Flexible Impingement Insert for Hot Gas Path Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing impingement inserts for hot gas path components in turbomachinery face challenges in positioning and assembly, leading to increased complexity, time, and costs, while flexible sections result in discontinuous cooling performance.
Innovation Solution
A flexible impingement insert with a hollow body featuring a spring element that biases the side walls to an expanded position, allowing for one-step insertion and continuous cooling along the HGP component, improving the Z/D parameter for enhanced cooling performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the impingement insert is made rigid for structural stability, then the cooling performance is maintained, but the insertion complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The impingement insert employs a flexible hollow body that can dynamically change its shape between compressed and expanded states. During insertion, the body is compressed to fit through access openings, then expands to its final shape to provide stable cooling contact with the HGP component surface, resolving the contradiction between rigidity for stability and flexibility for easy insertion.
Solution Approach 2:
The insert utilizes a flexible hollow body structure that can deform during insertion and then maintain its expanded shape for cooling operation. This flexible shell approach allows the insert to be inserted in a compressed state while providing structural stability when expanded, eliminating the need for complex assembly procedures.
2Reliability
If the impingement insert is positioned closer to the HGP component surface for better cooling performance, then the Z/D parameter improves, but the positioning precision and assembly difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible hollow body dynamically adjusts its position and shape after insertion, expanding to contact the HGP component surface. This dynamic expansion ensures optimal positioning for cooling performance without requiring high precision during the insertion process itself, as the final position is achieved through the expansion mechanism rather than precise initial placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The insert performs self-positioning through its expansion mechanism. Once inserted in the compressed state, the flexible body automatically expands to the correct position and shape against the HGP component surface, eliminating the need for complex external positioning mechanisms or high-precision assembly procedures.
3Ease of operation
If the impingement insert is made from multiple flexible sections for easier insertion, then the insertion ease improves, but the cooling performance deteriorates due to discontinuous cooling
Solution Approach 1:
The insert is designed as a single hollow body that can be segmented or folded during insertion, then reconfigured into a continuous structure when expanded. This allows the benefits of segmentation for easy insertion while maintaining the continuity needed for effective cooling performance in the final configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible hollow body transitions from a compressed, potentially segmented insertion state to an expanded continuous state during operation. This dynamic transformation allows easy insertion while ensuring continuous cooling coverage, resolving the contradiction between insertion ease and cooling performance.
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 enables easier and more efficient insertion of the impingement insert, achieving better cooling performance by maintaining a contiguous lateral structure and optimizing the Z/D parameter for improved coolant delivery and heat transfer.
Implementation Method 1
a spring element contiguous with a second end of each of the first side wall and the second side wall, the spring element extending along at least a portion of the longitudinal extent of the hollow body and into the hollow body to be between the first side wall and the second side wall, the spring element biasing the first side wall and the second side wall to an expanded position of the hollow body from a compressed position of the hollow body
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of cooling passages in at least the first side wall and the second side wall, the plurality of cooling passages passing between the exterior surface and the interior surface of the hollow body
Data Source
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AI summary
An impingement insert (180) for HGP component (122) may include a hollow body (190) having a longitudinal extent, an exterior surface (192) and an interior surface (184, 194). The hollow body (190) may include a first side wall (200), a second side wall (202) contiguous with the first side wall (200) at a first end (204, 232) of each, the second side wall (202) is flexibly movable relative to the first side wall (200). A spring element (210) is contiguous with a second end (212, 252) of each of the first side wall (200) and the second side wall (202), and extends along at least a portion of the longitudinal extent of the hollow body (190) and into the hollow body (190) between the first side wall (200) and the second side wall (202). The spring element (210) biases the side walls (200, 202) to an expanded position from a compressed position of the hollow body (190). Cooling passages (220) pass between the exterior surface (192) and the interior surface (184, 194) of the hollow body (190) in both side walls (200, 202).