Flexible damper for turbine blades

A rotor assembly comprising:

• a disc comprising a plurality of elongated channels provided therein and spaced along a disc periphery and a plurality of disc posts, each disc post positioned between each channel;
• a plurality of turbine blades, each turbine blade comprising an airfoil having a trailing edge and a leading edge joined by a pressure side and a suction side to provide an outer surface extending from a platform in a radial direction to a tip, wherein each turbine blade airfoil is installed in each of the elongated channels on the disc;
• and
• a plurality of flexible dampers each comprising a plurality of segments, each segment comprising a first side, a second side generally opposite the first side, a top side, a bottom side, a length, a width, and a thickness;
• wherein each damper is removably placed into a slot in between adjacent blades of the plurality of blades, and
• wherein each segment comprises an extended portion and a cutout portion along the bottom side, wherein the extended portion of one segment of the plurality of segments overlaps the cutout portion of another segment of the plurality of segments next to the one segment.

A method for attaching dampers to a rotor assembly comprising:

• installing a plurality of turbine blades onto a disc comprising a plurality of elongated channels provided therein and spaced along a disc periphery,
• wherein the plurality of turbine blades each comprise an airfoil, a trailing edge and a leading edge joined by a pressure side and a suction side to provide an outer surface extending in a radial direction to a tip,
• wherein the plurality of turbine blades are installed in each of the elongated channels on the disc,
• removably attaching the dampers, each damper comprising a plurality of segments, each segment comprising a first side, a second side generally opposite the first side, a top side, a bottom side, a length, a width, and a thickness,
• wherein each segment comprises an extended portion and a cutout portion along the bottom side, wherein the extended portion of one segment of the plurality of segments overlaps the cutout portion of another segment of the plurality of segments next to the one segment.