Turbine Blade Platform Cooling Holes for Thermo-Mechanical Fatigue
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Solution Overview
Problem
Turbine blade platforms in gas turbine engines experience thermo-mechanical fatigue cracks and oxidation due to inadequate cooling, particularly in regions where airfoil trailing edges meet the pressure sides, leading to stress concentration issues.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating cooling holes in the suction side matefaces of adjacent blade platforms to direct cooling air towards the pressure side matefaces, reducing stress concentrations by efficiently cooling the pressure side of the blade platforms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cooling air is directed toward the pressure side of the blade platform, then thermo-mechanical fatigue cracks and oxidation are reduced, but stress concentrations increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of directing cooling air from the pressure side outward, the invention inverts the cooling approach by directing cooling air from the suction side toward the pressure side through cooling holes. This reverse direction allows effective cooling of the pressure side while avoiding the stress concentration problems associated with traditional pressure side cooling methods
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling holes serve as intermediaries that transport cooling air from the suction side to the pressure side. These holes act as conduits that enable the cooling function to be performed at the pressure side without directly exposing it to the stress-inducing cooling air injection that would occur with traditional external cooling methods
2Temperature
If cooling holes are incorporated in the suction side mateface, then cooling efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The suction side mateface is given a dual function: it serves both as the mating surface for blade assembly and as the location for cooling hole exits. This multi-functionality allows the cooling system to be integrated into an existing surface without adding separate complex cooling structures, thereby improving cooling efficiency while minimizing increased device complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively reduces thermo-mechanical fatigue cracks and oxidation by ensuring adequate cooling of the pressure side of the turbine blade platforms, thereby enhancing the durability and performance of gas turbine engines.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling hole operative to direct a flow of cooling air toward an adjacent blade platform
Implementation Method 2
direct a flow of cooling air therethrough such that the cooling air impinges upon a portion of the first turbine blade
Data Source
AI summary
Gas turbine engine systems involving turbine blade platforms with mateface cooling holes are provided. In this regard, a representative turbine blade for a gas turbine engine includes: an airfoil having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a pressure side and a suction side; and a blade platform on which the airfoil is disposed, the blade platform having a pressure side mateface located adjacent to the pressure side of the airfoil and a suction side mateface located adjacent to the suction side of the airfoil, the blade platform having a cooling hole operative to direct a flow of cooling air toward an adjacent blade platform.