Wall structure for a gas turbine engine

Claim 2

A liner for a combustion chamber for use in a gas turbine engine in which combustion occurs in a gas stream moving axially through tHe combustion chamber, said liner including a plurality of liner segments arranged circumferentially, each segment having spaced inner and outer wall elements and means interconnecting the elements and defining closely spaced longitudinally extending flow passages therebetween, the outer wall of one segment being connected to and overlying the inner wall of the next adjacent downstream segment to cause cooling air to flow into the upstream ends of the passages from the chamber space outside the liner and to enter the space inside the liner at the downstream ends of said passages, successive liner segments increasing in length in a downstream direction as the operating temperature within the liner decreases.

Claim 3

An annular combustion chamber for a gas turbine engine in which combustion occurs in a stream of gas moving axially through said chamber, said chamber having inner and outer walls forming an annular space therebetween and a liner spaced from one of the said walls to define between said one wall and the liner a passage for cooling air and on the other side of the liner a combustion space, said liner comprising a plurality of segments extending in a circumferential direction within the chamber and located in side-by-side relation axially of the chamber and secured together, each segment having spaced inner and outer wall elements and spacer means between said elements serving to hold said elements in spaced relation and forming closely spaced parallel passages between said wall elements extending in an axial direction, the inner wall element of one liner segment overlying and secured to the outer wall element of the adjacent upstream element and said successive segments increasing in length toward the downstream end of the combustion chamber for increasing the lengths of the flow passages near the areas of decreasing temperature within the combustion space, each of said passages being relatively small in effective diameter on the order of between 0.02 and 0.06 inches.

Claim 4

An annular combustion chamber for a gas turbine engine in which combustion occurs in a stream of gas moving axially through said chamber, said chamber having inner and outer walls forming an annular space therebetween and a liner spaced from one of the said walls to define between said one wall and the liner a passage for cooling air and on the other side of the liner a combustion space, said liner comprising a plurality of segments extending in a circumferential direction within the chamber and located in side-by-side relation axially of the chamber and secured together, each segment having spaced inner and outer wall elements and spacer means between said elements serving to hold said elements in spaced relation and forming closely spaced parallel passages between said wall elements extending in an axial direction, the inner wall element of one liner segment overlying and secured to the outer wall element of the adjacent upstream element and said successive segments increasing in length toward the downstream end of the combustion chamber for increasing the lengths of the flow passages near the areas of decreasing temperature within the combustion space, each of said passages being relatively small in effective diameter on the order of between 0.02 and 0.06 inches.

Claim 5

An annular combustion chamber as in claim 2 in which the length-to-diameter ratio is between about 20 and 85.

Claim 6

A combustion chamber as in claim 2 in which the liner is in the form of a burner can with the segments extending peripherally around the can and forming the wall thereof.