Combustor Mount

1. Technical Field

This invention relates to gas turbine engines and particularly to attachment means for the engine's combustor.

2. Background Art

As is well known, the annular combustor of the gas turbine engine is fabricated into an annular passageway by a pair of concencentrically mounted liners (inner and outer) that surround the engine's shaft and are spaced from the engine casing. Each liner is generally cylindrically shaped and the liners are joined together by a hood that encloses their front ends. Typically, a liner is primarily supported to the engine case by a plurality of pins attached to or made integral with the engine case and compliment a mount lug that extends from this hood. This type of combustor is exemplified by the engine models 9D and PW2037 manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft of United Technologies Corporation, the assignee of this patent application.

Heretofore, the material used for these component parts used for supporting the liners to the engine case was stellite (which is a cobolt base alloy) which is relatively expensive and considered to be a stratigic material thus susceptible of being difficult to obtain. A less espensive and more easily obtainable material that exhibits sufficient strength to withstand this hostile environment is a nickel base alloy known as INCO 718. However, as is well known, the extreme heating of this material that is occasioned by welding or brazing adversely affects its strength. Additionally, heat treatment after welding or brazing results in distortion of the matting parts which is a condition that is intolerable for this particular application.

To obivate the problems noted above I have found that it is possible to utilize the least expensive material by utilizing a bushing, judiciously designed to frictionally fit the mount pin having a flange on one end and a recess formed in the opposite end fabricated from a hard-faced material or stellite and a complimentary washer fabricated from a nickel base alloy of INCO 600 that together with this flange sandwiches the mount lug.

A feature of this invention is to reduce the cost of the material used in a combustor of a gas turbine engine by replacing the stellite fabricated components by a less costly material and secure the components with a judiciously designed coupling. The coupling includes a bushing having a flange at one end force-fitted into a mount pin and extending through an aperture for receiving a washer that is subsequently welded to the shank of the bushing. The bushing is recessed in proximity to the weld for accommodating shrinkage occasioned in the welding operation. The bushing may be fabricated from stellite material or a hard-faced material that meets the heat and structural requirements, and the washer is fabricated from INCO 600 or other material that meets the high temperature requirements. The design obviates the heat treat process that was used in heretofore configurations.

Other features and advantages will be apparent from the specification and claims and from the accompanying drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a partial view partly in schematic and partly in section showing the liner supportive to the engine's case, and

FIG. 2 is a partial enlarged view in section and phantom showing the details of this invention.

While in its preferred embodiment this invention is utilized to secure the annular burner of a gas turbine engine of the type manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft of United Technologies Corporation and for example has been utilized in the PW2037 engine, it is to be understood that the invention has utility for other types of engines. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mount pin 10 is secured to the engine casing 12 at the boss 14 by suitable threading arrangement. The mount lug 15 which may be fabricated from a nickel base alloy such as Inco 718 is integral with the hood 16 of the combustor liners (inner and outer) 18 and 20. In accordance with this invention the bushing 22 which may be fabricated from a cobalt base alloy such as stellite is force-fitted or frictionally retained onto the end of mount pin 10 and extends through opening 24 formed in the mount lug 15. A flange 26 on the bushing 22 extends beyond the opening 24 and its inner face bears against the surface of mount lug 15. A washer 30 fabricated from a nickel base alloy such as Inco 600 fits over the mount pin 10 on the opposite side of the mount lug 15 and extends so that its inner surface bears against the surface of mount lug 15. The washer which is a looser fit than the bushing 22 may be tack welded into place as shown by weldment 29.

As noted from the sole FIGURE, the bushing 22 is recessed or undercast at 34 adjacent the washer 30 so that in the tack weld operation the heat is dissipated through the now thinner walls and prevents distortion of the bushing and the heretofore necessary refinishing operation is eliminated.

It should be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments shown and described herein, but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this novel concept as defined by the following claims.