General Electric

A method for additively manufacturing three-dimensional objects includes generating a laser beam with a laser beam source and splitting the laser beam to form a plurality of beamlets. The plurality of beamlets are collimated via an optical device. The method also includes independently controlling respective beamlets of the plurality of beamlets via respective channels of a multi-channel optical modulator disposed downstream of the optical device to at least one of steer or modulate the respective beamlets. A scanning device disposed downstream of the multi-channel optical modulator scans the respective beamlets over at least a portion of a target plane.

A gas turbine engine (100) includes a turbomachine (202) comprising a low pressure (LP) spool (204) and a high pressure (HP) spool (206) that rotate about a central axis (102), an electric motor (240) mechanically coupled to the LP spool (204) for selectively rotating the LP spool (204), a starter assembly (210) mechanically coupled to the HP spool (206) for selectively rotating the HP spool (206), and a system controller (270) in operative communication with the electric motor (240) and the starter assembly (210), the system controller (270) being configured for performing an engine startup of the gas turbine engine by: increasing a motor torque of the electric motor (240) to apply torque to the LP spool (204); monitoring one or more engine operating parameters to determine whether the one or more engine operating parameters is within a limit; and increasing the motor torque of the electric motor (240) when the one or more engine operating parameters is within the limit.

The present disclosure generally relates to separating solid particles from an airflow in a gas turbine engine. A system for separating debris includes a first separation device in fluid communication with an inlet flow path of a compressor and a second separation device in fluid communication with an outlet flow path of the compressor and an inlet flow path of a combustor. The first separation device is adapted to remove coarse particles from the airflow. The second separation device is adapted to remove fine particles from the airflow. The course particles have a larger mean particle diameter than the fine particles.

A combustion section (100, 200) for a turbine engine (10) includes a combustor (102, 202) having a combustion chamber (108, 208) and a fuel nozzle (104, 204, 304, 404, 504) for delivering an air-fuel mixture into the combustion chamber (108, 208). The fuel nozzle comprises a body (112, 212, 312, 412, 512) defining a centerline (114, 214, 314, 414, 514) and a central channel (116, 216, 316, 416, 516) extending between an inlet (118, 218) and an outlet (120, 220) that opens to the combustion chamber (108, 208). The central channel (116, 216, 316, 416, 516) includes a compressed air flow passage (122, 222) and a mixer (124, 224) for combining fuel and air. A vane (142, 242, 342, 442, 542) extends from the body (112, 212, 312, 412, 512) and includes an outer wall (144, 244) extending radially between a root (146, 246, 346, 446, 546) and a tip (148, 248, 348, 448, 548) in a spanwise direction (Sd), and axially between a leading edge (150, 250) and a trailing edge (152, 252) in a chordwise direction (Cd). The outer wall (144, 244) includes a plurality of lobes (156, 256, 356, 456, 556) defining a waveform (174, 274, 374, 474, 574) that increases in amplitude (178, 278) in the chordwise direction (Cd) to promote enhanced mixing and uniform combustion.

A method (200) for washing a gas turbine engine (10) includes freezing a cleaning liquid to form solid cleaning granules, compacting the solid cleaning granules to form a compacted cleaning solid (106), and inserting the compacted cleaning solid (106) into the gas turbine engine (10), wherein when the gas turbine engine (10) is started, the compacted cleaning solid (106) liquifies to form a cleaning foam, which spreads through a gas flow path (37) of the gas turbine engine (10) to clean one or more components (22, 24) of the gas turbine engine (10) along the gas flow path (37).

A tool (100) for cleaning a portion of a turbine engine (10) is provided, the tool comprising a rigidizable guide tube (106) including a proximal end (120) and a distal end (122) and configured to be inserted into a portion of the turbine engine (10), a flexible inner tube (104) disposed within a portion of the rigidizable guide tube (106), the flexible inner tube (104) including a proximal end (130) and a distal end (132), a fluid delivery supply (310) coupled to the flexible inner tube (104) for delivering fluid to spray on a surface of an airfoil, and filaments (108) coupled to the distal end (132) (122) of at least one of the flexible inner tube (104) or the rigidizable guide tube (106), wherein when fluid is injected into the flexible inner tube (104), the filaments (108) are configured to agitate the surface of the airfoil.

A recoater assembly (118) is movable across a working surface (116) in a forward stroke and in a return stroke and includes a powder plow (152). One or more actuators (160) are coupled to the powder plow (152) and are actuable to provide vertical movement of the powder plow (152) with respect to the working surface (116). A controller (124) is operable to control the one or more actuators (160) to maintain the powder plow (152) in a retracted position during the forward stroke, lower the powder plow (152) to an extended position when the powder plow (152) is at or near a return area, enable the powder plow (152) to be lifted from the extended position to a partially retracted position a predefined vertical distance from the working surface (116), and maintain the powder plow (152) in the partially retracted position while traversing a portion of the working surface

A robotic assembly for servicing equipment, the robotic assembly including an area configured to receive components associated with a workscope of the equipment; an environmental capture device configured to capture information associated with an environment in which the robotic assembly is disposed; and one or more computing devices configured to: locate the equipment in the environment; autonomously navigate the robotic assembly through the environment to the equipment; and autonomously adjust a position of the robotic assembly in response to the workscope.

Methods for manufacturing composite components having complex geometries are provided. In one exemplary aspect, a method includes laying up each of a plurality of laminates to an initial shape with a substantially planar geometry or a gently curved geometry. Then, a laid up laminate is formed to a final shape for each predefined section defined by the composite component to be manufactured. Thereafter, the laminates formed to their respective final shapes are stacked to build up the complex geometry of the composite component. Next, the composite component can be cured and finish machined as necessary to form the completed composite component.

Gas turbine engines (106) including thermal management systems (200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 764, 800, 808, 900, 1000) with recirculating fuel circuits and related methods are disclosed herein. An example gas turbine engine disclosed herein includes a fuel flow line (202, 708), a fuel inlet (209, 712), a nozzle (212, 714) fluidly coupled to the fuel inlet (209, 712) by the fuel flow line (202, 708), and a recirculation flow circuit (204, 710) coupled to the fuel flow line (202, 708) between the fuel inlet (209, 712) and the nozzle (212, 714), the recirculation flow circuit (204, 710) including a cooler and a heat-producing component (216, 731A) coupled to the fuel flow line (202, 708) downstream of the fuel inlet (209, 712) along the fuel flow line (202, 708).