Internal cooling of engine components

A component according wherein the leading edge portion of the component comprises a showerhead portion, the sub-chamber defined by the partitioning element being adjacent the showerhead portion.

A method of cooling a leading edge portion of a component of a gas turbine engine, the component having at least one internal cooling chamber for passage therethrough of cooling air, the said chamber including a leading edge portion and at least one inlet portion via which cooling air may enter the chamber from a feed source,

• wherein the method comprises:
• providing a partitioning element in the chamber inlet portion and extending to define a sub-chamber wholly or partly within the chamber which sub-chamber is bounded by the partitioning element and the leading edge portion, the sub-chamber having a sub-chamber inlet arranged to receive cooling air from the feed source the partitioning element being configured such that, in use, the cooling air velocity in the sub-chamber is less than the cooling air velocity in the remainder of the inlet portion, and
• when in use, cooling the component by feeding cooling air from the feed source into both the sub-chamber and the chamber, whereby the cooling air velocity in the sub-chamber is less than the cooling air velocity in the chamber outside of the sub-chamber.