GAS TURBINE ENGINE OUTLET GUIDE VANES

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to outlet guide vanes in a gas turbine engine, and in particular to such vanes with particular ranges of relative dimensions. Example embodiments include a gas turbine engine (10) comprising a plurality of outlet guide vanes (31) each having a length extending across a bypass duct (22) of the gas turbine engine (10), wherein for each outlet guide vane a minimum thickness to chord ratio is less than 80% of a maximum thickness to chord ratio.

Claims

1. A gas turbine engine comprising a plurality of outlet guide vanes each having a length extending across a bypass duct of the gas turbine engine, wherein for each outlet guide vane a minimum thickness to chord ratio is less than 80% of a maximum thickness to chord ratio.

2. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 wherein the maximum thickness to chord ratio of each outlet guide vane is at an inner face of the bypass duct.

3. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 wherein the maximum thickness to chord ratio of each outlet guide vane is at an outer face of the bypass duct.

4. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 wherein each guide vane is bolted to an outer casing of the bypass duct with a plurality of bolts.

5. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 wherein a minimum thickness to chord ratio of each guide vane is at a position along the length of the outlet guide vane of between around 85% and 95% from the inner to outer faces of the bypass duct.

6. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 wherein the thickness to chord ratio at a root of each guide vane, at an inner surface of the bypass duct, is between around 0.06 and 0.08.

7. The gas turbine engine (10) of claim 6 wherein the thickness to chord ratio at the root of each guide vane is between around 0.065 and 0.075.

8. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 wherein the thickness to chord ratio at a tip of each guide vane, at an outer surface of the bypass duct, is between around 0.06 and 0.08.

9. The gas turbine engine of claim 8 wherein the thickness to chord ratio at the tip of each guide vane is between around 0.065 and 0.075.

10. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 wherein the minimum thickness to chord ratio over the length of each vane is between around 65% and 75% of the maximum thickness to chord ratio.

11. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 wherein a maximum thickness of each outlet guide vane varies along the length of the outlet guide vane by more than 30% around a mean value of the maximum thickness of the outlet guide vane.

12. The gas turbine engine of claim 11 wherein the maximum thickness of each guide vane varies along the length of the outlet guide vane by between 30% and 35% around the mean value.

13. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 wherein the chord length of each outlet guide vane varies along the length of the outlet guide vane by between 15% and 25% around a mean value of the chord length for the outlet guide vane.

14. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 for an aircraft, the gas turbine engine comprising: an engine core comprising a turbine, a compressor, and a core shaft connecting the turbine to the compressor; a fan located upstream of the engine core, the fan comprising a plurality of fan blades; and a gearbox that receives an input from the core shaft and outputs drive to the fan so as to drive the fan at a lower rotational speed than the core shaft.

15. The gas turbine engine according to claim 14, wherein: the turbine is a first turbine, the compressor is a first compressor, and the core shaft is a first core shaft; the engine core further comprises a second turbine, a second compressor, and a second core shaft connecting the second turbine to the second compressor; and the second turbine, second compressor, and second core shaft are arranged to rotate at a higher rotational speed than the first core shaft.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0047] Embodiments will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the Figures, in which:

[0048] FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a gas turbine engine;

[0049] FIG. 2 is a close up sectional side view of an upstream portion of a gas turbine engine;

[0050] FIG. 3 is a partially cut-away view of a gearbox for a gas turbine engine; and

[0051] FIG. 4 is a schematic plot of thickness to chord ratio for two example outlet guide vanes;

[0052] FIG. 5 is a schematic plot of maximum thickness for the two example outlet guide vanes of FIG. 4; and

[0053] FIG. 6 is a schematic plot of chord length for the two example outlet guide vanes of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0054] FIG. 1 illustrates a gas turbine engine 10 having a principal rotational axis 9. The engine 10 comprises an air intake 12 and a propulsive fan 23 that generates two airflows: a core airflow A and a bypass airflow B. The gas turbine engine 10 comprises a core 11 that receives the core airflow A. The engine core 11 comprises, in axial flow series, a low pressure compressor 14, a high-pressure compressor 15, combustion equipment 16, a high-pressure turbine 17, a low pressure turbine 19 and a core exhaust nozzle 20. A nacelle 21 surrounds the gas turbine engine 10 and defines a bypass duct 22 and a bypass exhaust nozzle 18. The bypass airflow 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 gearbox 30.

[0055] In use, 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 equipment 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 a suitable interconnecting shaft 27. The fan 23 generally provides the majority of the propulsive thrust. The epicyclic gearbox 30 is a reduction gearbox.

[0056] 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 wheel, or sun gear, 28 of the epicyclic gear arrangement 30. Radially outwardly of the sun gear 28 and intermeshing therewith is a plurality of planet gears 32 that are coupled together by a planet carrier 34. The planet carrier 34 constrains the planet gears 32 to precess around the sun gear 28 in synchronicity 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 outwardly of the planet gears 32 and intermeshing therewith is an annulus or ring gear 38 that is coupled, via linkages 40, to a stationary supporting structure 24.

[0057] 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 rotational 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.

[0058] The epicyclic gearbox 30 is shown by way of example in greater detail in FIG. 3. Each of the sun gear 28, planet gears 32 and ring gear 38 comprise teeth about their periphery to intermesh with the other gears. However, for clarity only exemplary portions of the teeth are illustrated in FIG. 3. There are four planet gears 32 illustrated, although it will be apparent to the skilled reader that more or fewer planet gears 32 may be provided within the scope of the claimed invention. Practical applications of a planetary epicyclic gearbox 30 generally comprise at least three planet gears 32.

[0059] The epicyclic gearbox 30 illustrated by way of example in FIGS. 2 and 3 is of the planetary type, in that the planet carrier 34 is coupled to an output shaft via linkages 36, with the ring gear 38 fixed. However, any other suitable type of epicyclic gearbox 30 may be used. By way of further example, the epicyclic gearbox 30 may be a star arrangement, in which the planet carrier 34 is held fixed, with the ring (or annulus) gear 38 allowed to rotate. In such an arrangement the fan 23 is driven by the ring gear 38. By way of further alternative example, the gearbox 30 may be a differential gearbox in which the ring gear 38 and the planet carrier 34 are both allowed to rotate.

[0060] 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 the present disclosure. Purely by way of example, any suitable arrangement may be used for locating the gearbox 30 in the engine 10 and/or for connecting the gearbox 30 to the engine 10. By way of further example, the connections (such as the linkages 36, 40 in the FIG. 2 example) between the gearbox 30 and other parts of the engine 10 (such as the input shaft 26, the output shaft and the fixed structure 24) may have any desired degree of stiffness or flexibility. By way of further example, any suitable arrangement of the bearings between rotating and stationary parts of the engine (for example between the input and output shafts from the gearbox and the fixed structures, such as the gearbox casing) may be used, and the disclosure is not limited to the exemplary arrangement of FIG. 2. For example, where the gearbox 30 has a star arrangement (described above), the skilled person would readily understand that the arrangement of output and support linkages and bearing locations would typically be different to that shown by way of example in FIG. 2.

[0061] Accordingly, the present disclosure extends to a gas turbine engine having any arrangement of gearbox styles (for example star or planetary), support structures, input and output shaft arrangement, and bearing locations.

[0062] Optionally, the gearbox may drive additional and/or alternative components (e.g. the intermediate pressure compressor and/or a booster compressor).

[0063] Other gas turbine engines to which the present disclosure may be applied may have alternative configurations. For example, such engines 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 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 to and radially outside the core engine nozzle 20. However, this is not limiting, and any aspect of the present disclosure may 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) may have a fixed or variable area.

[0064] The geometry of the gas turbine engine 10, and components thereof, is 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 FIG. 1), and a circumferential direction (perpendicular to the page in the FIG. 1 view). The axial, radial and circumferential directions are mutually perpendicular.

[0065] In a gas turbine engine 10 such as that illustrated in FIG. 1, outlet guide vanes 31 are provided in the bypass duct 22 and function primarily to counteract rotational air movement in the bypass airflow B caused by rotation of the upstream fan blades 23. OGVs are therefore conventionally designed primarily based on aerodynamic rather than structural considerations, typically resulting in the vanes 31 being relatively thin at the root. Structural support across the bypass duct 22 may instead be provided by a number of structural support vanes. The ratio between the thickness and the chord dimensions of a typical guide vane will tend to vary along its length. An example is illustrated in FIG. 4, in which the thickness to chord ratio 41 for a typical guide vane is shown. The ratio averages around 0.051 between the root and tip of the guide vane, with the ratio being a minimum of around 0.046 in the inner half of the length from the root to the tip and a maximum of around 0.056 in the outer half. The ratio from the root to the tip follows a roughly sinusoidal shape with a roughly linear offset making the ratio at the tip greater than that at the root. The ratio along the length of the guide vane as a result varies by no more than around +/10% from the mean for this example.

[0066] FIG. 4 also shows a plot 42 of the variation in thickness to chord ratio for an example vane according to the present disclosure. The ratio at the root, i.e. at 0% of the span length, is substantially greater than that for the conventional guide vane, being between around 0.065 and 0.075 compared to between 0.045 and 0.05 for the conventional guide vane. In a general aspect, the thickness to chord ratio at the root of the guide vane may be between around 0.06 and 0.08, and optionally between 0.065 and 0.075. The ratio at the tip may also be substantially greater that that towards the middle of the vane. In the illustrated example, the ratio at the tip is around 0.068. In a general aspect, the thickness to chord ratio at the tip of the guide vane may be between around 0.06 and 0.08, and optionally between 0.065 and 0.075.

[0067] As also shown in FIG. 4, the minimum thickness to chord ratio for the example guide vane is around 0.047 at around 90% of the thickness from the root to the tip. This results from the thickness being roughly constant between around 60% and 90% as shown in FIG. 5, while the chord length reaches a minimum at around 70-75% and increases towards the tip of the vane, as shown in FIG. 6. In a general aspect therefore, the minimum thickness to chord ratio over the length of the vane may be less than around 80% of the maximum ratio, optionally between around 60% to 80% of the maximum thickness to chord ratio, and further optionally between around 65% to 75% or between 65% and 70%. This compares with the minimum ratio of the conventional guide vane being around 85% of the maximum ratio, corresponding to substantially less variation in the thickness to chord ratio along the length of the vane.

[0068] The variation in thickness to chord length ratio may be primarily achieved by making the vane thickness substantially greater towards the root and tip, as shown in the plot of maximum vane thickness Tmax over the vane length in FIG. 5, in which the typical example guide vane variation in thickness 51 is compared with the thickness 52 of the example according to the present disclosure. Whereas the conventional guide vane thickness 51 varies by about +/20% around a mean value, the example guide vane thickness 52 varies by about +/33% around a mean value. The mean value may vary according to the particular application and size of engine in which the guide vanes are used. The chord length, on the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, varies across the length of the guide vanes by similar amounts to that in the conventional guide vane. The chord length 61 of the conventional guide vane varies by about +/20% around a mean value, and the chord length 62 of the example guide vane also varies by about +/20% around a mean value.

[0069] 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.