main axis of rotation 9 (see FIG. 1). It would however basically also be possible for the protective device 50 to also be oriented differently within the casing 51.

[0080] The annular protective device 50 projects in this case radially into the recess 54 between the two tooth surfaces of the planet gear 32. An effective separation of the space in which the tooth surfaces of the planet gears 32 act is thus realized. If spalling occurs for example on the left-hand side of the planet gear 32, then the particle 52 that has spalled there cannot readily pass to the right-hand side, because it is for example absorbed by the protective device 50.

[0081] In the embodiment illustrated, only one annular protective device 50 is used. It is basically also possible to use more than one protective device 50, for example in each case at the sides of the planet carrier 34 or also at the inner sides of the casing 51.

[0082] It is not imperatively necessary for the protective device 50 to be of single-part construction as in the embodiment as per FIG. 4. Accordingly, it is also possible for the protective device 50 to be assembled from multiple parts, such that an annulus may be assembled from multiple annulus elements. It is also possible for the protective device 50 to have multiple elements which are arranged at different locations of the casing. One example for this will be described in conjunction with FIG. 7.

[0083] FIG. 5 illustrates a detail of the embodiment as per FIG. 4, specifically the arrangement of the annular-disk-like protective device 50 (only partially illustrated in FIG. 5) in the recess 54 in the planet gear 32. The recess 54 has a substantially U-shaped cross section with a recess depth T into which the protective device 50 projects radially from the outside. Here, the recess depth T is measured from the tips of the toothing. Here, only a narrow space remains free at the base of the recess 54, in this case for example less than 5% of the total recess depth T. By means of this configuration, the space within the casing 51 is divided in an effective manner into two parts, at least as regards the passage of high-energy particles 52 from one half into the other half.

[0084] In an axial direction, the greatest width of the protective device 50 fills approximately 40% of the axial extent of the recess 54, such that the separation of the two regions in the casing 51 is sufficiently effective.

[0085] The protective device 50 is formed here as a homogeneous component which is composed for example of metal, plastic, a textile material or a composite material. It is also possible for the protective device 50 to be composed of several of these parts. In conjunction with FIG. 8, an alternative embodiment will be illustrated in which the protective device is of inhomogeneous form.

[0086] FIG. 6 illustrates a further view of the embodiment of the planetary gear box 30, wherein, here, the planet carrier 34 with the planet gear 32 arranged therein is illustrated. It can be seen that the protective device 50, which is arranged between the two tooth surfaces of the planet gear 32, extends in a circumferential direction in the planet carrier 34 around all of the planet gears 32. Thus, the separation of the two regions within the planet carrier 34 by the annular protective device 50 can also be seen.

[0087] FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment in which the protective device 50 has not only the annular element 50′ but also a lining 50″ on the inner part of the casing 51. Here, the lining 50″ is formed from plastically deformable areal material which extracts the kinetic energy from the particles 52 that are moving in the casing 51. This is an example of a protective device which has multiple elements 50′, 50″.

[0088] FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a section through an annular protective element 50 (see FIGS. 4 to 6) which is of inhomogeneous construction. Here, the protective element 50 has a particularly plastically deformable core 55 which is surrounded by a relatively hard material. The protective device 50 may also be of exactly reversed design: a hard core is surrounded by a plastically deformable material.

[0089] A high-energy particle 52 which strikes this protective device 50 loses a considerable amount of energy during the impact, which energy is converted into deformation energy.

[0090] FIG. 9 illustrates a modification of the embodiment according to FIGS. 4 and 5, such that reference can be made to the description above. Here, the protective element 50 (formed in some cases as a chipping element) causes the planet gear 32 to be divided into two halves.

[0091] FIG. 10 illustrates a further modification of the embodiment according to FIGS. 4 and 5, such that reference can likewise be made to the description above. Here, the recess 54 in the planet gear 32 is arranged in encircling fashion in an axial direction on both sides of the planet gear 32. It is basically also possible for the embodiments as per FIG. 5 and FIG. 10 to be combined with one another, such that the planet gear 32 has axial and radial recesses 54.

[0092] It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the concepts described herein. Any of the features may be used separately or in combination with any other features, unless they are mutually exclusive, and the disclosure extends to and includes all combinations and subcombinations of one or more features which are described here.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0093] 9 Main axis of rotation [0094] 10 Gas turbine engine [0095] 11 Core engine [0096] 12 Air inlet [0097] 14 Low-pressure compressor [0098] 15 High-pressure compressor [0099] 16 Combustion device [0100] 17 High-pressure turbine [0101] 18 Bypass thrust nozzle [0102] 19 Low-pressure turbine [0103] 20 Core thrust nozzle [0104] 21 Engine nacelle [0105] 22 Bypass duct [0106] 23 Fan [0107] 24 Stationary supporting structure [0108] 26 Shaft [0109] 27 Connecting shaft [0110] 28 Sun gear [0111] 30 Gear box, planetary gear box [0112] 32 Planet gears [0113] 34 Planet carrier [0114] 36 Linkage [0115] 38 Ring gear [0116] 40 Linkage [0117] 50 Protective device [0118] 50′ Annular element [0119] 50′ Areal element [0120] 51 Casing of the gear box [0121] 52 Particle in the interior of the casing [0122] 53 Recess of the planet carrier [0123] 54 Recess in planet gears [0124] 55 Plastically deformable region in protective device [0125] A Core air flow [0126] B Bypass air flow [0127] T Recess depth