Gas turbine combustion chamber and method for manufacturing the same

Abstract

The present invention relates to a gas-turbine combustion chamber having a head plate as well as an outer and an inner combustion chamber wall, wherein the combustion chamber is formed by segments or partial segments manufactured in one piece by means of a DLD method and welded to one another.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a gas-turbine combustion chamber comprising: providing that the gas-turbine combustion chamber includes a combustion chamber head, a heat shield, an outer combustion chamber wall, and an inner combustion chamber wall; providing partial segments of the gas-turbine combustion chamber, the partial segments each manufactured in one piece by a direct laser deposition method, the direct laser deposition method including using at least one chosen from a laser and an electron beam to melt together, layer by layer, a powdery basic material including a metallic component to produce a three-dimensional workpiece; wherein the partial segments include first partial segments including a portion of the outer combustion chamber wall and second partial segments including a portion of the inner combustion chamber wall; wherein one of the first partial segments and the second partial segments include a portion of the combustion chamber head, and no portion of the heat shield, manufactured as one piece with the respective portion of the inner combustion chamber wall or outer combustion chamber wall and the other of the first partial segments and the second partial segments include a portion of the heat shield, and no portion of the combustion chamber head, manufactured as one piece with the respective portion of the inner combustion chamber wall or outer combustion chamber wall; welding the first partial segments and the second partial segments to one another to form the gas-turbine combustion chamber.

2. The method of manufacturing the gas-turbine combustion chamber in accordance with claim 1, and further comprising providing the gas-turbine combustion chamber with a U-shaped cross-section.

3. The method of manufacturing the gas-turbine combustion chamber in accordance with claim 2, and further comprising providing a recess in the combustion chamber head for fitting a combustion chamber seal.

4. The method of manufacturing the gas-turbine combustion chamber in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first partial segments include the portion of the combustion chamber head, and not the portion of the heat shield, manufactured as one piece with the outer combustion chamber wall and the second partial segments include the portion of the heat shield, and not the portion of the combustion chamber head, manufactured as one piece with the inner combustion chamber wall.

5. The method of manufacturing the gas-turbine combustion chamber in accordance with claim 1, wherein the second partial segments include the portion of the combustion chamber head, and not the portion of the heat shield, manufactured as one piece with the portion of the inner combustion chamber wall and the first partial segments include the portion of the heat shield, and not the portion of the combustion chamber head, manufactured as one piece with the outer combustion chamber wall.

Description

(1) The present invention is described in the following in light of the accompanying drawing, showing exemplary embodiments. In the drawing,

(2) FIG. 1 shows a gas-turbine engine for using the gas-turbine combustion chamber in accordance with the present invention,

(3) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged, schematized detail sectional view of a combustion chamber in accordance with the state of the art,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a simplified partial sectional view of the head-side end area of a combustion chamber, according to the present invention, in accordance with a further exemplary embodiment,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a view, by analogy with FIG. 3, in an exploded representation,

(6) FIG. 5 shows an enlarged detail view, by analogy with FIGS. 3 and 4, of a modified exemplary embodiment,

(7) FIG. 6 shows a view, by analogy with FIG. 5, of a further exemplary embodiment,

(8) FIG. 7 shows a simplified representation of a further exemplary embodiment of a combustion chamber head with head plate,

(9) FIG. 8 shows a schematic side view of the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 7,

(10) FIG. 9 shows a simplified side view of an exemplary embodiment of a combustion chamber in accordance with the present invention with fully integrated segments with head plate, and

(11) FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of a further design variant.

(12) The gas-turbine engine 110 in accordance with FIG. 1 is a generally represented example of a turbomachine, where the invention can be used. The engine 110 is of conventional design and includes in the flow direction, one behind the other, an air inlet 111, a fan 112 rotating inside a casing, an intermediate-pressure compressor 113, a high-pressure compressor 114, a combustion chamber 115, a high-pressure turbine 116, an intermediate-pressure turbine 117 and a low-pressure turbine 118 as well as an exhaust nozzle 119, all of which being arranged about an engine center axis 101.

(13) The intermediate-pressure compressor 113 and the high-pressure compressor 114 each include several stages, of which each has an arrangement extending in the circumferential direction of fixed and stationary guide vanes 120, generally referred to as stator vanes and projecting radially inwards from the engine casing 121 in an annular flow duct through the compressors 113, 114. The compressors furthermore have an arrangement of compressor rotor blades 122 which project radially outwards from a rotatable drum or disk 125 linked to hubs 126 of the high-pressure turbine 116 or the intermediate-pressure turbine 117, respectively.

(14) The turbine sections 116, 117, 118 have similar stages, including an arrangement of fixed stator vanes 123 projecting radially inwards from the casing 121 into the annular flow duct through the turbines 116, 117, 118, and a subsequent arrangement of turbine blades 124 projecting outwards from a rotatable hub 126. The compressor drum or compressor disk 125 and the blades 122 arranged thereon, as well as the turbine rotor hub 126 and the turbine rotor blades 124 arranged thereon rotate about the engine center axis 101 during operation.

(15) FIG. 2 shows in enlarged schematic representation a sectional view of a gas-turbine combustion chamber 1 in accordance with the state of the art. The combustion chamber includes a heat shield 2 and a combustion chamber head 3, which, like a burner seal 4, are manufactured as separate components. Furthermore, the combustion chamber 1 is provided with a head plate 13, which is also manufactured as a separate component. An outer combustion chamber wall 30 and an inner combustion chamber wall 31 adjoin the head plate 13. The combustion chamber walls 30 and 31 are made as separate parts from formed sheet metal and provided with bored impingement cooling holes. The combustion chamber 1 is suspended by means of a combustion chamber suspension 25 and combustion chamber flanges 26, which are also manufactured as separate parts, usually as forgings, and welded to the combustion chamber walls 30 and 31.

(16) The combustion chamber head 3, the head plate 13 and the heat shield 2 are, as already mentioned, manufactured as separate components, usually by means of a casting process. In subsequent process steps, it is necessary to provide cooling holes. in particular in the heat shield. Air passage holes in the head plate 13 are also usually bored.

(17) For thermal insulation of the and the inner combustion chamber wall 30, 31, tiles 29 are used which are manufactured individually and provided with effusion holes. The effusion holes are usually bored, while the tiles 29 are manufactured as castings. The tiles 29 are bolted by means of bolts 27 and nuts 28 to the outer and the inner combustion chamber wall 30, 31 or fastened in another way. The result is thus that a very complex structure using a plurality of individually manufactured structural elements is obtained. A considerable effort involving high costs is required for both manufacture and final assembly of the combustion chamber, In addition, dimensional inaccuracies of the individual components accumulate. requiring special additional measures to achieve precise dimensioning of the combustion chamber.

(18) FIGS. 3 and 4 show a further design variant in accordance with the present invention. The hot combustion chamber wall 6 is here designed in one piece with the cold combustion chamber wall 7, where, as can be seen from FIG. 4 in particular, there is a division of the combustion chamber walls symmetrically to a combustion chamber center line 42. The combustion chamber head 3 is designed non-divided and is manufactured in one piece with the upper double-wall combustion chamber wall, while the heat shield 2 and the head plate 13 are designed in one piece with the lower double-wall combustion chamber wall. FIG. 4 shows that a spacer ring 36, the burner seal 4 and a fastening ring 37 for said burner seal 4 are fitted during assembly. Fastening is achieved using bolts 38 and threaded bolts 39. The bolt 38 is screwed into a thread 41 of the head plate 13, while the threaded bolt 39 is fixed using a nut 40, as is shown by the illustration in FIG. 3. The reference numeral 35 indicates a fuel nozzle.

(19) It is also possible in accordance with the invention to invert the structure shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, so that the lower combustion chamber wall includes the combustion chamber head 3, while the upper combustion chamber includes the head plate 13 and the heat shield 2. In both cases. it is necessary, as can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4, for the base plate 13 and the burner seal 4 to be fitted together with the spacer ring 36 and the fastening ring 37 before final assembly takes place.

(20) FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of a further design variant, in which the burner seal 4 is designed L-shaped and fastened by means of a receptacle 43 to the heat shield 2.

(21) FIG. 6 shows in an analogous illustration an alternative receptacle for the burner seal 4 in a double-L shape. There are hence in accordance with the invention a wide range of possible variations and modifications for mounting and fitting the burner seal.

(22) FIG. 10 shows the basic principle underlying FIGS. 5 and 6, whereby the combustion chamber segments or the entire annular combustion chamber are divided along the burner center line 42. As can already be seen from FIGS. 5 and 6, the combustion chamber head 3 is here divided centrally in the same way as the base plate 13. The heat shield 2 too can be designed in halves as an integral component. It can clearly be seen from FIG. 10 in particular that the embodiments in accordance with the invention of the combustion chamber forms are designed to be particularly favourable for an additive manufacturing method, for example a DLD method. Due to this halved design of the combustion chamber head 3 and of the heat shield 2 it is possible to insert the burner seal 4, before joining together the upper and the lower half of the combustion chamber wall, into the lower half in a suitable burner seal receptacle 43 integrated into the head plate and then to fit the upper half of the combustion chamber, as is shown for example in FIG. 5. Alternatively, it is also possible, by analogy with FIG. 4, to install a fastening ring 37 and a spacer ring 36 above an access hole 45 (see FIG. 7) in the combustion chamber head 3. The two halves of the combustion chamber are then fitted together in a suitable manner and joined, for example by welding. Alternatively, it is also possible by means of a separate head plate 44 to bolt the parts together. To do so, a plurality of threaded holes are provided on the combustion chamber head 3 for bolting the head plate 44, as is illustrated in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 shows the head plate 44 as a separate part. The center portion of FIG. 7 shows the two halves of the combustion chamber head 3 in the pre-assembled state while the lower portion of FIG. 7 shows the bolted head plate 44.

(23) Alternatively to the design variants described, it is also possible to have the separation not on the combustion chamber center line 42, but at any other point.

(24) FIG. 8 shows the assembled state, making clear in particular the threaded holes 41 and the bolts 38 by which the head plate 44 is held on the combustion chamber head 3.

(25) FIG. 9 again shows an overall view of an exemplary embodiment of the combustion chamber in accordance with the invention, taking into account the exemplary embodiments in FIGS. 5 to 8.

(26) Overall, the combustion chamber in accordance with the invention is manufactured such that with a segmented design the segments are welded to form a complete ring, for example by means of laser welding. The combustion chamber suspension 25 and the combustion chamber flange 26 (see FIG. 9) can be produced with an oversize, also by an additive method (for example DLD) and then be turned or milled down to the final geometry. The holes in the flanges for the bolted connection to the casings are bored subsequently, but can however also be produced by the additive method.

(27) Using the additive production method, the cooling holes can have any hole and duct shapes and sizes, for example round, elliptical, rhomboidal or duct-like, where the alignment with the wall can be designed perpendicular or at any inclination. It is also possible to achieve helical or other geometries. As a result an effective air supply. in particular for cooling, can be assured. The position and the number of the admixing holes 5 can also be selected as required, for example in several rows, offset relative to one another, with differing sizes or in any other embodiment.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

(28) 1 Combustion chamber 2 Heat shield 3 Combustion chamber head 4 Burner seal 5 Admixing hole 6 Hot, inner combustion chamber wall 7 Cold, outer combustion chamber wall 13 Head plate 25 Combustion chamber suspension 26 Combustion chamber flange 27 Bolt 28 Nut 29 Tile 30 Outer combustion chamber wall 31 Inner combustion chamber wail 35 Fuel nozzle 36 Spacer ring 37 Fastening ring 38 Bolt 39 Threaded bolt 40 Nut 41 Threaded hole 42 Combustion chamber center line 43 Receptacle 44 Head plate 45 Access hole to burner head 101 Engine center axis 110 Gas-turbine engine/core engine 111 Air inlet 112 Fan 113 Intermediate-pressure compressor (compressor) 114 High-pressure compressor 115 Combustion chamber 116 High-pressure turbine 117 Intermediate-pressure turbine 118 Low-pressure turbine 119 Exhaust nozzle 120 Guide vanes 121 Engine casing 122 Compressor rotor blades 123 Stator vanes 124 Turbine blades 125 Compressor drum or disk 126 Turbine rotor hub 127 Exhaust cone