Gas Turbine Rotor Blade Platform Cooling Core
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine engine rotor blades face challenges in withstanding high temperatures due to inadequate cooling methods, leading to potential damage from hot combustion gases.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a platform cooling core within the rotor blade, connected to a main body cooling core via a passage, which circulates cooling fluid through augmentation features and expels it through specific cooling holes to prevent gas ingestion and enhance heat management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional cooling methods are used for rotor blades, then the blade structure remains simple, but the blade cannot withstand high temperatures from combustion gases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into multiple independent cooling cores (main body cooling core and platform cooling core) that can be separately designed and optimized. Each cooling core handles specific thermal zones, allowing the system to manage high temperatures without requiring a monolithic complex cooling structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The platform cooling core is nested within the rotor blade platform region, with cooling holes and passages integrated into the blade structure. The cooling system is embedded within the blade itself, creating a nested configuration that provides advanced cooling capability without proportionally increasing external complexity.
2Loss of energy
If cooling fluid is circulated through the blade, then heat management is enhanced, but the risk of hot gas ingestion through mate face gaps increases
Solution Approach 1:
Cooling fluid is expelled through mate face cooling holes at the blade's mate face to create a protective cooling layer that prevents hot combustion gases from ingesting into the mate face gap between adjacent rotor blades. This preliminary cooling action counteracts the harmful hot gas intrusion before it can penetrate the gap.
Solution Approach 2:
A cooling fluid layer acts as an intermediary barrier between the cooling system and the hot combustion gases. The cooling fluid expelled through mate face cooling holes creates a thermal barrier that mediates the interaction between the blade structure and hot gases, preventing direct contact and hot gas ingestion.
3Reliability
If a platform cooling core is added to the rotor blade, then thermal resilience is enhanced, but the blade structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The platform cooling core is merged with the existing rotor blade structure, sharing common walls and integrating with the main body cooling core through passages. This merging approach allows the cooling functionality to be combined with the structural components, enhancing thermal resilience without proportionally increasing overall structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The platform cooling core serves multiple functions: it cools the platform region, prevents hot gas ingestion through mate face gaps, and can be connected to either the main body cooling core or external pockets. This multi-functionality allows a single structural addition to address multiple thermal management challenges simultaneously.
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 cooling scheme effectively reduces the risk of hot gas ingestion and enhances the thermal resilience of rotor blades by providing a dedicated cooling system that manages stress, gas flow, and heat transfer efficiently.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling fluid supplied from the main body cooling core or from a pocket located between adjacent rotor blades is circulated through the platform cooling core
Implementation Method 2
Cooling fluid from the platform cooling core is expelled through mate face cooling holes and/or platform cooling holes... depositing a film cooling layer at the mate face to discourage gas ingestion
Implementation Method 3
providing a dedicated cooling system that manages stress, gas flow, and heat transfer efficiently
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
A rotor blade according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a platform, an airfoil that extends from the platform, a first cooling core that extends at least partially inside the airfoil, a second cooling core inside of the platform and a first cooling hole that extends between a mate face of the platform and the second cooling core.