US 12,435,644 B1
Gas turbine engines with inlet guide vanes
Arthur W. Sibbach, Boxford, MA (US); Marcin Jacek Łobocki, Warsaw (PL); Tomasz Jan Bulsiewicz, Warsaw (PL); Marcin Krzysztof Wachulec, Warsaw (PL); and Jeffrey D. Clements, Evendale, OH (US)
Assigned to General Electric Company, Evendale, OH (US); and General Electric Company Polska sp. z o.o., Warsaw (PL)
Filed by General Electric Company, Evendale, OH (US); and General Electric Company Polska sp. z o.o., Warsaw (PL)
Filed on Dec. 20, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/990,445.
Int. Cl. F01D 25/02 (2006.01); F01D 9/04 (2006.01); F01D 17/16 (2006.01)
CPC F01D 25/02 (2013.01) [F01D 9/041 (2013.01); F01D 17/162 (2013.01); F05D 2240/12 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A gas turbine engine comprising:
a propeller; and
a gas turbine to drive the propeller to produce thrust, the propeller and the gas turbine being coaxially arranged along a centerline axis, the gas turbine engine having an annular inlet to direct air through an air flowpath to a compressor section of the gas turbine engine, the gas turbine including a set of inlet guide vanes in the air flowpath upstream of the compressor section,
wherein each of the inlet guide vanes has an airfoil with an exterior surface having a pressure side and a suction side extending between a leading edge and a trailing edge and extending between a root and a tip,
wherein each of the inlet guide vanes has a chord length defined as a distance between the leading edge and the trailing edge,
wherein a throat is defined as a shortest distance between a first airfoil of a first inlet guide vane and a second airfoil of a second inlet guide vane adjacent the first inlet guide vane, wherein the chord length and the throat are taken at a same radial distance from the centerline axis,
wherein a throat solidity is defined as:

OG Complex Work Unit Math
and
wherein the throat solidity is in a range of 0.5 to 5.0, and wherein the throat solidity decreases from the root to the tip.