Accessory Gearbox (AGB) Housing is one of the most critical components of a gas turbine engine that lies between the core engine & the aircraft. The function of the AGB Housing is to provide support for the gear drive assembly that transfers power from the engine to the engine accessories and to the power takeoff drive for the aircraft accessories. The housing also functions as an oil tight container and passageway for lubrication. In addition, the AGB housing provides mount points to attach engine/aircraft support accessories, including the engine mount points to the aircraft. The complexity in predicting AGB housing behavior under the gear loading, engine loading and engine induced vibration is one of the main challenges of designing a new gearbox with minimum weight. To address these issues, the current paper presents for the first time the design-analysis of a new lightweight AGB housing for a turboshaft engine, based on the following three major requirements: i) gear bearing pads strength & stiffness capability, ii) AGB mount pads (for accessories and for engine) load carrying capability, and, iii) vibratory response (mainly high cycle fatigue (HCF) response) of the AGB housing. A 3-D Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model of the AGB housing was developed using the proposed initial design. Various design modifications, involving several interrelated, iterative steps, were then carried out by adjusting and modifying the housing wall thickness, placement & sizes of internal ribs and external gussets, including additional geometric modifications to satisfy the design objectives. The result is a robust, lightweight AGB housing design, eliminating the need for some of the required testing for the qualification of the new gearbox, indicating a significant cost savings. This paper also discusses in detail the methodology for the gear bearing pad strength/stiffness calculation, the FEA modeling techniques for the application of mount loads and gear bearing loads under operating & flight maneuver conditions, and, a methodology for addressing a combined HCF & LCF (Low Cycle Fatigue) response of the housing.
Forecasting low-cycle fatigue life of gas-turbine engine parts by the method of equivalent tests for specimens with stress concentrator under extension-compression
