WATER ACTUATED TIP CLEARANCE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR TURBINE ENGINE
An assembly is provided for an aircraft powerplant. This assembly includes a bladed rotor, a shroud and an actuation system. The bladed rotor includes a rotor base and a plurality of rotor blades arranged circumferentially around and connected to the rotor base. The shroud is adjacent tips of the rotor blades. The actuation system includes a water source and an actuator coupled to the shroud. The actuation system is configured to direct a quantity of water from the water source to the actuator to control clearance between the shroud and the tips of the rotor blades.
1 . An assembly for an aircraft powerplant, comprising:
a bladed rotor including a rotor base and a plurality of rotor blades arranged circumferentially around and connected to the rotor base, each rotor blade of the plurality of rotor blades having a respective tip;
a shroud adjacent tips the respective tip of each of the plurality of rotor blades; and
an actuation system including a water source and an actuator coupled to the shroud, the actuation system configured to direct a quantity of water from the water source to the actuator to control clearance between the shroud and the tips respective tip of each of the plurality of rotor blades.
2 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the bladed rotor comprises a radial flow rotor.
3 . The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
an engine core including a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section; and
a flowpath extending through the compressor section, the combustor section and the turbine section from an inlet into the flowpath to an exhaust from the flowpath, and the flowpath further extending across the bladed rotor.
4 . The assembly of claim 3 , wherein the compressor section includes the bladed rotor and the shroud.
5 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the water source comprises a water reservoir.
6 . The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
an engine core including a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section;
a recovery system comprising a condenser and configured as the water source; and
a flowpath extending through the compressor section, the combustor section, the turbine section and the condenser from an inlet into the flowpath to an exhaust from the flowpath;
the recovery system configured to condense gaseous water flowing within the flowpath into liquid water using the condenser, and the recovery system configured to direct at least some of the liquid water to the actuator as the quantity of water.
7 . The assembly of claim 6 , wherein the recovery system is further configured to provide a second quantity of the liquid water to the engine core.
8 . The assembly of claim 6 , wherein
the recovery system further comprises an evaporator;
the recovery system is configured to evaporate some of the liquid water into steam; and
the recovery system is configured to provide the steam to the engine core.
9 . The assembly of claim 8 , wherein
the flowpath extends through the evaporator; and
the evaporator is arranged fluidly between the turbine section and the exhaust along the flowpath.
10 . The assembly of claim 6 , further comprising a bypass flowpath bypassing the engine core and extending through the condenser.
11 . The assembly of claim 6 , further comprising:
a fuel system comprising a fuel circuit extending through the condenser;
the fuel system configured to deliver fuel through the fuel circuit to the combustor section.
12 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the actuator comprises a hydraulic cylinder.
13 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the actuator comprises a thermal link wetted by the quantity of water.
14 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein
the bladed rotor is rotatable about an axis; and
the actuation system is configured to translate the shroud axially along the axis using the actuator to control the clearance between the shroud and the tips respective tip of each of the plurality of rotor blades.
15 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the actuation system is configured to pivot a section of the shroud using the actuator to control the clearance between the shroud and the tips respective tip of each of the plurality of rotor blades.
16 . The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
a mechanical load; and
a powerplant engine configured to power the mechanical load, the powerplant engine including the bladed rotor and the shroud.
17 . The assembly of claim 16 , further comprising:
a power turbine section configured to drive rotation of a propulsor rotor;
the mechanical load comprising the propulsor rotor.
18 . An assembly for an aircraft powerplant, comprising:
an engine core including a compressor section, a combustor section, a turbine section, a bladed rotor and a shroud;
a flowpath extending through the compressor section, the combustor section and the turbine section, and the flowpath extending along the shroud and across the bladed rotor;
a recovery system configured to recover water from combustion products flowing within the flowpath downstream of the combustor section; and
a tip clearance control system configured to control clearance between the shroud and the bladed rotor using at least some of the water recovered by the recovery system.
19 . The assembly of claim 18 , wherein the tip clearance control system comprises an actuator configured to move the shroud relative to the bladed rotor, and the actuator receives and is actuated by the at least some of the water recovered by the recovery system.
20 . An assembly for an aircraft powerplant, comprising:
a propulsor rotor;
an engine core configured to drive rotation of the propulsor rotor, the engine core including a compressor section, a combustor section, a turbine section, a bladed rotor and a shroud; and
a tip clearance control system configured to control a clearance gap between the shroud and the bladed rotor using water as an actuation fluid.