General Electric Patent Grants

Gas turbine engine oil flow control system

Granted: April 8, 2025
Patent Number: 12270337
A gas turbine engine oil flow control system can include a variable flow oil pump useful to provide oil at varying rates to a variety of oil consumers, such as, power gearboxes, engine shaft bearings, electrical generators, etc. Oil flow control valves that have an ability to provide a variable flow of oil can be used in conjunction with the variable flow oil pump. Flow sensors can be used along with an oil flow controller to measure a flow of oil at various points in the gas turbine…

Variable flowpath casings for blade tip clearance control

Granted: April 8, 2025
Patent Number: 12270308
Disclosed herein are example variable flowpath casings for blade tip clearance control. An example casing for a turbine engine includes an annular substrate extending along an axial direction, the annular substrate including a first surface and a second surface that is radially inward relative to the first surface; an actuator structure coupled to the second surface of the annular substrate; and a smart structure cantilevered from the second surface of the annular substrate, the smart…

Turbine engine with a floating seal assembly

Granted: April 8, 2025
Patent Number: 12270304
A turbine engine comprising an engine core having a rotor and a stator, and a floating seal assembly sealing at least portions of the rotor and the stator relative to a higher-pressure area and a lower-pressure area. The floating seal assembly can comprise a carriage assembly at least partially defining a seal cavity and a seal body floating within the seal cavity. The floating seal assembly can further include at least one of a seal located between the seal body and the carriage…

Unducted propulsion system

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12264619
Apparatuses and systems are provided herein for unducted propulsion systems. The system includes an aft housing for low drag for high subsonic sustained flight. A plurality of blades are affixed to the aft housing, wherein the housing defines a flowpath curve extending from the axial extent of the aft blade root to the aft end of the aft housing. The flowpath curve is described by an axial direction parallel to an axis of rotation and a radius from the axis of rotation. The flowpath…

Computed tomography scatter and crosstalk correction

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12266036
A control circuit accesses a memory having stored therein total detected computed tomography image signal information in a projection domain for an object, a first model representing object scatter, a second model representing background scatter, and a third model representing detector crosstalk. Prior to a reconstruction step, the control circuit processes the total detected computed tomography image signal information in the projection domain for the object as a function of each of the…

Ultrasonic fuel flow measuring systems and methods

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12264952
A fuel flow measuring system includes an ultrasonic fuel flow sensor. The fuel flow sensor includes a first transducer and a second transducer. The first transducer is excited at multiple different excitation frequencies and a voltage, an electric current, and a phase difference between the voltage and the electric current is sensed at the first transducer during excitation. Data points are generated based on the sensed readings and a model is fit to the data points to determine a…

Ultrasonic fuel flow measuring systems and methods of setting characteristics of excitation signals

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12264951
A fuel flow measuring system includes an ultrasonic fuel flow sensor. The fuel flow sensor includes a first transducer and a second transducer. The first transducer is excited at multiple different excitation frequencies and a voltage, an electric current, and a phase difference between the voltage and the electric current is sensed at the first transducer during excitation. Data points are generated based on the sensed readings and a model is fit to the data points to determine a…

Damping device for damping shaft vibration

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12264690
Damping devices, turbomachines, and methods of damping vibration are provided. For example, a damping device for damping vibration of a shaft rotatable about an axis of rotation is provided. The damping device defines radial and axial directions. The damping device comprises a bearing, a housing, and a damper element. The housing and damper element define a cavity therebetween for receipt of a damping fluid. The cavity has a length along the axial direction that is curved away from the…

System and method for synchrophasing a propulsion system using electric machines

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12264631
A propulsion system includes at least two propulsors. The at least two propulsors each include a fan and a controller having one or more processors configured to implement controller logic. The controller logic includes a phase angle control scheme and a speed control scheme. In implementing the controller logic, the one or more processors are configured to: determine an actual pairwise phase difference between a pair of propulsors of the at least two propulsors; generate a reference…

Heat exchanger for a gas turbine engine

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12264627
A heat exchanger is provided. The heat exchanger includes one or more exchanger units that each have a core and manifolds. The core of an exchanger unit is formed by multiple unit cells coupled together in flow communication to create a flow distribution grid. Each unit cell has at a first primary channel, a second primary channel, a first secondary channel in flow communication with the first primary channel, and a second secondary channel in flow communication with the second primary…

Monolithic composite blade and platform

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12264597
A component for a gas turbine engine. The component includes a continuous fiber blade including an airfoil extending radially between a root and a tip and a blade attachment feature positioned at or adjacent to the root. The component further includes a platform coupled to the root of the continuous fiber blade. The platform includes a plurality of chopped fibers. Additionally, the component includes a thermoplastic polymer contained in both the continuous fiber blade and the platform.…

Component repair system and method

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12264591
A method of repairing a component of a gas turbine engine in situ, wherein the component includes a deposit, includes directing a flow of gas, which may be an oxygen-containing gas, to the deposit of the component; and heating the component including the deposit while the component is installed in the gas turbine engine and for a duration sufficient to substantially remove the deposit.

Fan assembly for an engine having redundant trunnion retention

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12264590
A fan assembly for an engine has a fan blade, a disk having a disk segment, a trunnion mechanism having a trunnion extending at least partially through the disk segment, and first and second attachment systems. The trunnion has a platform and a shaft. The fan blade is adjacent to the platform of the trunnion. The trunnion is attached to the disk segment using the first attachment system along a preload path. The first and second attachment systems further include first and second…

Liquid fluid systems including phase detection sensors for turbine engines

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12264588
A liquid fuel system for a turbine engine may include one or more sensors configured to generate sensor outputs corresponding to one or more phase properties of a fuel supplied to the turbine engine through a fuel pathway, and a controller configured to generate control commands configured to control one or more controllable components of the liquid fuel system based at least in part on the sensor outputs. The one or more sensors may include one or more phase detection sensors. The fuel…

System and method for coating ceramic fiber

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12264110
A system for coating ceramic fibers for use in manufacturing a ceramic matric composite (CMC) article includes a frame having a plurality of frame members arranged so as to create a void therebetween. At least one of frame members includes a hollow body and at least one perforated hole defined in the hollow body. Thus, the ceramic fibers are securable at respective ends of the frame and extend across the void. The frame also includes an inlet in fluid communication with the perforated…

In-process optical based monitoring and control of additive manufacturing processes

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12263636
Systems and methods for optical based monitoring of additive manufacturing processes are provided. In one example a method includes obtaining optical data representing a layer of a structure being manufactured using an additive manufacturing process, comparing the optical data with a standard optical representation associated with the structure, determining one or more nonconformance conditions between the optical data representing the layer and the standard optical representation, and…

Plane selection using localizer images

Granted: April 1, 2025
Patent Number: 12263017
The present disclosure relates to use of a workflow for automatic prescription of different radiological imaging scan planes across different anatomies and modalities. The automated prescription of such imaging scan planes helps ensure contiguous visualization of the different landmark structures. Unlike prior approaches, the disclosed technique determines the necessary planes using the localizer images itself and does not explicitly segment or delineate the landmark structures to…

Seal monitoring apparatus

Granted: March 25, 2025
Patent Number: 12259292
A seal monitoring apparatus is provided. The seal monitoring apparatus includes one or more pressure sensors and a controller in communication with the one or more pressure sensors. The one or more pressure sensors is mounted at a seal of a turbine to measure pressure on a first side of the seal and/or a second side of the seal. The controller is configured to receive pressure data from the one or more pressure sensors and determine a condition of the seal based at least in part on the…

Gas turbine engine and fuel cell assembly

Granted: March 25, 2025
Patent Number: 12261334
A gas turbine engine is provided. The gas turbine engine includes a turbomachine having a compressor section, a combustor, and a turbine section arranged in serial flow order, the turbomachine further including an outer casing; a fuel cell assembly positioned within the outer casing of the turbomachine, the fuel cell assembly including a fuel cell and an output products line in fluid communication with an outlet of the fuel cell for receiving output products from the fuel cell; a fuel…

Potential replacement algorithm selection based on algorithm execution context information

Granted: March 25, 2025
Patent Number: 12259693
According to some embodiments, an available algorithm data store may contain information about a pool of available algorithms. An algorithm selection platform coupled to the available algorithm data store may access the information about the pool of available algorithms and compare the information about each of the pool of available algorithms with at least one requirement associated with the current algorithm executing in the real environment. The algorithm selection platform may then…