Turbine wheels, turbine engines including the same, and methods of forming turbine wheels with improved seal plate sealing

A turbine engine comprising:

• a turbine wheel including:
• a plurality of turbine blades each operatively connected to the rotor disk through a blade mount with the blade mount bonded to the rotor disk and the blade mount and the rotor disk having a fore surface on a higher pressure side thereof and an aft surface on a lower pressure side thereof, wherein the blade mount comprises a blade attachment surface extending between and connecting the fore surface and the aft surface thereof with the turbine blade extending from the blade attachment surface;
• a gap defined between adjacent blade mounts separating the blade mounts and extending into the rotor disk with the gap comprising a pocket defined by and within adjacent blade mounts and having a fore opening in the fore surface of the adjacent blade mounts and the gap being free from an opening in the aft surface of the adjacent blade mounts such that the pocket remains entirely closed at the aft surface of the adjacent blade mounts;
• and
• a pocket seal disposed in the pocket;
• and
• a fore seal plate having a fore plate edge abutting the blade mounts about a circumference of the turbine wheel.

A method of forming a turbine wheel comprising the steps of:

• providing a turbine blade operatively connected to a blade mount and a blade ring comprising a plurality of blade mounts;
• bonding the blade ring to a rotor disk with the blade mounts and the rotor disk formed from dissimilar materials having different coefficients of thermal expansion;
• slotting the blade ring and the rotor disk along a radius thereof to form a gap between adjacent blade mounts with the gap separating the blade mounts and extending into the rotor disk, wherein the gap comprises a pre-formed pocket defined by adjacent blade mounts and having a fore opening in a fore surface of the adjacent blade mounts and free from an opening in an aft surface of the adjacent blade mounts such that the pre-formed pocket remains entirely closed at the aft surface of the adjacent blade mounts;
• and
• forming a pocket seal in the pocket through the fore opening.