ULTRA HUSH EXHAUST SYSTEM (UHES)

Abstract

An exhaust noise attenuation system mounted to a Jet Engine exit turbine frame for noise attenuation with an ULTRA THRUST REVERSER System mounted at the exhaust end, aft end of the exhaust noise attenuation system, to provide deceleration after landing of the aircraft. The exhaust noise attenuation system consists of double walled duct which can be either of constant circular, square or elliptic cross section or convergent section with variable cross-section area, made of sheet metal double walls with a perforated inner wall or skin except in the areas where there are solid non-perforated corrugations or hat sections which act as frames for structural integrity of the double walled duct, and a non-perforated outer wall or skin, with an appropriate noise attenuation material, assuming honeycomb for the sake of discussion since it is widely used, sandwiched between the inner perforated and outer solid skins of the duct. The sound attenuation material is placed in between the corrugations/hat sections over the perforations of the inner skin. The double walled duct is connected to a nozzle/ring bolted to the engine frame using two or more struts. In the shown figures the inventor used four (4) struts for depiction. Hinged inlet Doors are mounted at the forward end of the double skin duct, controlled by the pilot or the engine control system, to control the flow of ambient air sucked into the exhaust system by the eductor action, to optimize the engine performance, noise signature and reduce ram drag during flight. The doors can also be closed tight during flight to reduce ram drag and to create a smooth surface for the ambient air flowing over the surface of the exhaust system. However, the doors can be fitted with smaller doors or scoops to provide a limited amount of airflow to cool off the walls of the inner perforated duct. A movable exit cone can be used with the convergent duct configuration to optimize the exit area of the double walled duct to optimize the engine performance. An ULTRA THRUST REVERSER SYSTEM is mounted at the aft end of the double walled duct, consists of two improved design clamshell doors mounted on either side of the top and bottom of the double walled duct, fitted with two unique design actuators mounted one on each side of the external sides of the duct between the clamshell doors and the duct, possibly in a depression in the duct called blister, assuming them to be hydraulic actuators for discussion purposes. The actuators drive the clamshell doors using linkages pivoted to the exterior of the double walled duct, connecting the doors to the actuators, to deploy the doors aft of the double walled duct during deceleration after landing, diverting the exhaust gases forward to slow down the aircraft, but also drive the two movable fairings during thrust reverser operation to enclose the reversed exhaust flow forward to prevent its impingement on the skin of the aircraft.

Claims

1. A Jet Engine Noise Attenuation system which consist of a double walled duct, of constant area all the way through or convergent, where the outer wall is solid while the inner wall is perforated sandwiching between them noise attenuation material like what is referred to in the industry as honeycomb, or any other appropriate noise reduction and attenuation material.

2. The double walled duct is mounted to a nozzle/ring using struts at the forward end, forming an assembly which is bolted to the Jet Engine aft turbine frame.

3. Inlet Doors are installed at the front end of the nozzle/ring/double walled duct assembly, which can be opened or closed for the operation of the ULTRA HUSH ENGINE SYSTEM (UHES) on the ground and during flight.

4. ULTRA THRUST REVERSER new design split flow clamshell doors and movable fairings are installed at the aft end of the nozzle/ring/double walled duct/inlet doors assembly, to be used on the ground to decelerate the aircraft fitted with the UHES.

5. An ACTUATOR-IN-ACTUATOR (AIA) design operates The ULTRA THRUST REVERSER clamshell doors and movable fairings using mechanical linkages, thereby eliminating the need for additional actuators to operate the movable fairings.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained from the detailed description of exemplary embodiments set forth below to be considered in conjunction with the attached drawings, in which:

[0020] FIG. 1, 2 and 3 represent respectively a cutaway of the engine and the UHES shown mounted to the aft turbine frame with the ULTRA REVERSER in the stow position, an isometric view of the UHES with the ULTRA REVERSER in the deploy position and a forward looking aft view of the UHES with the ULTRA REVERSER clamshell doors deployed.

[0021] FIG. 4, 5 and 6 represent respectively a half-section of the UHES showing the perforated inner skin, the attachment nozzle/ring to the engine turbine frame, the honeycomb lining between the perforated inner skin and the outer skin, the ULTRA REVERSER Upper and Lower Doors halves. The Struts and frames and the fixed fairing in the stow position, a cross-section A-A in the blister area showing the perforated inner skin which is prior art, the sound attenuation honeycomb material and the outer skin, and an isometric cutaway of the hydraulic actuator in actuator design.

[0022] FIG. 7, 8 and 9 show respectively a cross-section of the actuator-in-actuator design, the ULTRA REVERSER operating linkages kinematics in stow position and the operating linkages in the deploy position which are also prior arts.

[0023] FIG. 10 shows a cross-section of an alternate configuration convergent UHES instead of the constant area duct configuration, with a conic movable device in its center which can be used to control the exit area to optimize the Turbine Engine performance.

[0024] FIG. 11 shows a cross-section of the split flow doors in the reverse thrust deploy position showing the reverse flow arrows flowing along the inner skin and splitting into two flows, one flowing towards the kicker plate while the other flows between the inner and outer skin exiting through slots in the kicker plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0025] The design concept included in preferred embodiments in FIG. 1 is for a sound attenuation system referred to as the UHES which is mounted to the rearmost aft turbine frame of a Jet Engine 1. The UHES consists of an integrally constructed double walled duct illustrated in FIG. 1 with a constant cross-section area or can be a convergent duct as shown in FIG. 10. The UHES duct consists of an inner skin 2 integrally constructed with circular corrugations 3, referred to also as ribs or hats or ridges, which act as supporting frames, with the areas in between those frames in the inner skin are perforated where sound attenuation material 4, which can be honeycomb or any other appropriate material are located on top of the perforations 5. The outer skin 6 is continuous with no perforations, and is appropriately fastened or welded to the ribs 3 of the inner skin 2.

[0026] At the rear end of the integrally constructed double walled duct, two semi-circular or square shaped clamshell doors 7 are located on top of the duct which are stowed during forward flight on top of the duct and deployed, as shown in FIG. 2, on the ground behind the duct to divert the engine exhaust flow and eductor air flow forward to decelerate the aircraft. The clamshell doors 7 are operated by two actuators 8 located on each side of the duct in an internal depression 9, which drive four (4) mechanical linkages 10 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, assuming the actuators are hydraulic for the sake of discussion but the working fluid can be any appropriate fluid or gas available on the aircraft. Behind each clamshell door 7, there is a fixed fairing 11, and forward of the door there can be a fixed fairing 12 also to stream line the air flow over the double walled duct. On each side of duct the clamshell doors 7, there are two (2) Movable Fairings 13, connected to the actuators 8, one each side of the duct, which move aft during deployment of the thrust reverser on the ground. The movable fairings 13 along with the clamshell doors 7 do contain the exhaust flow from the engine and the eductor during reverse thrust mode, to prevent any leakage of the exhaust gases resulting in impingement of the exhaust gases on the fuselage of the aircraft and reduction of reverse flow efficiency.

[0027] At the front end of the integrally constructed double walled duct, there is a nozzle/ring 14 which is mounted to the engine turbine frame of the core exhaust flow through bolts in flanges or any other appropriate attachment method.

[0028] The nozzle/ring can be manufactured using the same approach of the eductor duct, in two walls where the inner one is perforated and the outer is solid enclosing honeycomb or any appropriate sound attenuation material. The nozzle/ring can also be constructed with perforations at the exit plane to allow the cooler air to flow through and mix with the exhaust gases The exit plane of the ring 14 can be fitted with any of the methods used to mix the core engine hot gases with the cooler gases from the low by-pass fan or the eductor ambient air such as a mixer, chevrons or flutes which are currently common in the industry (not shown) to improve noise attenuation of the hot exhaust gases with the cool eductor ambient air. The nozzle/ring 14; supports the double walled acoustically treated duct through four (4) struts 15, in the illustrations for depiction. The struts 15; can have internal passages to allow some hot exhaust gases to flow through to keep them warm to prevent ice accumulation during flight in icing conditions. Four (4) hinged inlet doors 16 are mounted to the front end of the double walled duct which are open during Take-off and Approach flying modes to allow ambient air to be sucked in by the eductor action into the acoustically treated duct, to mix with the higher speed hot engine exhaust gases, to reduce their noise due to the shear action between the higher velocity exhaust gases and the lower velocity ambient air. The double walled acoustically treated eductor duct will hush the engine noise. The inlet doors 16 can be also fitted with an opening 17 to allow cool ambient air to flow through along the inner wall 2 of the integrally constructed acoustically treated double wall duct to keep it cool and protected from the hot engine exhaust gases when the hinged inlet doors 16 are closed during cruise to reduce ram drag and to streamline the airflow along the surface of the engine and double walled duct.

[0029] The thrust reverser doors inner skin 7A, are fitted with guide vanes 18, which are used to direct the cooler ambient air or low by-pass cooler air from the engine to mix with the hot engine exhaust gas to cool the thrust reverser inner skin 7A during thrust reverser operation mode on the ground. This can also allow the use of material with lower melting temperature such as Aluminum instead of other heavier materials with higher melting temperature such as Nickel based alloys or Steel.

[0030] The thrust reverser inner skin 7A is modified where the inner skin has a slot 38 upstream of the inner skin to allow the reversed flow flowing along the door in the reverse thrust deploy mode to split into two flow components, the first flow flowing towards the kicker plate 37 then forward to produce the desired reverse thrust, while the second flow component of the split flow of the reversed flow, flows between the inner and outer skin through slot 38 exiting through slots 39 in the kicker plate of the inner skin which can be fitted with guide vanes 40, directing the split flow forward producing a forward component pushing the first flow component downward and forward instead of flowing upward, thereby maximizing reverse thrust efficiency.

[0031] The thrust reverser doors 7 are operated by Six (6) links 10 on each side of the thrust reverser doors, where the links pivot around pivoting points 19 on the outer skin 6 of the acoustically treated duct. The forward links 10 are pivoted and are driven by the actuator 8 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 which show the stow and deploy positions of the thrust reverser doors during forward flight and reverse thrust mode on the ground.

[0032] The ACTUATOR-IN-ACTUATOR (AIA) design 8 consists of two concentric cylinders as shown in the cross-section views in FIGS. 6 and 7. The outer cylinder has two ports 21 and 21A for the hydraulic fluid entry and return to the hydraulic system during the thrust reverser operation. Two lugs 22 attached to the outer cylinder 21, which in turn are connected to the forward links 10, of the upper and lower thrust reverser doors 7. The outer cylinder is fitted with a pin 23, or more pins if required by design, which fits inside a groove 24 in the outer wall of the inner cylinder 25 to prevent rotation of the outer cylinder. The inner cylinder 25 houses a piston 26 which is connected to the movable fairing 13 through Rod 29A. At both ends of the inner cylinder 25, there are two (2) rings 27 which support the outer cylinder 21. The two circular covers at both ends of the inner cylinder 25, have orifices 28 to allow the hydraulic fluid, to enter and exit the inner cylinder 25 during thrust reverser operation. A rod 29 is concentric to the actuator and is an integral part of the forward circular cover 27 of the inner cylinder 25, which passes through some sealing in the cover 31 of the outer cylinder 20 to prevent the hydraulic fluid from leaking. The rod 29 of each actuator 8, is bolted to one of the duct frames 3 and the longitudinal beam 30, on both sides of the acoustically treated duct. Rod 29A which is connected to the piston 26 is bolted to the movable fairing 13 and also goes through some sealing in the cover 31A to prevent leakage of the hydraulic fluid.

[0033] During the thrust reverser deployment operation on the ground, the hydraulic fluid under pressure enters through orifice 21 to fill the forward chamber of the hydraulic actuator 8, exerting hydraulic pressure pushing against the cover 31 of the outer cylinder 20 causing it to move forward under pressure along the rod 29 and cover 31A will move along Rod 29A. The hydraulic fluid flows also through orifices 28 into the inner cylinder 25 exerting hydraulic pressure against the piston 26 which is connected the movable fairing 13 through Rod 29A causing the movable fairing 13 to move aft to close the gap between the thrust reverser clamshell doors and the duct to assure that alt reverse flow gases are enclosed and not leaking laterally impinging on the aircraft fuselage, but directed forward to cause the desired aircraft deceleration. The movement forward of the outer cylinder 20 causes the lugs 22 which are connected to the links 10, to move forward as well causing the links 10 to deploy the thrust reverser doors as shown in FIG. 8. The hydraulic fluid in the back side of piston 26A will be forced into the aft chamber of the actuator 8, which in turn due to the forward motion of the outer cylinder 20 and the ensuing decrease in volume of the aft chamber, will force the hydraulic fluid to flow through orifice 21A into the return line of the hydraulic system of the aircraft.

[0034] During the thrust reverser stow operation, the reverse operation will occur, the hydraulic fluid under pressure will enter through orifice 21A filling the aft chamber of the hydraulic actuator 8, exerting hydraulic pressure pushing against the cover MA of the outer cylinder 20 causing it to move aft along the rod 29A and cover 31 will move along Rod 29. The hydraulic fluid flows also through orifices 28 in the inner cylinder 25 exerting hydraulic pressure against the piston back face 26A which is connected the movable fairing 13 causing the movable fairing 13 to move forward to rest against the thrust reverser doors 7 in the forward thrust position as shown in FIG. 3. The movement aft of the outer cylinder 20 causes the lugs 22 which are connected to the links 10, to move aft as well, causing the links 10 to stow the thrust reverser doors as shown in FIG. 8. The hydraulic fluid in the back side of piston 26 will be forced into the forward chamber of the actuator 8, which in turn due to the aft motion of the outer cylinder 20 and the ensuing decrease in volume of the forward chamber, will force the hydraulic fluid to flow through orifice 21 into the return line of the hydraulic system of the aircraft.

[0035] Pin 23 moves inside the groove 24 to prevent any twisting relative motion between the outer cylinder 20 and inner cylinder 25, thereby assuring proper operation in the linear direction without any rotation of the outer cylinder 20 around the fixed inner cylinder 25, thereby assuring that the actuator is not subjecting the thrust reverser linkages 10 and pivoting point 19 and duct components to any additional stresses.

[0036] In the convergent MIES duct configuration shown in FIG. 10, a conic body 31 made up of two cones, can be mounted to an actuator cylinder 32, assuming hydraulic working fluid but it can use any other type of working fluid, which is mounted to one or multiple diametric supports 33. A hydraulic line 34 mounted inside the hollow support 33, brings the hydraulic fluid under pressure, inside the cylinder 32, exerting a force on the piston 35 which is attached to a tension spring 36, forcing the cone 31 to move aft, thereby reducing the size of the exit area to optimize the engine performance during cruise condition. When the aircraft hydraulic return valve (airframe part not shown) is open, the hydraulic fluid is drained into the aircraft hydraulic system, thereby reducing the force on the piston 35, enabling the tension spring 36 to pull the piston 35 forward pulling with it the cone 31, to increase the exit area for the exhaust gases to exit the aft section of the convergent UHES duct.

[0037] The forward cone can be designed as a solid cone or as a double walled cone with acoustic attenuation material sandwiched between the inner wall and the outer perforated wall to contribute to the overall engine noise reduction.

[0038] The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative and explanatory thereof; and various changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustrated system may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.