Patent Application
20070104576
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a peripheral microcircuit serpentine cooling scheme for use in airfoil portions of turbine engine components, particularly high pressure turbine blade airfoils.
(2) Prior Art
Gas turbine engines are frequently used for small military applications and helicopter applications. The gas turbine engines used in these applications have high pressure turbine blades whose airfoil portions require the use of cooling fluids due to the temperatures at which these engines are asked to perform. In current applications, operating temperatures have increased to values above 3100 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, the airfoil portions require an improved cooling strategy.
In accordance with the present invention, a turbine engine component has an airfoil portion which is provided with a cooling scheme which minimizes the use of cooling flow but increases the cooling efficiency.
A turbine engine component in accordance with the present invention broadly comprises an airfoil portion having at least one central core element, a pressure side wall, and a suction side wall, and a serpentine cooling passageway in at least one of the walls. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a serpentine cooling passageway is provided in each of the pressure and suction side walls.
A refractory metal core for forming a cooling passageway in an airfoil portion of a turbine engine component is also provided in accordance with the present invention. The refractory metal core has a serpentine configuration.
Still further, a process for forming an airfoil portion of a turbine engine component is provided in accordance with the present invention. The process broadly comprises the steps of placing at least one silica core for forming a central core element in a die, placing at least one refractory metal core element for forming at least one serpentine cooling passageway in the die, and forming the turbine engine component by introducing a molten metal material into the die so that the metal material flows around the at least one silica core and the at least one refractory metal core element so as to form an airfoil portion having a pair of peripheral skin walls and at least one serpentine cooling passageway in one of the peripheral skin walls.
Other details of the peripheral microcircuit serpentine cooling for turbine airfoils, as well as other objects and advantages attendant thereto, are set forth in the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals depict like elements.
Referring now to the drawings,
As can be seen from
The airfoil portion 10 has one or more central core elements 12. Each of the central core elements 12 communicates with a source (not shown) of cooling fluid, such as engine bleed air, via inlets (not shown). Peripheral skin walls 13 and 15 extend between the central core elements 12 and the external surface forming the pressure side 18 and the external surface forming the suction side 24. The second and third microcircuits 20 and 22 are each located in a respective one of the peripheral skin walls 13 and 15.
As shown in
Referring now to
If desired, the inlet leg 40 may be provided with internal features 46, such as rounded pedestals, to enhance the heat transfer characteristics of the microcircuit 22. The internal features 46 may be fabricated using any suitable technique known in the art. For example, the internal features 46 may be formed using a laser technique. Each inlet 41 is preferably designed so as to force cooling air to enter the inlet leg 40 in a direction at an angle of less than 25 degrees, preferably substantially normal, to the cooling flow direction Y in the inlet leg 40. As previously noted, this is particularly significant in preventing sand or foreign matter from being introduced into the cooling microcircuit 22. Each inlet 41 communicates with and receives cooling air from one of the central core elements 12. The central core element 12 feeding inlet 41 may be the same one as that feeding the inlet 31. In a preferred embodiment though, the inlet 31 and 41 are fed from different core elements 12. By doing this, the microcircuits 20 and 22 are independent of each other.
The trailing edge microcircuit 14 may have its own supply of cooling fluid from one of the central core elements 12 or may share a supply cavity such as one of the central core elements 12 with the suction side microcircuit 22. The microcircuit 14 may be provided with an inlet (not shown) which causes the cooling fluid flow to turn to enter the cooling microcircuit. As a result, sand and debris will centrifuge out in the central core elements 12.
The leading edge 60 of the airfoil portion 10 may be provided with a cooling microcircuit 62 which has a plurality of cooling film holes 64. The leading edge cooling microcircuit 62 may be supplied with its own cooling flow from its own supply cavity.
If desired, the flow of cooling fluid in the microcircuit 20 may be in a first direction, such as toward the trailing edge 16 of the airfoil portion 10, while the flow of cooling fluid in the microcircuit 22 may be in a second direction toward the leading edge 60 of the airfoil portion. If desired, the flow of cooling fluid in both microcircuits 20 and 22 may be in a single direction.
Each of the microcircuits 20 and 22 are preferably formed using serpentine shaped refractory metal cores 100 such as that shown in
Each metal core 100 used to form the microcircuits 20 and 22 may have a first section 102 for forming the inlet leg of the microcircuit, a second section 104 for forming the intermediate leg(s) of the microcircuit, and a third section 106 for forming the outlet leg of the microcircuit. The first section 102 may have one or more inwardly directed tabs 108 for forming one or more inlets. The third section 106 may have one or more outwardly directed tabs 110 for forming the cooling film holes.
Referring now to
Preferably, there are two silica cores 120 positioned within the die 122 separated by a rib to provide each of the refractory metal core circuits to independently avoid pressure biases between the refractory core metal core sink pressures. In addition, and for creep capability, the silica cores 120 may be split further with communicating ribs.
The microcircuits 20 and 22 are preferably formed with cooling passage legs which have a minimal cross sectional area.
The cooling scheme of the present invention may reduce the flow of cooling fluid by 40%. That is, for this application, existing cooling configurations generally require 5.5% flow; whereas, with the configuration of the present invention, the cooling fluid flow could attain values as low as 3.3%. Other advantages to the present invention include increased convective efficiency and large film coverage leading to high overall cooling effectiveness of 75%.
It is apparent that there has been provided in accordance with the present invention a peripheral microcircuit serpentine cooling for turbine airfoils which fully satisfies the objects, means and advantages set forth hereinbefore. While the present invention has been described in the context of specific embodiments thereof, other unforeseeable alternatives, modifications, and variations will become apparent to those skilled in the art having read the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace those unforeseeable alternatives, modifications, and variations as fall within the broad scope of the appended claims.
