Turbomachine with support arrangement

摘要

A turbomachine has an improved support for the bearing case thereof; one end of the turbomachine housing (40) is rigidly supported by a support member (60) while the second end is supported at the inboard end of a bearing case (66), the bearing case inboard end being supported by an inboard support (86) which permits horizontal movement of the bearing case (66) in a direction parallel to the turbomachine shaft. The bearing case also has an outboard support (121), has a flange (12) on which the bearing case (66) rests and a base connected to and positioned below the flange. The flange (12) contains flange bores (18) through which rods (20) pass, the rods being attached on their first end (24) to and protruding downwardly from the bearing case (66). The rods (20) are optionally prevented from moving upwardly through the flange bores (18) by a retainer, such as a nut (26) or nut and washer combination, which is attached to the rod's second end; the retainer (26) being mounted on the rod (20) so that a gap (30) is created between the upper surface (32) of the retainer and the bottom surface (28) of the flange (12). The gap (30) permits limited upward vertical movement of the bearing case (66). In this manner, the outboard support element (121) maintains the alignment of the bearing case with the turbine shaft during operation of the turbomachine at elevated temperatures when differential heating of the various supports causes them to undergo unequal vertical expansions.