Micro gas turbine engine with active tip clearance control

摘要

In a micro gas turbine engine, a capacitive sensor is used for measuring a tip clearance of a radial compressor section thereof, and an actuator is used for axially displacing a rotor shaft in response to an output from the capacitive sensor. Because the capacitive change gives an accurate measure of the size of the tip clearance, a particularly high sensitivity can be achieved in parts where the tip clearance is small, thereby providing a highly precise tip clearance control.