Flow Directing Cover for Gas Turbine Vane Cooling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current gas turbine engine designs face challenges in effectively cooling turbine vanes due to pressure losses and manufacturing complexity in internal passageways, which can lead to reduced efficiency and increased wear from high temperatures.
Innovation Solution
A cover assembly with integrated turning cavities and a flow divider within the airfoil section directs cooling fluid efficiently, reducing pressure losses and simplifying manufacturing by separating fluid flow into distinct paths that make a complete U-turn, maintaining low temperatures and reducing exposure to core airflow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If serpentine passageways are formed within the airfoil section using investment casting, then cooling fluid can be directed through the vane, but pressure losses occur and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The internal cooling structure is divided into two separate components: an airfoil section and a cover section. Each component has its own simplified passageway system that interfaces with the other through external connections. This segmentation eliminates the need for complex integrated serpentine passageways while maintaining cooling effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
External connections serve as intermediaries between the simplified internal passageways of the airfoil section and cover section. These external connections replace the complex internal turning portions that would otherwise be required to redirect cooling fluid, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity and pressure losses.
2Temperature
If serpentine passageways with turning portions are used, then cooling fluid flow is achieved, but pressure losses increase
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the cooling structure into airfoil and cover sections with external connections, the cooling fluid path avoids sharp turning portions within a single component. The segmented design allows for more gradual flow transitions and reduces flow separation, thereby minimizing pressure losses.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of creating complex internal turning portions to redirect cooling fluid within a monolithic structure, the invention inverts the approach by using external connections between separate sections. This external redirection method reduces flow disturbances and pressure losses compared to internal turning portions.
3Temperature
If integrated serpentine passageways are formed in the airfoil section, then cooling coverage is provided, but manufacturing complexity and wear from high temperatures increase
Solution Approach 1:
Dividing the vane into airfoil and cover sections allows each component to be manufactured separately with simpler, more straightforward passageway designs. This segmentation eliminates the need for complex investment casting patterns required for integrated serpentine passageways, thereby improving ease of manufacture while maintaining cooling coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The complex serpentine passageway design is extracted from the airfoil section and replaced with simpler internal passageways that connect externally. This extraction of the complex turning portions from the internal structure simplifies manufacturing while the external connections maintain the necessary cooling fluid flow paths.
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 enhances cooling efficiency, reduces pressure losses, and simplifies manufacturing by effectively directing cooling fluid within the airfoil section, protecting turbine vanes from high temperatures and improving overall engine performance.
Implementation Method 1
The cover and the airfoil section are separately formed and the interior of the cover provides at least one turning cavity that directs a flow of cooling fluid from one passageway within the airfoil section to another
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
An assembly 60 for a gas turbine engine according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, an airfoil 62 including a radial end, a first passageway having an outlet at the radial end, and a second passageway having an inlet at the radial end. The assembly 60 further includes a cover 64 having at least one turning cavity configured to direct fluid expelled from the outlet of the first passageway into the inlet of the second passageway.