US-12618338-B2 - Bearing with outer sleeve for squeeze film damping

US12618338B2US 12618338 B2US12618338 B2US 12618338B2US-12618338-B2

Abstract

An aircraft engine, has: a shaft rotatable about a central axis; a bearing housing extending around the shaft and defining a bearing cavity; a bearing located within the bearing cavity, the bearing rotatably supporting the shaft, the bearing having rolling members disposed radially between an inner race engaged to the shaft and an outer race; an outer sleeve secured to and extending around the outer race of the bearing, a radially-inner face of the outer sleeve abutting a radially-outer face of the outer race; and a squeeze film damper including an annulus defined radially between the outer sleeve and a portion of the bearing housing and axially between seals, the annulus having a damping fluid in the annulus.

Inventors

Lorenzo SANZARI
Rose-Elizabeth Banville
Mike Fontaine

Assignees

PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240202

Claims (12)

1 . An aircraft engine, comprising: a shaft rotatable about a central axis; a bearing housing extending around the shaft and defining a bearing cavity; a carbon seal radially between the bearing housing and a seal runner mounted to the shaft a bearing located within the bearing cavity, the bearing rotatably supporting the shaft, the bearing having rolling members disposed radially between an inner race engaged to the shaft and an outer race; an outer sleeve secured to and extending around the outer race of the bearing, a radially-inner face of the outer sleeve abutting a radially-outer face of the outer race, the outer sleeve having first and second axial sides, the outer sleeve defining axial stand-offs circumferentially distributed around the central axis and protruding from the first axial side, the axial stand-offs abutting the carbon seal; a sleeve-to-housing anti-rotation feature configured for preventing rotation of the outer sleeve relative to the bearing housing, the sleeve-to-housing anti-rotation feature located on the second axial side of the outer sleeve; and a squeeze film damper including an annulus defined radially between the outer sleeve and a portion of the bearing housing and axially between seals, the annulus having a damping fluid in the annulus.
2 . The aircraft engine of claim 1 , wherein the outer sleeve is press fitted on the outer race.
3 . The aircraft engine of claim 1 , wherein the outer sleeve defines grooves extending from a radially-outer face of the sleeve towards the radially-inner face, the seals received within the grooves.
4 . The aircraft engine of claim 3 , wherein the seals are sealing rings.
5 . The aircraft engine of claim 1 , wherein the axial stand-offs include two diametrically opposed axial stand-offs.
6 . The aircraft engine of claim 1 , comprising a bearing-to-sleeve anti-rotation feature configured for preventing rotation of the outer sleeve relative to the outer race of the bearing.
7 . A bearing assembly, comprising: a bearing housing extending around a central axis to enclose a bearing cavity; a bearing within the bearing cavity, the bearing having an inner race for engaging a shaft, rolling members rollingly engaged to the inner race, and a compound outer race including: an outer race rollingly engaging the rolling members; and an outer sleeve mounted to a radially-outer face of the outer race, the outer sleeve being non-rotatable relative to the outer race of the bearing, the outer sleeve having a body extending axially from a first side to a second side, and axial stand-offs protruding axially from the first side; a carbon seal radially between the bearing housing and a seal runner mounted to the shaft, the axial stand-offs protruding from the first side of the outer sleeve and abutting the carbon seal; and a sleeve-to-housing anti-rotation feature configured for preventing rotation of the outer sleeve relative to the bearing housing, the sleeve-to-housing anti-rotation feature located on the second side of the outer sleeve opposite the first side; and a squeeze film damper including an annulus defined radially between the outer sleeve and the bearing housing and axially between seals, the annulus having a damping fluid in the annulus.
8 . The bearing assembly of claim 7 , wherein the outer sleeve defines grooves extending from a radially-outer face of the sleeve towards a radially-inner face of the outer sleeve, the seals received within the grooves.
9 . The bearing assembly of claim 7 , comprising a bearing-to-sleeve anti-rotation feature configured for preventing rotation of the outer sleeve relative to the outer race of the bearing.
10 . A method of replacing a squeeze film damping bearing by a conventional bearing in a bearing housing of an aircraft engine, comprising: removing the squeeze film damping bearing out of the aircraft engine; obtaining a bearing having rolling members disposed between an inner race and an outer race; mounting an outer sleeve to the outer race of the bearing, a diameter of a radially-outer face of the outer sleeve selected to provide an annulus between the outer sleeve and the bearing housing, the annulus receiving a damping fluid; and installing the bearing with the outer sleeve into a bearing cavity defined by the bearing housing, including abutting axial stand-offs of the outer sleeve against a carbon seal, the axial stand-offs being circumferentially distributed around a central axis of the aircraft engine and protruding from a first axial side of the outer sleeve, and including preventing rotation of the outer sleeve relative to the bearing housing using a sleeve-to-housing anti-rotation feature located on a second axial side of the outer sleeve.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the mounting of the outer sleeve to the outer race includes press fitting the outer sleeve to the outer race.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the mounting of the outer sleeve includes preventing rotation of the outer sleeve relative to the outer race.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The disclosure relates generally to aircraft engines and, more particularly, to bearing assemblies and squeeze film dampers used with bearing assemblies. BACKGROUND Aircraft engines, such as gas turbine engines, use bearings for supporting rotating shafts. Bearings are typically contained within bearing cavities defined by bearing housings, within which the bearings are radially supported. In some engines, squeeze film dampers are located radially between outer races of the bearings and the bearing housings. Such squeeze film dampers are fed with oil and at least partially dampen vibrations of the shaft. Because of the oil film disposed radially between two components, there may be a need to prevent axial and radial relative motions of these components. Existing solutions may be suitable for their intended purposes, but there is always room for improvements. SUMMARY In one aspect, there is provided an aircraft engine, comprising: a shaft rotatable about a central axis; a bearing housing extending around the shaft and defining a bearing cavity; a bearing located within the bearing cavity, the bearing rotatably supporting the shaft, the bearing having rolling members disposed radially between an inner race engaged to the shaft and an outer race; an outer sleeve secured to and extending around the outer race of the bearing, a radially-inner face of the outer sleeve abutting a radially-outer face of the outer race; and a squeeze film damper including an annulus defined radially between the outer sleeve and a portion of the bearing housing and axially between seals, the annulus having a damping fluid in the annulus. The aircraft engine described above may include any of the following features, in any combinations. In some embodiments, the outer sleeve is press fitted on the outer race. In some embodiments, the outer sleeve defines grooves extending from a radially-outer face of the sleeve towards the radially-inner face, the seals received within the grooves. In some embodiments, the seals are sealing rings. In some embodiments, a carbon seal is located radially between the bearing housing and a seal runner mounted to the shaft. In some embodiments, the outer sleeve includes an axial retention member abutting one or more of the bearing housing and the carbon seal. In some embodiments, the axial retention member is an axial stand-off protruding axially from a body of the outer sleeve, the axial stand-off abutting the carbon seal. In some embodiments, the axial stand-off includes two diametrically opposed axial stand-offs. In some embodiments, a bearing-to-sleeve anti-rotation feature is configured for preventing rotation of the outer sleeve relative to the outer race of the bearing. In some embodiments, a sleeve-to-housing anti-rotation feature is configured for preventing rotation of the outer sleeve relative to the bearing housing. In another aspect, there is provided a bearing assembly, comprising: a bearing housing extending around a central axis to enclose a bearing cavity; a bearing within the bearing cavity, the bearing having an inner race for engaging a shaft, rolling members rollingly engaged to the inner race, and a compound outer race including: an outer race rollingly engaging the rolling members; and an outer sleeve mounted to a radially-outer face of the outer race, the outer sleeve being non-rotatable relative to the outer race of the bearing; and a squeeze film damper including an annulus defined radially between the outer sleeve and the bearing housing and axially between seals, the annulus having a damping fluid in the annulus. The bearing assembly described above may include any of the following features, in any combinations. In some embodiments, the outer sleeve defines grooves extending from a radially-outer face of the sleeve towards a radially-inner face of the outer sleeve, the seals received within the grooves. In some embodiments, a carbon seal is located radially between the bearing housing and a seal runner mounted to the shaft. In some embodiments, the outer sleeve includes an axial retention member abutting one or more of the bearing housing and the carbon seal. In some embodiments, a bearing-to-sleeve anti-rotation feature is configured for preventing rotation of the outer sleeve relative to the outer race of the bearing. In some embodiments, a sleeve-to-housing anti-rotation feature is configured for preventing rotation of the outer sleeve relative to the bearing housing. In yet another aspect, there is provided a method of replacing a squeeze film damping bearing by a conventional bearing in a bearing housing of an aircraft engine, comprising: removing the squeeze film damping bearing out of the aircraft engine; obtaining a bearing having rolling members disposed between an inner race and an outer race; and mounting an outer sleeve to the outer race of the bearing, a diameter of a radially-outer face of the outer sleeve selected to provide an annulus between the o