Turbine Platform Curved Cooling Passages for Thermal Stress Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cooling arrangements for turbine components, such as film cooling and cored platforms, are either ineffective or difficult and costly to manufacture, failing to provide optimal cooling for the platform while being resource-intensive.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of curved cooling passages within the platform of a turbine component, which are designed to direct a cooling medium through the platform, offering enhanced design flexibility and improved cooling performance while being relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If film cooling holes are used to cool the platform, then cooling is provided in the localized region of the holes, but the cooling is less than optimal and requires an excessive amount of air
Solution Approach 1:
The platform is divided into multiple localized cooling zones through a matrix of cooling holes arranged in rows and columns. This segmentation allows cooling to be applied at multiple discrete locations simultaneously, improving overall cooling effectiveness while distributing the cooling air requirement across many smaller holes rather than requiring excessive air through fewer larger holes.
Solution Approach 2:
Cooling holes are strategically positioned at specific locations on the platform where thermal stress is highest. The non-uniform distribution of cooling holes creates localized cooling zones that target areas of maximum thermal load, providing optimal cooling efficiency by concentrating cooling air where it is most needed rather than uniformly distributing it across the entire platform surface.
2Temperature
If a cored platform is used to cool the platform, then cooling medium can be supplied through the platform, but the design flexibility is limited and the manufacturing process is expensive and difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of creating a single complex cored structure, the cooling function is segmented into multiple discrete cooling holes distributed across the platform. Each cooling hole is a simple cylindrical feature that can be independently formed, avoiding the complexity of creating and managing a continuous core structure while achieving comparable cooling effectiveness through the distributed array of holes.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling function is extracted from a complex cored platform structure and implemented through simple, standalone cooling holes that can be formed using conventional manufacturing techniques. This extraction simplifies the manufacturing process by eliminating the need for complex core formation and removal operations, reducing both manufacturing difficulty and cost while maintaining cooling capability.
3Temperature
If a cored platform is used, then cooling is provided through the platform, but the design flexibility for improving cooling performance is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling hole matrix provides a flexible, adaptable cooling configuration where the number, size, spacing, and positioning of cooling holes can be dynamically adjusted to match varying thermal load distributions. This dynamic configurability allows the cooling system to be optimized for different operating conditions and design requirements without being constrained by a fixed cored platform geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling hole distribution can be locally optimized by varying the density, size, and positioning of cooling holes in different regions of the platform based on local thermal stress patterns. This local quality approach provides maximum design flexibility to tailor the cooling performance to specific operational requirements, something that cannot be achieved with a uniform cored platform structure.
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 curved cooling passages effectively cool the turbine component's platform, reducing thermal stress and improving cooling efficiency with optimized medium distribution, providing a cost-effective alternative to existing methods.
Implementation Method 1
curved cooling passages to cool the component's platform
Implementation Method 2
cooling medium distribution
Data Source
AI summary
The present subject matter discloses a turbine component including a platform and an airfoil extending radially upward from the platform. A plurality of curved cooling passages may be defined in the platform. Each of the curved cooling passages may have at least one end disposed at an exterior surface of the platform. Additionally, each of the cooling passages may be configured to direct a cooling medium through the platform.