US-12618414-B2 - Apparatus to reduce bearing failure

US12618414B2US 12618414 B2US12618414 B2US 12618414B2US-12618414-B2

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture are disclosed to reduce failure to bearings in a pump system. Disclosed herein is a pump system comprising a shaft connected to an impeller of the pump system, and a bearing to provide a dampening to the shaft, the bearing including a journal lining, the journal lining supported in the pump system, a spring-loaded foil to separate the shaft from the journal lining, an inner lining between the shaft and the spring-loaded foil, and a deformation limiter located between the spring-loaded foil and the journal lining.

Inventors

Adam Joseph Wangler
Bugra H. Ertas
Veera Venkata Amarnath Manem

Assignees

GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20250414
Priority Date: 20221219

Claims (12)

1 . A bearing comprising: an outer lining; a spring-loaded lining; a deformation limiter, the deformation limiter located between the spring-loaded lining and the outer lining; an inner lining, the spring-loaded lining between the outer lining and the inner lining; and a fluid pocket, the fluid pocket between the inner lining and a rotor shaft, wherein the fluid pocket is configured to include a pressurized fluid to create a barrier between the rotor shaft and the inner lining.
2 . The bearing of claim 1 , wherein a size of the deformation limiter is based on a parameterization function, the parameterization function including at least one of a maximum amount of allowable radial deformation, a minimum clearance between the spring-loaded lining and the deformation limiter, or a maximum load applied to the rotor shaft.
3 . The bearing of claim 1 , wherein the pressurized fluid is compressed air from a pump system of a gas turbine engine.
4 . The bearing of claim 1 , wherein the bearing is a thrust bearing, and the fluid pocket is disposed within a thrust bearing assembly of a pump system.
5 . The bearing of claim 4 , wherein the fluid pocket is disposed in a longitudinal direction relative to the rotor shaft.
6 . The bearing of claim 1 , wherein the bearing is a foil bearing, and the fluid pocket is disposed circumferentially between the rotor shaft and the inner lining.
7 . A pump system comprising: a shaft; and a bearing to dampen the shaft, the bearing including: an outer lining, the outer lining supported in the pump system; a spring-loaded lining to separate the shaft from the outer lining; a deformation limiter, the deformation limiter located between the spring-loaded lining and the outer lining; an inner lining, the spring-loaded lining between the outer lining and the inner lining; and a fluid pocket, the fluid pocket between the inner lining and a rotor shaft, wherein the fluid pocket includes a pressurized fluid to create a barrier between the shaft and the inner lining.
8 . The pump system of claim 7 , wherein a size of the deformation limiter is based on a parameterization function, the parameterization function including at least one of a maximum amount of allowable radial deformation, a minimum clearance between the spring-loaded lining and the deformation limiter, or a maximum load applied to the rotor shaft.
9 . The pump system of claim 7 , wherein the pressurized fluid is compressed air from the pump system of a gas turbine engine.
10 . The pump system of claim 7 , wherein the bearing is a thrust bearing, and the fluid pocket is disposed within a thrust bearing assembly of the pump system.
11 . The pump system of claim 10 , wherein the fluid pocket is disposed in a longitudinal direction relative to the shaft.
12 . The pump system of claim 7 , wherein the bearing is a foil bearing, and the fluid pocket is disposed circumferentially between the shaft and the inner lining.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application arises as a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/356,690 (now U.S. Pat. No. 12,281,657), filed on Jul. 21, 2023, which claims priority to and the benefit of Indian patent application Ser. No. 202211073553, filed on Dec. 19, 2022. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/356,690 and Indian patent application Ser. No. 202211073553 are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/356,690 and Indian patent application Ser. No. 202211073553 is hereby claimed. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates generally to fluid pumps and, more particularly, to an apparatus to reduce bearing failure. BACKGROUND Aircraft typically include various accessory systems supporting the operation of the aircraft and/or its gas turbine engine(s). For example, such accessory systems may include a lubrication system that lubricates components of the engine(s), an engine cooling system that provides cooling air to engine components, an environmental control system that provides cooled air to the cabin of the aircraft, and/or the like. Such accessory systems also include bearings of various types to enable proper operation of the accessory systems. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of an example aircraft. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an example gas turbine engine of an aircraft. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example thermal management system for transferring heat between fluids. FIG. 4 illustrates example integrated bearing systems for dynamically supporting a rotating shaft in an example pump system in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. FIG. 5 illustrates an example integrated bearing system for dynamically supporting the rotating shaft in the example pump system in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates a first example foil bearing used in the fluid pump system of FIGS. 4 and/or 5. FIG. 7 illustrates a second example foil bearing used in the fluid pump system of FIGS. 4 and/or 5. FIG. 8 illustrates an example thrust bearing used in the fluid pump system of FIGS. 4 and/or 5. FIG. 9 illustrates an enlarged view of a thrust bearing assembly using the thrust bearing of FIG. 8. In general, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts. The figures are not to scale. Instead, the thickness of the layers or regions may be enlarged in the drawings. Although the figures show layers and regions with clean lines and boundaries, some or all of these lines and/or boundaries may be idealized. In reality, the boundaries and/or lines may be unobservable, blended, and/or irregular. DETAILED DESCRIPTION “Including” and “comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are used herein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim employs any form of “include” or “comprise” (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising, including, having, etc.) as a preamble or within a claim recitation of any kind, it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc., may be present without falling outside the scope of the corresponding claim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase “at least” is used as the transition term in, for example, a preamble of a claim, it is open-ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” and “including” are open ended. The term “and/or” when used, for example, in a form such as A, B, and/or C refers to any combination or subset of A, B, C such as (1) A alone, (2) B alone, (3) C alone, (4) A with B, (5) A with C, (6) B with C, or (7) A with B and with C. As used herein in the context of describing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, the phrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, or (3) at least one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, the phrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, or (3) at least one A and at least one B. As used herein in the context of describing the performance or execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities and/or steps, the phrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, or (3) at least one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing the performance or execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities and/or steps, the phrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, or (3) at least one A and at least one B. As used herein, unless otherwise stated, the term “above” describes the relationship of two parts