Method for forming a cooling passage and for cooling a turbine section of a rotary machine
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorBrian Merry
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for cooling the trailing edge 126, 146 region of a stator vane platform 48, 54 and for forming a cooling passage 198, 214 using platform slots in the side of a stator vane is disclosed. Various steps are developed which provide for effective cooling with minimal intrusion into the working medium flowpath 18. In one particular embodiment, the method includes extending a feather seal slot rearwardly with an extension 88, 96 in facing sides 116, 118, or 136, 138 of a pair of vane platforms 48, 54 and for flowing cooling fluid laterally prior to discharging the cooling air for impingement cooling of an adjacent stator vane.
Claims19
A method for cooling a turbine section of a rotary machine having a working medium flowpath, the turbine section including an array of coolable stator vanes, each stator vane having an airfoil extending radially outwardly into the working medium flowpath, the airfoil having a leading edge, a trailing edge and flow directing surfaces which extend between the edges and which include a suction surface and a pressure surface, the stator vane having a platform which bounds the working medium flowpath which has a suction side, a pressure side, a leading edge region and a trailing edge region, the trailing edge region having a serpentine passage in the trailing edge region for cooling fluid, comprising:
- flowing cooling fluid to the rearmost, last leg of the passage;
- flowing cooling fluid entering the passage along a flowpath which extends laterally in the rearmost leg;
- then,
- forming a stream of cooling fluid which is oriented in the lateral direction and which has at least thirty percent of the flow entering the passage;
- and,
- discharging said stream of cooling fluid from the interior of the platform in the lateral direction;
- impinging the stream on the suction side of the platform of the adjacent vane in the trailing edge region;
- wherein the cooling fluid provides impingement cooling to the suction side of the platform of the one vane and provides convective cooling in the serpentine passage to the trailing edge region of the adjacent vane.
A method for forming a cooling passage in a turbine section of a rotary machine having a working medium flowpath, the turbine section including an array of coolable stator vanes, each stator vane having an airfoil extending radially outwardly into the working medium flowpath, the airfoil having a leading edge, a trailing edge and flow directing surfaces which extend between the edges and which include a suction surface and a pressure surface, the stator vane having a platform which bounds the working medium flowpath which has a suction side, a pressure side, a leading edge region and a trailing edge region, comprising:
- forming a platform on a first stator vane and a second stator vane which includes
- forming a feather seal slot which extends rearwardly in one of said sides of one of said stator vanes and forming an extension of the feather seal slot which continues to the trailing edge of the platform of the stator vane, and
- disposing in said feather seal slot a feather seal member which does not extend to the trailing edge of the platform;
- forming a cooling passage on the interior of the platform of the second vane which includes a leg extending across the platform adjacent the trailing edge;
- forming an exit conduit for ducting cooling air from the second vane under operative conditions and orienting the conduit so that flow under operative conditions in the exit conduit impinges on the suction side of the platform of the first vane and continues rearwardly to form a stream of cooling air directed at an adjacent downstream structure and which penetrates any downstream boundary layers to provide film cooing to the downstream structure.
A method for cooling a turbine section of a rotary machine having a working medium flowpath, the turbine section including an array of coolable stator vanes, each stator vane having an airfoil extending radially outwardly into the working medium flowpath, the airfoil having a leading edge, a trailing edge and flow directing surfaces which extend between the edges and which include a suction surface and a pressure surface, the stator vane having a platform which bounds the working medium flowpath which has a suction side, a pressure side, a leading edge region and a trailing edge region, comprising
- forming a first stator vane and a second stator vane adjacent to each other, each having a platform, which includes
- forming a serpentine passage in each vane for ducting cooling air rearwardly in the trailing edge region of the vane, the passage having a laterally extending rearmost pass which extends between the suction side and the pressure side;
- forming a feather seal slot which extends rearwardly in the pressure side and the suction side of the platform of each of the stator vanes and forming an extension by continuing the slots to the trailing edge of the stator vanes, and
- forming a radially extending second feather seal slot in the rail extending from the platform of each of the stator vanes which extends in the spanwise direction, the second feather seal slot intersecting the first feather seal slot;
- disposing a feather seal member which has a first leg disposed in the adjacent first feather seal slots, the first leg not extending to the trailing edge of the platform and a second leg which is integral with the first leg which extends radially and is disposed in the second feather seal slots trapping the feather seal member in the axial direction;
- forming an exit conduit for ducting cooling air from the first vane under operative conditions and directing the slot so that flow under operative conditions through the exit conduit impinges on the suction side of the platform of the second vane and continues rearwardly in the extensions of the feather seal slots to form a stream of cooling air directed at an adjacent downstream structure to provide film cooling to the downstream structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.