Moisture removal grooves on steam turbine buckets and covers and methods of manufacture
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsJoseph Mark Serafini, David Alan Caruso, Mark Edward Burnett, William James Sumner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Covers on bucket tips are provided with an access slot along a circumferentially facing edge of the cover at a location where moisture removal grooves of the bucket will intersect with the cover. Machine tooling is then applied to form the grooves along the suction side and adjacent the leading of the bucket. The machining runs out through the access slot forming grooves along the side edge of the bucket cover within the slot. The axial extent of the covers overlying leading and trailing edges of the buckets is maintained while enabling moisture removal by centrifugal action.
Claims11
A rotary component for a steam turbine, comprising:
- a turbine bucket having opposite suction and pressure sides, a leading edge, a trailing edge and a cover carried on a tip thereof;
- said bucket including a plurality of grooves extending along a portion of the suction side of the bucket toward said tip and adjacent the leading edge thereof;
- said cover having a plurality of grooves formed along an edge thereof and in registration with the grooves extending along the suction side of the bucket enabling the bucket and cover grooves to form substantial continuations of one another.
In a steam turbine:
- a plurality of circumferentially spaced turbine buckets about an axis, each said bucket having opposite suction and pressure sides, a leading edge, a trailing edge and a cover carried on a tip thereof;
- each said bucket including a plurality of grooves extending along a portion of the suction side of the bucket toward said tip and adjacent the leading edge thereof;
- said covers having a plurality of grooves formed along an edge thereof and in registration with the grooves extending along the suction sides of respective buckets enabling the bucket and cover grooves to form substantial continuations of one another.
A method of forming moisture removal grooves in a turbine bucket having a cover comprising the steps of:
- (a) forming a slot along a side edge of the cover between radially inner and outer surfaces thereof;
- and
- (b) forming moisture removal grooves along a suction side of the bucket and continuing along a base of the slot formed in the cover to form grooves in the cover which exit the cover at an outer surface location remote from the bucket.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.