Superelastic fluid conduit for a gas turbine engine
A fluid conduit for a gas turbine engine. The conduit includes a superelastic material such as TNTZ or Ti2448. The conduit is installed such that at least part of the conduit is subject to a stress which lies in one of a superelastic and a plastic region of the material in use.
1. A gas turbine engine comprising a fluid conduit comprising:
a superelastic material;
a fuel manifold; and
a plurality of outlets for a plurality of respective fuel injectors of a gas turbine engine combustor, wherein at least part of the fluid conduit is subject to a stress which lies in one of a superelastic and a plastic region of the superelastic material.
2. A gas turbine engine according to claim 1 wherein the superelastic material comprises a titanium superelastic alloy.
3. A gas turbine engine according to claim 2 , wherein the superelastic alloy comprises one of a titanium niobium zirconium tin alloy, a titanium niobium tantalum zirconium alloy, nickel titanium alloy, and a copper aluminium nickel alloy.
4. A gas turbine engine according to claim 1 , wherein connection points of the fluid conduit are configured such that, when installed, at least part of the fluid conduit is subject to a stress which lies in a non-linear Young's modulus region of the fluid conduit.
5. A gas turbine engine according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid conduit comprises unequal lengths of material between outlets.
6. A gas turbine engine according to claim 1 , wherein the stress is one or more of longitudinal, torsional and lateral.
7. A gas turbine engine according to claim 1 , wherein the stress varies along a length of the fluid conduit, such that areas of high vibrational stress in use are configured to be subject to a stress which lies within a hysteresis band of the fluid conduit.