Granted Patent B2

US 12,366,179 · App. 18/420,862 · Granted Jul 22, 2025

Inventors: Frederick M. Schwarz (Glastonbury, CT); Gabriel L. Suciu (Glastonbury, CT); William K. Ackermann (East Hartford, CT); Daniel Bernard Kupratis (Wallingford, CT); Michael E. McCune (Colchester, CT)

Assignee: RTX CORPORATION

F01D25/164F01D15/12F01D25/162F02C3/107F02C7/06F02C7/20F02C7/36F02K3/06F05D2220/32F05D2240/60F05D2260/40311

Abstract

Claims (45)

1. A gas turbine engine comprising:

propulsor means for providing propulsion;

first compression means for compressing airflow from the propulsor means;

second compression means for compressing airflow from the first compression means;

reduction means for reducing a rotational speed of an output that drives the propulsor means relative to an input;

first expansion means for driving the second compression means in response to expanding airflow from the second compression means;

second expansion means for driving the input of the reduction means in response to expanding airflow from the first expansion means;

wherein the reduction means includes an epicyclic gear system with a gear reduction and a gear reduction ratio of greater than 2.5:1, and the epicyclic gear system is straddle-mounted by first and second bearings on opposite sides of the gear reduction relative to an engine longitudinal axis;

wherein the first expansion means has a first exit area at a first exit point and is rotatable at a first speed, the second expansion means has a second exit area at a second exit point and is rotatable at a second speed, the first speed being greater than twice the second speed;

wherein a first performance quantity is defined as the product of the first speed squared and the first exit area, a second performance quantity is defined as the product of the second speed squared and the second exit area, and a performance ratio of the second performance quantity to the first performance quantity is between 0.8 and 1.5; and

wherein the epicyclic gear system is a planetary gear system including a sun gear, a plurality of intermediate gears surrounding the sun gear, a carrier that supports the plurality of intermediate gears, and a ring gear surrounding the plurality of intermediate gears, wherein the first bearing supports a drive shaft that interconnects the carrier and the propulsor means, the second bearing supports an aft portion of the carrier, the second bearing is axially aligned with the carrier relative to the engine longitudinal axis, and the second bearing is situated along an outer periphery of the carrier.

2. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the first and second compression means include respective pluralities of compression stages, and the first and second expansion means include respective pluralities of expansion stages.

3. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 2 , wherein the performance ratio is between 1.0 and 1.5.

4. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 3 , wherein:

the first compression means includes a greater number of compression stages than a total number of expansion stages of the first expansion means; and

the second expansion means includes at least three, but no more than six, expansion stages.

5. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 2 , wherein the second bearing is axially aft of the first compression means relative to the engine longitudinal axis.

6. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 2 , wherein the propulsor means includes a fan having a plurality of fan blades, and an outer housing surrounds the fan to define a bypass flow path.

7. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the propulsor means includes a low fan pressure ratio of less than 1.45 measured across the plurality of fan blades alone at a cruise condition at 0.8 Mach and 35,000 feet.

8. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 7 , wherein the performance ratio is between 1.0 and 1.5, and the second expansion means drives both the first compression means and the input of the reduction means.

9. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

a frame supporting at least a portion of the drive shaft, the frame defining a frame transverse stiffness and a frame lateral stiffness;

a flexible support at least partially supporting the epicyclic gear system relative to a static structure, the flexible support defining a support transverse stiffness with respect to the frame transverse stiffness and a support lateral stiffness with respect to the frame lateral stiffness; and

wherein the support lateral stiffness is less than 80% of the frame lateral stiffness, and the support transverse stiffness is less than 80% of the frame transverse stiffness.

10. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the input lateral stiffness is less than 20% of the frame lateral stiffness, and the input transverse stiffness is less than 20% of the frame transverse stiffness.

11. A gas turbine engine comprising:

propulsor means for providing propulsion;

first compression means for compressing airflow from the propulsor means, wherein the first compression means includes three compression stages;

second compression means for compressing airflow from the first compression means;

reduction means for reducing a rotational speed of an output that drives the propulsor means relative to an input;

first expansion means for driving the second compression means in response to expanding airflow from the second compression means;

second expansion means for driving the input of the reduction means in response to expanding airflow from the first expansion means;

wherein the reduction means includes an epicyclic gear system with a gear reduction and a gear reduction ratio of greater than 2.5:1, wherein the epicyclic gear system includes a sun gear, a plurality of intermediate gears surrounding the sun gear, a carrier supporting the intermediate gears, and a ring gear surrounding the intermediate gears, and wherein the gear reduction is positioned between the second expansion means and the first compression means such that the propulsor means and the first compression means are rotatable at a common speed;

a drive shaft interconnecting the epicyclic gear system and the propulsor means, wherein first and second bearings are axially aligned with the drive shaft relative to an engine longitudinal axis, the first and second bearings support a periphery of the drive shaft on opposite sides of the ring gear relative to the engine longitudinal axis, and the second bearing is axially aft of the first compression means relative to the engine longitudinal axis;

wherein the first expansion means has a first exit area at a first exit point and is rotatable at a first speed, the second expansion means has a second exit area at a second exit point and is rotatable at a second speed, the first speed being greater than twice the second speed; and

wherein a first performance quantity is defined as the product of the first speed squared and the first exit area, a second performance quantity is defined as the product of the second speed squared and the second exit area, and a performance ratio of the second performance quantity to the first performance quantity is no more than 1.5.

12. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 11 , wherein the second compression means includes a pluralities of compression stages, and the first and second expansion means include respective pluralities of expansion stages.

13. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 11 , wherein the ring gear is axially aft of the first compression means relative to the engine longitudinal axis.

14. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 11 , wherein the drive shaft interconnects the ring gear and the propulsor means.

15. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 11 , wherein the drive shaft interconnects the carrier and the propulsor means.

16. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the ring gear is attached to an engine static structure through a flexible support that at least partially supports the gear reduction.

17. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 11 , wherein:

the propulsor means includes a fan having a plurality of fan blades, and an outer housing surrounds the fan to define a bypass flow path; and

the propulsor means includes a low fan pressure ratio of less than 1.45 measured across the fan blades alone at a cruise condition at 0.8 Mach and 35,000 feet.

18. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 17 , wherein the performance ratio is no more than 1.0.

Continuity (7)

References Cited (400)