Turbine Blade Tip Cooling via Segmented Casting Core
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Next-generation turbofan engines face higher thermal loads due to increased operating temperatures and pressure ratios, which shorten the operational life of current gas turbine engine components, particularly in the turbine section, where cooling systems are inadequate to manage these thermal stresses.
Innovation Solution
A casting core with a tip comb is used to create internal cooling features in airfoils, featuring a tapered geometry and separate pedestals that form cooling passages, allowing for directed airflow through the airfoil body and out through outlets, enhancing cooling efficiency at the tip region.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If higher operating temperatures and pressure ratios are used to increase engine performance, then power output and efficiency are improved, but thermal loads increase and component operational life decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The airfoil is divided into multiple cooling passages separated by pedestals, allowing independent cooling zones that can be optimized for different thermal load regions. The tip comb is segmented into multiple pedestals that create separate cooling channels, enabling targeted cooling where thermal loads are highest.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling passages extend from the airfoil interior to the tip region, adding a radial dimension to the cooling flow path. This three-dimensional cooling architecture allows cooling air to reach the tip region directly, addressing thermal loads in a previously under-cooled area.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional cooling systems are used in turbine sections, then manufacturing is simpler, but cooling efficiency is inadequate to manage high thermal loads
Solution Approach 1:
The casting core with tip comb is prepared in advance with the precise tapered geometry and pedestal positions required for the final cooling passages. This preliminary formation of the cooling passage geometry during casting eliminates the need for complex post-casting machining or drilling operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The complex mechanical process of creating internal cooling passages through drilling or machining is replaced by a casting process using a specialized tip comb core. This substitutes a relatively simple casting operation for what would otherwise require complex mechanical manufacturing steps.
3Temperature
If cooling passages are added to airfoils to improve cooling, then thermal management is enhanced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tip comb structure combines multiple functions into a single component: it forms the separation walls between cooling passages, creates the pedestal structures, and defines the cooling passage geometry through its tapered shape. This merging of functions reduces the number of separate components needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The casting core with tip comb serves multiple purposes: it forms the internal cooling passages, creates the pedestal structures, and defines the airfoil tip geometry. This multi-functional core design reduces overall system complexity by eliminating the need for separate components to achieve each of these features.
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 manages thermal loads by providing enhanced cooling airflow through the airfoil, potentially extending the operational life of components and improving efficiency in high-pressure ratio and high-temperature environments.
Implementation Method 1
The first pedestal and the second pedestal may define a cooling passage having a proximal end and a distal end. The cooling passage may comprise a tapered geometry which diverges toward the outlet of the cooling passage.
Implementation Method 2
Cooled components may include, for example, rotating blades and stator vanes in the turbine section.
Implementation Method 3
Cooling air may be extracted from the compressor section and used to cool the gas path components.
Data Source
AI summary
A casting core may include a core body and a tip comb extending from a tip region of the core body. The tip comb may be integrally formed with the core body. The tip comb may comprise a first casting pedestal and a second casting pedestal. The first casting pedestal and the second casting pedestal may define an aperture having a tapered geometry.