General Electric Patent Grants

Turbomachine and method of assembly

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11661851
A turbomachine includes an annular casing and a fan disposed inside the annular casing and mounted for rotation about an axial centerline. The fan includes fan blades that extend radially outwardly toward the annular casing. The fan has an average chord fan width according to a first performance factor. The fan has a quantity of fan blades according to a second performance factor.

Power electronics assembly having a potted high voltage attenuator card for a wind turbine

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11664715
A power electronics assembly for a power generation system includes a housing and an attenuator card positioned within the housing. The attenuator card may include at least one printed circuit board for a high-voltage attenuator circuit. The power electronics assembly also includes a potting material at least partially filling the housing on one or more sides of the attenuator card, a detachable end cap positioned at a first end of the housing, and multi-phase wiring communicatively…

Wireless communication systems and methods for intelligent electronic devices

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11662760
The embodiments described herein provide a system including an intelligent electronic device (IED) comprising a first processor configured to communicate control commands to power equipment, receive measurements from the power equipment, use a secure wireless system to send data to an access point, wherein the data includes the measurements, and use the secure system to communicate with a management device, via the access point, to receive configuration information, command information,…

Heat exchanger having curved fluid passages for a gas turbine engine

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11662150
A heat exchanger for a gas turbine engine includes a heat exchanger body having a first surface and a second surface oriented at least partially at an oblique angle relative to the first surface. The heat exchanger body defines a plenum extending between the first and second surfaces. Furthermore, the heat exchanger body defines a fluid passage extending through the second surface such that the fluid passage is in fluid communication with the plenum. The fluid passage, in turn, includes…

Combustor swirler to pseudo-dome attachment and interface with a CMC dome

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11662096
A combustor for a gas turbine includes a cowl structure, a pseudo-dome structure, a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) dome, and a swirler assembly. The swirler assembly is connected to the pseudo-dome structure, which is connected to the cowl structure, and the CMC dome is separately connected to the cowl structure apart from the swirler assembly. The swirler assembly includes a swirler dome interface wall that interfaces with the CMC dome on an upstream side of the CMC dome, and a swirler…

Odometer-based control of a wind turbine power system

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11661919
A method for controlling a wind turbine connected to an electrical grid includes receiving, via a controller, a state estimate of the wind turbine. The method also includes determining, via the controller, a current condition of the wind turbine using, at least, the state estimate, the current condition defining a set of condition parameters of the wind turbine. Further, the method includes receiving, via the controller, a control function from a supervisory controller, the control…

Autonomous safety mode for distributed control of turbomachines

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11661895
A distributed control system for a turbomachine and method of operating the distributed control system are provided. In one aspect, a distributed control system includes a central controller and a distributed controller communicatively coupled thereto. The distributed controller has one or more associated local actuators and one or more associated local sensors. The actuators and the sensors are communicatively coupled with the distributed controller. If a communication link between the…

Surface with shape memory alloy particles

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11661891
A component susceptible to the formation of deposits, such as a component of a hydrocarbon system in a gas turbine engine. The component includes a substrate having a surface susceptible to the formation of a deposit thereon. A shape memory alloy coating is formed on the surface of the substrate. The shape memory alloy coating is a plurality of particles formed on the surface, and each particle of the plurality of particles is formed from a shape memory alloy.

Air turbine starter

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11661863
An air turbine starter that includes a housing. The housing can circumscribe a turbine coupled that is coupled to a gear train in a gear box via a drive shaft. The gear train can couple to an output shaft via at least a carrier. The air turbine starter can include at least a first bearing assembly and a second bearing assembly to rotatably support one or more of the drive shaft, the carrier, or the output shaft.

Method for operating a turbo machine

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11661859
A system and method for determining performance of an engine is provided. The system includes two or more sensors configured in operable arrangement at two or more respective positions at a flowpath. The system includes one or more computing devices configured to perform operations, the operations include acquiring, via the two or more sensors, parameter sets each corresponding to two or more engine conditions different from one another, wherein each parameter set indicates a health…

Dual phase magnetic material component and method of its formation

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11661646
A dual phase magnetic component, along with methods of its formation, is provided. The dual phase magnetic component may include an intermixed first region and second region formed from a single material, with the first region having a magnetic area and a diffused metal therein, and with the second region having a non-magnetic area. The second region generally has greater than 0.1 weight % of nitrogen.

Apparatus and method for direct writing of single crystal super alloys and metals

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11661644
Methods for direct writing of single crystal super alloys and metals are provided. The method can include: heating a substrate positioned on a base plate to a predetermined temperature using a first heater; using a laser to form a melt pool on a surface of the substrate; introducing a superalloy powder to the melt pool; measuring the temperature of the melt pool; receiving the temperature measured at a controller; and using an auxiliary heat source in communication with the controller to…

High-throughput testing system and method for additive manufacturing

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11660818
A method of testing a multi-specimen additive manufacturing build plate includes acquiring and installing the multi-specimen build plate in a test system, aligning one or more force exertion tools with respective selected specimens, imparting a force on the selected specimen(s), collecting test data from each selected specimen, and analyzing the collected data to identify a potential correlation between material behavior for the selected specimen and its applied manufacturing build…

Additively manufactured object using mask over opening for coating

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11660673
An additively manufactured (AM) object may include a body including an opening in an exterior surface thereof, the opening having a shape and a first area at the exterior surface of the body. A mask may be positioned over the opening. The mask has the shape of the opening and a second area that is larger than the first area so as to overhang the exterior surface of the body about the opening. A plurality of support ligaments couple to the mask and the exterior surface of the body at a…

Hybrid-additive gear for a wind turbine gearbox

Granted: May 30, 2023
Patent Number: 11660671
A method for manufacturing a planet gear or a sun gear of a gearbox of a wind turbine includes forming a base of the planet gear via at least one of casting or forging. The base of the planet gear includes an inner circumferential surface and an outer circumferential surface. Therefore, at least one of the inner circumferential surface or the outer circumferential surface of the planet gear includes a plurality of net or near-net gear teeth. The method also includes applying a coating…

Method for forming high quality powder for an additive manufacturing process

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11654483
A powder treatment assembly and method for treating a feedstock powder of feedstock particles includes directing the feedstock powder into a plasma chamber within a reactor, exposing the feedstock powder to a plasma field generated by a plasma source to form a treated powder having treated particles with an increased average sphericity relative to the feedstock particles, and supplying a hot gas sheath flow downstream of the plasma chamber, the hot gas sheath flow substantially…

Heat exchanger with inner sensor grid and restraints for sensor wires and heat exchange tubes

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11655737
A heat exchanger includes a sensor grid with sensor leads extending through tube restraints for heat exchange tubes in the heat exchanger. The tube restraint includes a body having a plurality of tube openings defined therein with each tube opening receiving one heat exchange tube of the set of heat exchange tubes therethrough. The body also includes a sensor lead opening defined therein to receive a sensor lead therethrough. Each tube opening has a larger dimension than the sensor lead…

Battery integrated isolated power converter and systems for electric vehicle propulsion

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11655042
An electric propulsion system includes at least one generator. The electric propulsion system also includes at least one drive engine coupled to the at least one generator. The electric propulsion system further includes at least one electrical device. The electric propulsion system also includes at least one battery integrated isolated power converter (BIIC), where the at least one generator and at least one of the at least one BIIC and the at least one electrical device are coupled,…

Robotic activity decomposition

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11654566
Provided are systems and methods for decomposing learned robotic activities into smaller sub-activities that can be used independently. In one example, a method may include storing simulation data comprising an activity of a robot during a training simulation performed via a robotic simulator, decompose the activity into a plurality of sub-activities that are performed by the robot during the training simulation based on changes in behavior of the robot identified within the simulation…

Extension tool

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11654547
An extension tool has a proximal end and a distal end and comprises a plurality of sequentially arranged links moveable relative to one another and a support member defining the distal end and including a first wheel disposed at the distal end and a second wheel spaced apart from the first wheel. Additionally, or alternatively, an extension tool may comprise a plurality of windows defined in the plurality of sequentially arranged links. The windows are defined periodically along the…