General Electric Patent Grants

Rotating detonation combustor with discrete detonation annuli

Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number: 12292198
The present disclosure is directed to a rotating detonation combustor that includes a forward wall, a radially inner wall, and a radially outer wall. The forward wall is disposed at an inlet end of the rotating detonation combustor. The radially inner wall surrounds a longitudinal axis and extends downstream from the forward wall to an outlet end of the rotating detonation combustor. The radially outer wall extends downstream from the forward wall to the outlet end and surrounds the…

System and method for detecting and responding to failures in a drivetrain of a wind turbine

Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number: 12292031
A method for detecting and responding to a failure in a drivetrain of a wind turbine includes estimating a first rotational speed signal at a first location along the drivetrain via one or more rate gyroscopes mounted in a hub, the first rotational speed signal being a proxy for rotor speed of a rotor. The method also includes processing the first rotational speed signal to account for a bias in the first rotational speed signal due to use of the rate gyroscope(s). Further, the method…

Gas turbine engine with acoustic spacing of the fan blades and outlet guide vanes

Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number: 12292017
A gas turbine engine comprises a fan, a core turbine engine coupled to the fan, a fan case housing the fan and the core turbine engine, a plurality of outlet guide vanes extending between the core turbine engine and the fan case, and an acoustic spacing. The fan comprises a plurality of fan blades that define a fan diameter and a BEAL. The fan case comprises an inlet and an inlet length between the inlet and the fan. The acoustic spacing comprises a distance between the fan and the…

Inleakage management apparatus

Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number: 12292003
A leakage management assembly for an orifice configured to limit a flow of at least one of a leakage fluid and a cooling fluid past an instrument positioned within the orifice are provided. The leakage management assembly includes a labyrinth ferrule including an annular ferrule body having a central bore extending therethrough. The labyrinth ferrule further includes an annular assembly cone formed at a first end of the labyrinth ferrule. The annular assembly cone includes an annular…

Thermal management systems having an oil tank comprising solid-solid phase change material for gas turbine engines

Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number: 12292000
A thermal management system for a gas turbine engine includes an oil tank, a pump in fluid communication with the oil tank configured to generate a flow of oil from the oil tank, at least one heat exchanger downstream of the oil tank, and one or more thermal loads downstream of the at least one heat exchanger. The oil tank is formed from a solid-solid phase change material.

Variable area turbine nozzle assembly

Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number: 12291997
A variable area turbine nozzle assembly includes a guide vane including an outer centering pin defining a tab. An inner support ring is spaced radially outward from the guide vane and defines an opening and a protrusion. The protrusion is configured to engage with the tab of the outer centering pin. An outer support ring extends circumferentially around the inner support ring and defines an aperture. The outer support ring has a second coefficient of thermal expansion that is greater…

Turbine engine and turbine nozzle

Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number: 12291979
A turbine engine includes a core having a fan section, a compressor section, combustion section, and turbine section in serial flow arrangement and defining an engine centerline. The turbine section has a set of turbine stages, having paired sets of non-rotating, circumferentially spaced vanes defining a respective nozzle, and rotating circumferentially spaced blades. A first stage turbine nozzle has a solidity that is a ratio of an axial chord length of the turbine vanes to the…

Turbine engine having an airfoil assembly with a trunnion and a spar

Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number: 12291974
A turbine engine including a fan section, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section, and an airfoil assembly. The airfoil assembly comprising a spar, a trunnion and a stress relief. The trunnion having an upper edge with an open top, and a socket extending from the open top. The spar extending through the open top and into the socket. A junction being formed between the spar and a portion of the upper edge defining the open top.

Method and systems for increasing transmit power during an ultrasound scan

Granted: May 6, 2025
Patent Number: 12290409
Various methods and systems are provided for ultrasound imaging. In one embodiment, a method comprises, during an ultrasound scan, acquiring a series of ultrasound frames with a first transmit power, receiving a command to pause the ultrasound scan, and acquiring at least one ultrasound frame with a second transmit power higher than the first transmit power responsive to receiving the command. In this way, the image quality of an image displayed while a scan is paused may be increased.

Combustor with dilution openings

Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number: 12287094
A gas turbine engine including a compressor section and a combustion section in serial flow arrangement along an engine centerline, the combustion section having a combustor liner, a dome wall coupled to the combustor liner, and a dome inlet located in the dome wall, a fuel injector fluidly coupled to the dome inlet, a combustion chamber fluidly coupled to the fuel injector and defined at least in part by the combustor liner and the dome wall, and at least one set of dilution openings…

System and method for a thermoregulated environment

Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number: 12285366
Various systems and devices are provided for determining a weaning readiness for weaning a patient from a thermoregulated microenvironment. In one example, a method includes receiving current patient parameters of the patient and applying a weaning model to the current patient parameters to calculate a weaning index representing a likelihood that the patient can be successfully weaned from the microenvironment. The method also includes outputting the weaning index for display on a…

Reverse thrust turbofan engine

Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number: 12286941
A turbofan engine may include a variable pitch fan rotatable about an axis and operable in a forward thrust mode by generating flow opposite a direction of travel and in a reverse thrust mode by generating flow in the direction of travel. In reverse thrust mode, a nacelle assembly defines an intermediate opening disposed aft of the variable pitch fan. A flow guide assembly is configured to guide a first fluid flow opposite the direction of travel within a bypass passage from a forward…

Turbine engine combustor including a heat shield

Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number: 12286932
A combustor of a turbine engine has a combustion chamber for combusting fuel and air, generating heat. A fuel nozzle-mixer assembly mixes and injects fuel and air into the combustion chamber for combustion. The assembly has a heat shield at an aft end for shielding the assembly from the heat. A centerbody outer shell defines a cooling air flow cavity. A cooling air flow gap is defined between the centerbody outer shell and the heat shield. The centerbody outer shell has cooling air exit…

Vehicle with energy conversion system

Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number: 12286927
A method for energy conversion for a vehicle is provided. The method including extracting a flow of compressed fluid from a compressor section of a propulsion system; flowing the flow of compressed fluid to a turbine operably coupled to a driveshaft, in which the driveshaft is operably coupled to a load device; expanding the flow of compressed fluid through the turbine to generate an output torque at the driveshaft to operate the load device; and flowing the expanded flow of compressed…

Turbine engine including a composite airfoil assembly having a dovetail portion

Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number: 12286903
A turbine engine having a disk and a composite airfoil assembly. The disk having a slot. The composite airfoil assembly having an airfoil portion, a dovetail portion, and a roll snubber. The dovetail portion having a radially inner surface. The roll snubber being provided on the radially inner surface. The radially inner surface spaced from the slot to define a gap therebetween.

Turbomachine cooling trench

Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number: 12286902
A component for a turbine engine includes a body with an exterior surface abutting a combustion flowpath for a combustion gas flow through the turbine engine, a cooling passage defined within the body, and a trench on the exterior surface. The trench includes a plurality of outlets, and a plurality of cooling holes extending from the cooling passage to the corresponding plurality of outlets.

Turbine engine component with deflector

Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number: 12286901
An apparatus and method for a turbine engine for can include an engine component. The engine component can include an interior cooling passage at least partially defining a cooling circuit for passing a flow of cooling fluid through the component. Film holes provide for exhausting a portion of the cooling fluid to an exterior of the component, to form a cooling film along an exterior hot surface of the engine component. A deflector can be position within the cooling passage upstream form…

Methods and apparatus to improve fan operability control using smart materials

Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number: 12286889
Systems, apparatus, articles of manufacture, and methods are disclosed to improve fan operability control using smart materials. An engine comprising an engine surface in an airflow path, a sensor positioned on the engine surface, and a smart-material-based feature positioned on the engine surface, the smart-material-based feature triggered to modify the airflow path when the sensor outputs an indication of a detected deviation from a reference value of an operating parameter of the…

Unducted propulsion system

Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number: 12286212
Apparatuses and systems are provided herein for unducted propulsion systems. The system includes a forward housing for high efficiency for high subsonic sustained flight. A plurality of blades are affixed to the forward housing, wherein the forward housing defines a flowpath curve extending from the forward-most end of the forward housing through the axial extent of a forward blade root. The flowpath curve is described by an axial direction parallel to an axis of rotation and a radius…

Foil interaction device for additive manufacturing

Granted: April 29, 2025
Patent Number: 12285908
An additive manufacturing apparatus includes a support plate and a foil supporting an uncured layer of a resin. A stage is configured to hold a component of one or more cured layers of the resin. One or more actuators is operable to move the stage away from the support plate in a Z-axis direction. A radiant energy device is positioned opposite the stage such that the support plate is positioned between the radiant energy device and the stage. A foil interaction device includes a first…