/Turbofan Engine Including A Fan Actuation System
Abstract

A turbofan engine for an aircraft includes a fan and a fan actuation system. The fan has a plurality of fan blades coupled to a fan shaft having one or more fan bearings. The fan blades are rotatable about a pitch axis. The fan actuation system is disposed within a fan hub and includes one or more actuators for rotating the fan blades about the pitch axis and one or more radial thrust bearings. The fan actuation system is characterized by a fan actuation system length envelope in a range from 8.5 to 24 and given by N FB × D FT L AXIAL × ( R TB N FB ) . NFB is a number of the fan blades, DET is a fan tip diameter of the fan blades, RTB is a thrust bearing radius of the radial thrust bearings, and LAXIAL is an axial length from a fan hub tip to the fan bearings.

Full Text

What is claimed is:

A turbofan engine for an aircraft includes a fan and a fan actuation system. The fan has a plurality of fan blades coupled to a fan shaft having one or more fan bearings. The fan blades are rotatable about a pitch axis. The fan actuation system is disposed within a fan hub and includes one or more actuators for rotating the fan blades about the pitch axis and one or more radial thrust bearings. The fan actuation system is characterized by a fan actuation system length envelope in a range from 8.5 to 24 and given by N FB × D FT L AXIAL × ( R TB N FB ) . NFB is a number of the fan blades, DET is a fan tip diameter of the fan blades, RTB is a thrust bearing radius of the radial thrust bearings, and LAXIAL is an axial length from a fan hub tip to the fan bearings.
Timeline
Filed
05/21/2026
Published
09/17/2026
Granted
Not Available
IPC Codes(2)
F01D 7/00:Rotors with blades adjustable in operation; Control thereof (for reversing F01D 1/30)
F01D 25/16:Arrangement of bearings; Supporting or mounting bearings in casings (bearings per se F16C)