Axial locking seals for aft removable turbine blade
AssigneeSiemens Energy, Inc.
InventorsGuido Ahaus, Axel Buschmann, Harald Hoell, Peter Schroeder
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A turbine blade rotor assembly provides sealing for the rotor components and bi-direction axially locking of the blades on the rotor using a seal plate on the aft exhaust side without axial locking on the forward intake side of the rotor and blade array. As a result, the blades can be removed from the aft direction without moving the turbine casing cover.
Claims9
A turbine blade rotor assembly having an array of turbine blades that can be disassembled downstream without removing a turbine casing cover, the assembly comprising:
- a rotor disk having an axis of rotation and extending axially from a forward, intake side to an aft, exhaust side;
- said rotor disk having axially extending disk grooves spaced about its circumference;
- an array of turbine blades, each turbine blade having an airfoil terminating in a blade platform and blade root;
- each blade root being axially mounted in one of said disk grooves;
- said rotor disk providing adjacent its aft, exhaust side a radially outward facing circumferential groove adjacent an inner tappet;
- each of the turbine blades providing a circumferential groove along its blade platform facing the circumferential groove of the rotor disk;
- each of said blade roots providing an outer tappet;
- a plurality of seal plates, each plate have an outer edge mounted in at least one of the turbine blade circumferential grooves, each plate having an inner edge mounted in rotor disk circumferential groove;
- and
- said plurality of seal plates collectively locking the turbine blades from axial movement by engagement with the inner and outer tappets, whereby the blades are axially secured from the aft, exhaust side and can be removed from the aft, exhaust side without the need to lifting a turbine cover.
In a turbine rotor assembly having a rotor disk having an axis of rotation and extending axially from a forward, intake side to an aft, exhaust side;
- said rotor disk having axially extending disk grooves spaced about its circumference;
- an array of turbine blades, each turbine blade having an airfoil terminating in a blade platform and blade root;
- each blade root being axially mounted in one of said disk grooves;
- said rotor disk providing adjacent its aft, exhaust side a radially outward facing circumferential groove adjacent an inner tappet;
- each of the turbine blades providing a circumferential groove along its blade platform facing the circumferential groove of the rotor disk;
- each of said blade roots providing an outer tappet;
- a plurality of seal plates, each plate have an outer edge mounted in at least one of the turbine blade circumferential grooves, each plate having an inner edge mounted in the rotor disk circumferential groove, said plurality of seal plates collectively locking the turbine blades from axial movement by engagement with the inner and outer tappets, and a turbine casing cover radially surrounding the array of turbine blades, a method for removing an array of turbine blades from the turbine rotor assembly without removing the turbine casing cover, said method comprising the steps of:
- releasing the turbine blades for axial rearward movement by removing the seal plates;
- and
- axially removing the blades towards the aft exhaust side without moving the turbine casing cover.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.