The axial-flow turbine with an axially forwardly removable inlet guide vanes

摘要

879,337. Turbine and compressor stator vane assemblies. UNITED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION. Aug. 18, .1958 [Aug. 16, 1957], No. 26510/58. Class 110 (3). A stator vane unit for turbines and compressors has a first vane end support comprising a radially opening channel in a casing, a second vane end support comprising two rings movable axially relative to each other and shaped to form a radially opening channel opposed to and aligned with the first channel, means removable from one side of the unit for connecting the rings, and circumferentially spaced stator vanes extending into and radially between the channels, the channels being spaced apart sufficiently to permit each vane to be moved radially clear of the first channel after the connecting means and one of the rings have been removed. As shown in Fig. 1, a stator unit 10 comprises a vane outer support 22 and a vane inner support 24. The vane outer support 22 is supported by, and may be integral with, a one-piece casing 26 and consists of a channel-shaped ring 28. To circumferentially position the vanes, axially directed rivets 95 project from a flange 30 of the channel 28 into apertures 94 of vane outer platforms 102. Connected at 52 to the vane support 22 is an anti-erosion and thrust strip 48 of hard material cooled by cooling gases flowing through a passage 54. A vane inner support 24 comprises two support rings 56 and 58 which are joined by connecting means 64 (in the form of nuts 66 and screws 68) on the upstream side of the unit. Support ring 56 includes an annular duct 70 and a flange 72 with an anti-erosion and thrust ring 74 attached to flange 72 by rivets. Support ring 58 comprises an axially extending flange 75 with a projection 78 which bears against the support ring 56, and a radially extending flange 73 which carries rivets 86 engaging slots 92 in the vane inner platforms 100. The vanes are positioned radially by a lug 104 on the inner platform engaging a lip 82 on the flange 73. After the combustion chamber 40 and the connecting means 64 have been removed, the support ring 58 can be moved axially upstream and the inner ends of the vanes freed. The clearance distance R 2 being greater than the clearance distance R 3 the vanes can be moved radially inwardly to clear flange 30 which then permits removal of the blades individually from the upstream side.