Cupped Endwall Contour for Gas Turbine Blade Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gas turbine engine endwalls lack effective cooling mechanisms, leading to undesirable temperature extremes due to the absence of cooling chambers, which complicates the casting process and affects the stability of cores within molds.
Innovation Solution
A method of forming an endwall with a cupped contour using additive manufacturing, where the contour covers cooling channel openings and inlets to create a cooling chamber, utilizing a core with multiple attachment points for stabilization during casting, and employing different material compositions for the endwall and contour.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If traditional casting methods are used for endwalls, then the casting process is simpler, but cooling efficiency is insufficient leading to temperature extremes
Solution Approach 1:
The endwall is segmented into multiple functional zones including cooling channels, a cooling chamber, and a cupped contour. The cooling channels are divided into inlet channels and outlet channels that communicate with the cooling chamber, allowing distributed cooling throughout the endwall structure to effectively manage temperature distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling chamber is nested within the cupped contour structure on the endwall. The cupped contour provides a recessed area that contains the cooling chamber, creating a nested configuration where the cooling chamber is housed within the larger endwall assembly. This nested design allows efficient use of space while maintaining effective cooling functionality.
2Temperature
If cooling chambers are added to endwalls, then cooling efficiency improves, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling chamber is merged with the cupped contour structure on the endwall, combining the cooling function with the existing aerodynamic contour. The cupped contour serves dual purposes: maintaining aerodynamic shape and housing the cooling chamber. This merging reduces the need for separate cooling structures and simplifies the overall design.
Solution Approach 2:
The cupped contour structure serves multiple functions: it maintains the aerodynamic shape of the endwall, provides structural support, and houses the cooling chamber. By making the cupped contour multi-functional, the design avoids adding separate dedicated cooling structures, thereby reducing overall device complexity while maintaining cooling efficiency.
3Ease of manufacture
If cores are used in mold casting, then cooling channels can be formed, but core stability in the mold is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Attachment points are pre-formed on the core structure before casting. These attachment points are created as integral features of the core during core fabrication, allowing the core to be properly positioned and secured in the mold before the casting process begins. This preliminary preparation ensures core stability throughout the casting operation.
Solution Approach 2:
Attachment points serve as intermediary elements between the core and the mold structure. These attachment points provide mechanical connection points that allow the core to be securely anchored to the mold, preventing core displacement or instability during the casting process while still allowing for core removal after casting.
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
This approach enhances cooling efficiency by directing air through cooling channels to a chamber within the cupped contour, reducing temperature extremes and simplifying the casting process by stabilizing the core, thereby improving the manufacturing complexity and performance of gas turbine engine blades.
Implementation Method 1
casting an endwall with at least one cooling channel having an opening from the endwall, and covering the opening with a cupped contour that is formed on the endwall to provide a portion of a gas path surface
Data Source
AI summary
A gas turbine engine assembly according to an example of the present disclosure includes, among other things, an endwall having a first material composition, an airfoil extending in a radial direction from the endwall, and a cupped contour of a second material composition that is formed on the endwall to define a cooling chamber, the first material composition different than the second material composition. A method of forming an endwall is also disclosed.