Abstract: A blade in the fan wheel of a diagonal-flow fan, which blade should ideally have the contoured shape of a twisted double-curvature or undevelopable surface, is formed from a portion of a plate which has a flat planar surface. To develope the flat blade shape from a planar surface, lines of intersection between a plate and the streamsurfaces in the ideal fan wheel, which are represented by a number of coaxial imaginary conical surfaces, are used as a basis for design. The realized flat blade can then be orientated between the frustoconical main and side plates to form a diagonal-flow path similar in performance to the ideal blade of a twisted double-curvature surface.

Abstract: This disclosure is directed to a flexible fluid conduit means for directing fluid from a pressure source to a propeller of a ship for minimizing cavitation. The conduit is formed of split annular rings adapted to be mounted over a propeller shaft, the rings being interconnected to form passages for directing air pressure from the A-bracket through relative rotating seal members and into the body of the propeller. The disclosed interconnection of the annular rings permits substantial axial and bending movement of the propeller shaft without loss of air. Being submersed, the conduit is hydraulically balanced such that the force of water pressure tending to open the seal members is always less than the force tending to close the seal members.

Abstract: An aerofoil blade for a gas turbine engine is in the form of a heat pipe. The aerofoil blade has an internal passageway adapted to contain a secondary structure and to thermally insulate that secondary structure from the remainder of the aerofoil blade by, for instance, the provision of a cooling air passage between the internal passageway and secondary structure.

Abstract: There is provided an axial fan having a fan wheel with settable blades, each blade being rotatably mounted at its root end about an axis which extends substantially radially relative to the fan wheel, and carries a setting arm which projects radially outwardly relative to the blade axis, said arm being connected via a movement-transmission arm to a setting device which is common to all said blades and which is displaceably mounted on the fan wheel for movement in the axial direction thereof to change the blade angle. The setting device is also rotatable coaxially in relation to the fan wheel, and each movement-transmission arm is rigidly connected at one end thereof to the setting device. The other end of the movement-transmission arm is mounted in the associated setting arm for both axial and universal movement.

Abstract: A turbine assembly is provided by which a variable area turbine vane may be cantilever mounted from an outer structural frame and further supported by an inner structural frame. The vane includes an inner trunnion about which is installed an inner band sector to partially define a flow path through the turbine. The band sector is provided with a hole which receives the trunnion. Once the vane is cantilevered from the outer frame and the band sector installed, an inner annular frame is slid under the vane trunnion to align a hole in the frame with the trunnion. A generally cylindrical trunnion extension is inserted through the frame hole and over the end of the trunnion, and then attached to the trunnion through a bolted connection. The extension is journaled for rotation within the inner structural frame hole. Passageways are provided to route cooling air from the vane into the structural frame to provide cooling of the band sector.

Abstract: An integrally cast structural cooling air manifold for a gas turbine engine being of generally annular shape and having two concentric thin walls defining a plenum therebetween. Each of the walls is provided with embossments through which aligned radial holes are bored to furnish support for a stage of rotatable vane trunnions. A series of circumferentially spaced inlet ports on the outer wall distribute cooling air into the plenum, from which it is routed to the vane airfoil portions to perform cooling functions by means of passages which commumnicate with the plenum via openings in the vane trunnions. Thus, the manifold performs the dual functions of distributing coolant to the vanes and supporting the vane trunnions in the manner of a turbine frame.

Abstract: An improvement to a marine propeller in which engine exhaust gases are discharged through the hub consists of an extension formed with inwardly projecting helical fins. The extension is adapted for mounting on the propeller distal of the shaft end of the hub.

Abstract: An improved cooling system for a gas turbine is disclosed. A plurality of V-shaped notch weirs are utilized to meter a coolant liquid from a pool of coolant into a plurality of platform and air foil coolant channels formed in the buckets of the turbine. The V-shaped notch weirs serve to desensitize the flow of coolant into the individual platform and air foil coolant channels to design tolerances and non-uniform flow distribution.

Abstract: An improved blade retainer for locking radially projecting blades on a rotor includes an elastic spacer sized to be inserted into a radial space between the blade tang and the bottom of the rotor slot in a generally undeformed state without deformation of the tang or slot. The spacer is provided with a first arcuate surface which abuts the tang and a second arcuate surface which, in one embodiment, abuts the bottom of the rotor slot when the spacer is deformed, thereby exerting an outwardly directed load on the tang. The spacer is fixed against axial movement relative to the blades by means of a forward end lug which is in confronting and overlapping relationship with an end face on the blade tang when the spacer is deformed. Blocker means are insertable between the spacer and the bottom of the slot to retain the spacer in a deformed state and thereby bias the blade radially outwardly.

Abstract: In a turbine rotor assembly wherein ceramic blades are secured to slots provided in the periphery of a metallic rotor disc, a metallic jacket is interposed between each blade root and disc slot, and ceramic potting material is, in turn, interposed between the metallic jacket and the ceramic blade root. The metallic jacket also includes locking means to prevent upstream or downstream axial movement of the blade in the disc slot, with the resulting assembly effectively isolating the ceramic root from high localized loads and permitting a more uniform stress distribution on the critical root load bearing surfaces.

Abstract: A blade is disclosed having an upper airfoil configuration and a lower platform with a root constructed with conventional fir-tree design. The forward part of the blade is formed of radial wafers wherein desired configurations of cooling passageways can be formed on mating surfaces of the wafers so that bonding of these wafers together forms intricate internal passageways. Film cooling is shown on the pressure side of the blade, while convection cooling and some film cooling is shown on the suction side. The radial wafers of the forward part are open at the center thereof to provide a cavity in a finished blade for a cooling fluid to flow from an opening in the root thereof to the internal passageways. The cavity extends to the top of the blade and is covered by a tip cap. The cap extends over the side wafers of the rearward part. The rearward part of the blade is formed of side wafers with one forming the suction side of the blade, while the other forms the pressure side of the blade.

Abstract: The fan rotor has an axial passage for a stationary shaft, one end of which is secured to the housing. The other end is covered by a plug for sealing-off the axial passage near the impeller hub. An external cover-plate of heat-conducting material is placed over the plug and applied in good thermal contact with the annular end portion of the rotor which is associated with the impeller.

Abstract: A device for turning the rotor of a gas turbine engine for purposes of inspection has a tubular rod projecting through the casing of the engine into proximity with rotor blades of the engine. The rod has a nozzle directing a jet of air onto the blades to turn the rotor. The rod is movable axially so that when it is desired to stop the rotor the free end of the rotor engages an annular surface of the rotor to exert a braking force thereon. The rod moves under the action of a spring. Air to the nozzle is supplied through a hand-operated valve and the air supply is taken through a cylinder having a piston connected to the rod. The arrangement is such that when the valve is opened to feed the nozzle and turn the rotor, the air pressure moved the piston in the sense of retracting the rod from the braking position.

Abstract: An improved windage shield is provided for use with turbomachinery members partially defining an internal flow path wherein the members are connected by a fastener which protrudes beyond one of the members. The windage shield comprises a portion which is captured between the fastener and one of the members and a cylindrical section which extends downstream of the members to form a smooth cover for isolating the members from the internal fluid flow. The protruding fastener end is recessed into, and generally flush with, the captured portion of the windage shield.

Abstract: A device to secure and insure the tightness of vanes of a turbine is an alar plate which carries on the side toward its external edge a plurality of studs and toward its internal edge a plurality of hangers. The disk of the rotor has on its lower edge a series of teeth or indentations, the top of the teeth having a configuration to cooperate with the inner surface of the hangers. The vanes have on their rims a plurality of grooves. Two adjacent vanes form a groove into which the studs enter when the hangers cooperate with the teeth. The studs are borne by tongues cut radially into the annular plate.

Abstract: A gas turbine engine comprising a number of annular wall sectors which form a complete circular wall defining a hot gas passage is provided with a cooling system incorporating a plurality of hollow impingement vessels disposed in a circular array within an annular chamber behind the wall. Cooling fluid is routed to the self-contained impingement pressure vessels which are provided with perforations to disperse the cooling fluid into impingement upon the wall. Unlike prior systems, the impingement vessels are not physically attached to the band but, rather, are supported by a structural frame which partially defines the annular chamber and, in the preferred embodiment, also supports the wall sectors. Since the impingement vessel, and not the backside of the wall, is the pressure vessel for the pressurized cooling fluid, leakage between adjacent wall sectors is greatly reduced with no loss in cooling effectiveness when compared to conventional cooling systems. Thus, turbine cycle performance is improved.

Abstract: An arrangement is provided for supplying liquid coolant to liquid-cooled turbine buckets of a gas turbine power plant. The buckets have internal coolant passages and the outer rims of turbine discs have coolant channels which communicate coolant from the discs to the passages in the buckets. The forward, intermediate and aft discs with sealing spacers interposed between adjacent discs are mounted on a shaft. The arrangement includes a forward flange, an intermediate flange and an aft flange. The flanges are adjacent to the corresponding discs. The forward and aft flanges, the discs and the spacers have a plurality of aligned axially extending apertures circumferentially disposed about the shaft. Bolts extend through the apertures to secure the discs, spacers and flanges in abutting contact. Each of the interposed spacers cooperates with a corresponding disc to form a circumferentially disposed chamber.

Abstract: A hollow, air-cooled turbine blade of the type having a plurality of ridges and projections extended inwardly from an interior surface of said blade, an insert snugly fitted into a space defined and supported by the ridges and projections and cooling air passages for communicating the space inside the insert with an exterior blade surface, said air passage including a first passage for communicating the space through a space defined between the insert and a wall of the blade with the exterior blade surface and a second air passage for communicating the space within the insert through at least some of the projections directly with the exterior blade surface.

Abstract: A windmill structure in which a combined structure of sails and electrical generator device is pivotally suspended so that the position of the combined structure may be shifted in accordance with the wind velocity.

Abstract: In a blade cooling system for a turbine of a gas turbine engine each blade root is provided with individual pitot receivers which collect a portion of a cooling fluid flow supplied from an annular array of pre-swirl nozzles, which have a circumferentially continuous outlet flow area, and direct said flow into a portion only of the interior of the blade, preferably adjacent the leading edge.