Airfoil with cast features and method of manufacture
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsGregory Terrence Garay, Douglas Ray Smith, Aaron Ezekiel Smith, Zachary Daniel Webster
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for forming a film hole in an outer wall of an airfoil. The film hole includes a blind opening adjacent the interior of the airfoil and a hole adjacent the exterior of the airfoil. The blind opening fluidly couples to the hole to form the film hole for providing a volume of fluid as a surface cooling film along the exterior of the outer wall.
Claims26
A method of manufacturing an airfoil with an outer wall having a hollow interior for a turbine engine comprising:
- forming a mold core with at least one nub;
- enclosing the mold core within a mold shell to define a cavity between the mold core and the mold shell, with the at least one nub extending into the cavity;
- forming a casting having the outer wall with a blind opening formed by the at least one nub by pouring liquid into the cavity where the liquid flows around the at least one nub, letting the liquid harden, and removing the mold shell and mold core;
- and
- forming at least one hole in the outer wall from an exterior of the outer wall, with the at least one hole intersecting the one blind opening.
An airfoil for a turbine engine comprising:
- an outer wall having an outer surface and an inner surface bounding a hollow interior, the outer wall defining a pressure side and a suction side extending axially between a leading edge and a trailing edge and extending radially between a root and a tip;
- at least one blind opening cast in the inner surface and terminating within the outer wall;
- and
- at least one machined opening extending through the outer surface and intersecting the at least one blind opening.
An airfoil for a turbine engine comprising:
- an outer wall having an outer surface and an inner surface bounding an interior, the outer wall defining a pressure side and a suction side extending axially between a leading edge and a trailing edge and extending radially between a root and a tip;
- at least one first blind opening formed in the inner surface and terminating within the outer wall;
- and
- at least one second blind opening extending through the outer surface and intersecting the at least one first blind opening.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.