Stator Vane Platform Cooling Circuit Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manufacturing hot gas path components for turbomachines as multiple sub-components poses cooling challenges, leading to potential joint failure when exposed to high temperatures, and additive manufacturing of single components is costly and time-consuming.
Innovation Solution
A stator vane assembly platform with a main body extending between forward and aft ends, featuring a cooling circuit with a first plenum and at least one re-use plenum separated by a connecting channel, allowing coolant to be fluidly coupled between them for efficient heat transfer and reduced manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If hot gas path components are manufactured as multiple sub-components, then manufacturing cost and time are reduced, but cooling effectiveness deteriorates due to inability to fluidly couple cooling micro-channels between sub-components
Solution Approach 1:
The platform is divided into forward and aft portions that can be manufactured separately and then joined together. This segmentation allows for reduced manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining cooling effectiveness through the fluid coupling of plenums across the joint interface
Solution Approach 2:
The joint structure serves as an intermediary element that enables fluid coupling between the forward and aft portions. The joint includes features such as recesses, protrusions, and sealed passages that allow cooling fluid to flow continuously from the forward plenum through the joint into the aft plenum, thereby maintaining cooling effectiveness across the segmented structure
2Temperature
If complex cooling schemes with small cooling passages are used, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but fabrication difficulty and manufacturing cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling circuit design transitions from two-dimensional near-wall cooling passages to a three-dimensional volumetric plenum system. This dimensional change allows for more effective cooling through increased coolant volume and improved flow distribution, while the larger features are easier to manufacture using conventional techniques
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling scheme changes the scale parameters of the cooling features, transitioning from micro-scale passages to macro-scale plenums and channels. This parameter change maintains cooling effectiveness through increased coolant flow capacity while significantly reducing fabrication difficulty and manufacturing cost
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 platform enables effective cooling of hot gas path components, enhancing the reliability of stator vane assemblies by reusing coolant between plenums, thereby reducing the risk of joint failure and lowering manufacturing costs and time.
Implementation Method 1
a connecting channel that fluidly couples the first plenum and the at least one re-use plenum
Implementation Method 2
air, typically bleed air from the compressor section, is forced through internal cooling passages within the airfoil and then discharged through cooling holes at the airfoil surface to transfer heat from the hot gas path component
Data Source
AI summary
A platform for a stator vane assembly includes a main body that extends between a forward end and an aft end. The platform further includes an opening that is defined within the main body. The opening is configured to receive an airfoil segment of the stator vane assembly. A forward portion of the main body extends between the forward end and the opening. An aft portion of the main body extends between the opening and the aft end. A cooling circuit is defined within the platform. The cooling circuit includes a first plenum defined in the forward portion, and at least one re-use plenum defined in the aft portion and separated from the first plenum. The cooling circuit further includes a connecting channel that fluidly couples the first plenum and the at least one re-use plenum.