The rotational components of gas turbine engines may at times become unbalanced. This unbalancing may occur, for example, when foreign matter hits the rotational components, damaging or coating them. Rotational components may also become unbalanced during maintenance or repair procedures performed on the engine. When the rotational components become unbalanced, the result may be excess noise, acoustics and/or vibrations which may be uncomfortable and even unsettling to passengers and staff of the aircraft on which the engine is employed.
The rotational components of a gas turbine engine may have one or more weights attached in order to balance the component. When such a component needs to be re-balanced, weights may be moved, added and/or removed as necessary. The process of moving, adding and/or removing weights on rotational components of a gas turbine engine may be referred to as “trim balancing”.
Conventionally, trim balancing is performed by ground maintenance crews using special trim balancing maintenance equipment that must be hooked to the engine to determine where weights can be positioned. This could be expensive, time consuming and/or inconvenient to the customer and/or mechanics. For example, it may require special maintenance equipment which may not be readily available, particularly in smaller or more remote airports. Moreover, since conventional trim balancing is done while the aircraft is on the ground (i.e., not during flight conditions), it may require several iterations to determine an optimal trim balance as conditions may be different during flight operations. Improvement in trim balancing procedures in gas turbine engines is desirable.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds