Ambient air cooling arrangement having a pre-swirler for gas turbine engine blade cooling

A gas turbine engine, comprising:

• an ambient-air cooling circuit comprising a cooling channel disposed in a turbine blade and in fluid communication with a source of ambient air that provides cooling fluid, wherein forces created by a rotation of the turbine blade motivate the cooling fluid through the cooling circuit, the improvement comprising:
• a pre-swirler, comprising:
• an inner shroud formed as a monolithic;
• an outer shroud formed as a monolith;
• and a plurality of guide vanes disposed in an annular array there between, the pre-swirler defining a plurality of nozzles defining part of the cooling circuit, each nozzle comprising:
• an outer end wall defined by the outer shroud between adjacent guide vanes;
• an inner end wall defined by the inner shroud between the adjacent guide vanes;
• and a pressure side and a suction side of the adjacent guide vanes,
• wherein the pre-swirler is configured to impart circumferential motion about a longitudinal axis of a rotor disc to the cooling fluid drawn through the nozzles and to direct the swirled cooling fluid toward a base of the turbine blade.

A gas turbine engine, comprising:

• an ambient-air cooling circuit comprising a cooling channel disposed in a turbine blade and in fluid communication with a source of ambient air that supplies cooling fluid:
• and
• a pre-swirler, comprising:
• an inner shroud;
• an outer shroud;
• and
• a plurality of guide vanes disposed between the inner shroud and the outer shroud;
• wherein the inner shroud, the outer shroud, and the plurality of guide vanes define an annular array of nozzles defining part of the ambient-air cooling circuit, each nozzle bounded by two adjacent guide vanes, an inner end wall of the outer shroud, and an outer end wall of the inner shroud;
• wherein the nozzles are configured to direct the cooling fluid traveling there through towards a plurality of cooling fluid inlets present in bases of adjacently disposed rotating blades, and
• wherein the nozzles impart circumferential motion to the cooling fluid flowing there through about an axis of rotation about which the rotating blades rotate.