Slotted bladeless turbine disc

Abstract

A slotted bladeless turbine disc stamped or otherwise formed from a single solid sheet of material with slots formed in the disc to redirect fluid passing through it is disclosed and illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The form of the slots is curved, slanted and aligned at an angle to the plane of the disc and along a radial from the center of rotation of the disc in such a manner as to force fluids passing through the disc to change direction. Reaction forces of the fluid on the many slots in the disc creates a resultant rotational force on the center of rotation of the disc and thus on the rotatable shaft to which the disc is rigidly attached. To form a turbine one or more slotted discs are assembled on a shaft and enclosed in a case.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] Not applicable STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT [0002] Not Applicable. REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING A TABLE OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX [0003] Not applicable BACKGROUND [0004] 1. Field of the Invention [0005] This invention relates to turbine discs used in rotary mechanisms, such as in steam turbines, gas turbines and jet engines, hydroelectric plants, and in bladed wind turbines. Slotted bladeless discs provide less costly rotor and stator discs than bladed discs or wheels historically used in such turbines. The slotted disc is fabricated from a single blank disk by stamping and forging instead of fabricating and assembling a multitude of individual turbine blades requiring attachments to a central hub [0006] 2. Description of Prior Art [0007] Steam turbines were invented during the late 1800s and early 1900s. One of the first patents for bladed steam turbines is found in U.S. Pat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0024] The same general materials used to fabricate a bladed wheel are used to fabricate a slotted disc, thus maintaining similar thermal and mechanical characteristics of the materials. Seals are attached to turbine discs to reduce leakage between stages. Seals and stuffing boxes as used in turbines are not within the scope of this invention.

[0051] Two types of solid plates can be used in the fabrication of the bladeless disc, either thin plates or thick plates. Other types of plates can be fabricated from laminated, sandwiched or honeycomb materials. The description above is related to the fabrication of bladeless discs made from thin plates. Thick plates can also be used as described above, or the slots can be formed in a thick plate without the need for a tab, or with the use of a smaller tab. If the slot in the thick plate is cut along a radial of the disc, but the direction of the slot is other than perpendicular to the plane of the disc, then the direction of the flow of steam through the plate will be altered in such a manner as to result in a component force vector perpendicular to the radial and along the plane of the disc. Redirecting the steam in this manner is the same as redirecting the steam using the tabs on the back of the thin plate. One reason for using a thick or honeycombed plate rather than a thin plate is to increase the strength of the disc, which allows higher steam pressure and greater flow of material through the slots. For high-pressure turbines, the edges of the slot can be processed and shaped to further reduce wear and erosion. The same processes used to increase the strength of blades in a bladed turbine can be used to strengthen the slots in a bladeless disc. Tabs can be added to the back of the thick plate or honeycombed disc to enhance the redirection of the steam flowing through the disc.

Problems solved by technology

Although small steam and gas turbines do exist, the widespread use of these machines has been greatly prohibited by the cost of bladed turbine discs.

Failures in turbine blades can be catastrophic.

If one blade fails the resulting imbalance causes the whole machine to become unbalanced and must be shut down to avoid more serious damage.

In more serious failures, a blade breaking at high speed results in other blades being shattered as well as the casing containing the high-pressure steam or gas.

This condition sometimes results in catastrophic explosions.

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