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US 6,368,060 B1Granted
Shaped cooling hole for an airfoil
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsJeffrey Arnold Fehrenbach, John Howard Starkweather, Michael Beverley
Life of this patent
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AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsJeffrey Arnold Fehrenbach, John Howard Starkweather, Michael Beverley
Estimating the term…
A cooling hole configuration for an air-cooled component, such as a gas turbine engine airfoil. The cooling hole is configured to have cross-sectional variations and a noncircular-shaped diffuser-type opening that significantly improve the cooling film distribution across the external surface of an airfoil, with the result that heat transfer from the surrounding environment to the airfoil is reduced. The cooling hole is configured to have its central axis at an acute angle to the exterior surface of the airfoil, and defines a noncircular-shaped opening at the airfoil surface. The cooling hole generally has a first region adjacent the airfoil surface and a second region interior to the airfoil. The cooling hole is configured such that the second region has an oblong or oval-shaped cross-section, with a major diameter approximately equal to the major diameter of the first region and a minor diameter less than the major diameter of the first region, with a smooth transition existing between the first and second regions. The oblong shape of the second region is preferably the result of a recess being present in the wall of the cooling hole opposite the direction in which the cooling hole extends toward the airfoil surface, causing the central axis of the cooling hole to have an arcuate shape in which the central axis is disposed at a lesser angle to the airfoil surface in the first region than the angle in the second region. The cooling hole can be generated using a water jet technique.
An air-cooled component comprising a body of material having at least one cooling hole with a central axis at an acute angle to an exterior surface of the component the cooling hole including an opening at the exterior surface of the component, a first region adjacent the exterior surface of the component and a second region interior to the first region relative to the exterior surface, the cooling hole having diametrically-opposed first and second wall portions, the first wall portion being closer to the exterior surface of the component and the second wall portion being farther from the exterior surface of the component, the cooling hole having a recessed wall surface in the first wall portion within the second region of the cooling hole.
An air-cooled component of a gas turbine engine, the component having an airfoil comprising:
An air-cooled component of a gas turbine engine, the component having an airfoil comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.