Christopher Mathew Saunders

US Patent:

60273054, Feb 22, 2000

Filed:

Aug 5, 1998

Appl. No.:

9/129417

Inventors:

Wing-Fai Ng - Blacksburg VA
Thomas A. Leitch - Blacksburg VA
Christopher A. Saunders - Lexington KY

Assignee:

Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc. - Blacksburg VA

International Classification:

F01D 2504

US Classification:

415119

Abstract:

A stator apparatus for mounting upstream of an intake to a rotating machine which blows pressurized air, or other media, from discharge orifices at a pressure and velocity to minimize velocity defects or turbulence in the wake of the stator prior to the plane of rotation of a rotating member of the machine. The rotating member then encounters a substantially uniform velocity medium at the plane of incidence, which substantially reduces uneven loading on the rotating member, thereby reducing noise and reducing high-cycle failure of that rotating element. The distribution and size of the orifices is determinable by placing the stator apparatus in a wind tunnel, or on the intake of a apparatus simulating the intake of the rotating machine, measuring the turbulence or velocity defects in the stator wake, and modifying the distribution and size of the orifices until the turbulence is minimized.