Turbine Blade Squealer Tip Undercut Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbines face inefficiencies due to leakage of hot gas through tip gaps in turbine blades, and existing solutions are prone to plugging issues when tip rubbing occurs, which complicates maintenance and operation in high-temperature, high-pressure environments.
Innovation Solution
A turbine blade design featuring a squealer tip with radially perforated cooling holes and an undercut around the holes to prevent plugging, where the cooling holes on the pressure and suction surfaces are staggered and oriented to effectively reduce gas leakage and enhance cooling, with the undercut protecting the holes from wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If cooling holes are provided in the squealer tip to reduce gas leakage and improve cooling, then cooling performance is improved, but the cooling holes are prone to plugging when tip rubbing occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The squealer tip is divided into multiple cooling holes distributed across the surface, so that if some holes are plugged due to rubbing, others remain functional. This segmentation ensures continued cooling effectiveness even under rubbing conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling holes are arranged in a specific three-dimensional pattern on the squealer tip surface, creating spatial redundancy. This dimensional arrangement ensures that rubbing contact at one location does not affect all cooling holes, maintaining cooling performance through geometric distribution.
2Loss of energy
If the tip gap is reduced to improve aerodynamic efficiency, then gas leakage is reduced, but the risk of tip rubbing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The squealer tip structure is designed in advance with built-in cooling capabilities and rubbing resistance features, allowing the blade to maintain performance even when tip rubbing occurs, thereby enabling smaller tip gaps without increasing rubbing risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The design accepts that tip rubbing may occur and converts this potentially harmful condition into a non-critical issue by providing redundant cooling holes and protective structures, allowing the squealer tip to continue functioning effectively even under rubbing conditions.
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 design effectively reduces gas leakage and improves cooling performance by protecting the cooling holes from plugging during tip rubbing, ensuring stable operation and reduced maintenance needs in harsh environments.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling hole communicating with the cavity along a radial direction of the turbine blade
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a turbine blade including a blade part having an airfoil in a cross section having a leading edge, a trailing edge, and a pressure surface and a suction surface connecting the leading edge and the trailing edge, the blade part extending radially from a platform part to a tip portion as a free end in the turbine blade, wherein a cavity through which cooling air flows is formed inside the turbine blade, wherein a squealer tip having a predetermined thickness protrudes along an edge of the tip portion so that a squealer pocket is formed on an inner side of the tip portion by the squealer tip, wherein the squealer tip is provided with a cooling hole communicating with the cavity along a radial direction of the turbine blade, and wherein an undercut is formed around the cooling hole of the squealer tip by cutting a part of the squealer tip in a circumferential direction.