General Electric Patent Grants

Blade with tip rail, cooling

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11655718
An apparatus and method for cooling a blade tip for a turbine engine can include an blade, such as a cooled turbine blade, having a tip rail extending beyond a tip wall enclosing an interior for the blade at the tip. A plurality of film-holes can be provided in the tip rail. A flow of cooling fluid can be provided through the film-holes from the interior of the blade to cool the tip of the blade.

Event analysis in an electric power system

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11657148
According to some embodiments, system and methods are provided including receiving, via a communication interface of an event detection and classification module comprising a processor, data from one or more sensors in a system; determining an event occurred based on the received data; applying a coherency similarity process to the received data via a classification module; determining whether the event is an actual event or a mal-doer event based on an output of the classification…

Anti-icing systems and airfoils for a fan section of a turbine engine

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11655828
An airfoil for a fan section of a turbine engine may include a fan blade or an outlet guide vane, and an edge guard attached thereto. The edge guard may include a heating conduit disposed within at least a portion of the edge guard. An anti-icing system for a plurality of fan blades or outlet guide vanes may include a fluid supply pathway configured to supply heating fluid to respective ones of a plurality of heating conduits within the edge guards attached to respective ones of a…

High fan up speed engine

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11655768
A turbofan engine is provided. The turbofan engine includes a fan comprising a plurality of rotatable fan blades, each fan blade defining a fan tip speed; a turbomachine operably coupled to the fan for driving the fan, the turbomachine comprising a compressor section, a combustion section, and a turbine section in serial flow order and together defining a core air flowpath; and a gear box, wherein the turbomachine is operably coupled to the fan through the gear box, wherein a gear ratio…

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…

Combined cycle power plant with improved efficiency

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11655736
A CCPP includes a gas turbine, a HRSG, a steam turbine a flash tank and first and second supply lines. The gas turbine, the HRSG and the steam turbine are interconnected to generate power. The gas turbine may include an air preheating system to preheat the air supplied in the gas turbine to enable expedite combustion therein. The flash tank is fluidically connected at a cold end of the HRSG to extract waste hot water from the cold end. Further, the first supply line is configured to…

Clearance control of fan blades in a gas turbine engine

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11655724
Clearance control systems with electromagnetic actuators are disclosed. An example electromagnetically-actuated clearance control system for a gas turbine engine comprises an electromagnetic coil coupled to a first end of a facesheet, the electromagnetic coil to generate a magnetic field in response to a connection of a power supply, a ferromagnetic sheet coupled to a second end of the facesheet, the ferromagnetic sheet drawn radially-inward toward the electromagnetic coil when the…

Seal assembly and sealing method

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11655722
Apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to sealing a dynamic gap between a moveable flap and a sidewall. The apparatus may be a seal assembly that includes a spring body, a clip coupled to a distal end of the spring body, and a wear shoe coupled to the clip. The spring body includes a flap arm adjacent the flap and a wall arm adjacent the sidewall. The flap arm and the wall arm bias away from one another when under compression in the gap. A distal end of the wall arm includes…

Methods and materials for repairing a thermal barrier coating of a gas turbine component

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11655720
A sprayable thermal barrier coating powder mixture for a gas turbine engine includes: a dry composition having a low surface area ceramic powder having a median particle size distribution greater than 5 microns and less than 50 microns, and a high surface area ceramic powder having a median particle size distribution smaller than 5 microns, wherein the low surface area ceramic powder makes up at least 50% by weight of the dry composition of the sprayable thermal barrier coating powder…

Airfoil assembly

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11655719
An airfoil assembly for a turbine engine defines an axial direction, a radial direction, and a circumferential direction, and includes a first airfoil defining a first end along the radial direction, a first hub disposed on the first end of the first airfoil and having a first extension member extending at least partially in the radial direction, and a second airfoil adjacent to the first airfoil, the second airfoil defining a first end along the radial direction, a second hub disposed…

Ceramic composites with an intermediate layer having a carbon sink material for high temperature applications

Granted: May 23, 2023
Patent Number: 11655194
Coated components, along with methods of their formation, are provided. The coated component includes a ceramic substrate having a surface; an intermediate layer on the surface of the ceramic substrate; and an environmental barrier coating on the intermediate layer. The intermediate layer includes a carbon-sink material that inhibits accumulation of free carbon from a carbon-containing species within the intermediate layer, the ceramic substrate, or both.

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…

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…

System and method for calibrating an acoustic monitoring system of an additive manufacturing machine

Granted: May 16, 2023
Patent Number: 11648730
A calibration system for an acoustic monitoring system of an additive manufacturing machine includes a calibration platform removably mountable to a build platform of the additive manufacturing machine and one or more calibrated acoustic sources mounted to the calibration platform. The one or more calibrated acoustic sources define a measurement standard when operating.

Engine systems and methods

Granted: May 16, 2023
Patent Number: 11649834
Disclosed examples include a retrofit fan frame assembly, comprising: a leading edge adjustment component coupleable to an airfoil, the leading edge adjustment component of variable chord length, the variable chord length to increase and then decrease along a radial length from a hub end of the airfoil to an opposite tip end of the airfoil; and an attachment mechanism configured to couple the leading edge adjustment component to a leading edge of the airfoil.

Systems and methods for controlling a wind turbine

Granted: May 16, 2023
Patent Number: 11649804
A system and method are provided for controlling a wind turbine of a wind farm. Accordingly, a controller implements a first model to determine a modeled performance parameter for the first wind turbine. The modeled performance parameter is based, at least in part, on an operation of a designated grouping of wind turbines of the plurality of wind turbines, which is exclusive of the first wind turbine. The controller then determines a performance parameter differential for the first wind…

Methods of cleaning a component within a turbine engine

Granted: May 16, 2023
Patent Number: 11649735
A method of cleaning a component within a turbine that includes disassembling the turbine engine to provide a flow path to an interior passageway of the component from an access point. The component has coked hydrocarbons formed thereon. The method further includes discharging a flow of cleaning solution towards the interior passageway from the access point, wherein the cleaning solution is configured to remove the coked hydrocarbons from the component.

Systems and methods of automated film removal

Granted: May 16, 2023
Patent Number: 11648738
A system and method for separating a layer from a layer assembly when the layer assembly includes a backing layer and a material layer. The system includes an automated machine having a controller and an end effector. A separating tool is attached to the end effector of the automated machine. The separating tool includes a displacing member, with an outer face, configured to establish a void between the backing layer and the material layer by displacing a portion of the backing layer.…