Turbine bucket plenum for cooling flows

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016017718-A1
Application number	US-201414335047-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 18, 2014
Priority date	Jul 18, 2014
Publication date	Jan 21, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A casted turbine bucket having at least one machined plenum including a plenum chamber and at least one plenum passage connected to a plenum inlet at a root portion of turbine bucket, and a method to feed cooling flow to the turbine bucket using the machined plenum that receives cooling flow from the root portion of the turbine bucket.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method to machine a casted turbine bucket having an airfoil portion, a platform portion, and a root portion, the method comprising:
machining an internal plenum into the turbine bucket, wherein the plenum includes a plenum chamber, a plenum passage, and a plenum inlet at the root portion of the turbine bucket.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one plenum is machined using a process that is a Shaped-Tube Electrochemical Machining (STEM) process, an Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) process, an Electrochemical Machining process, or a combination thereof.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plenum inlet at the root portion is connected to a cooling flow source.

4 . The method of claim 1 further comprising at least one cooling passage in the turbine bucket.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the plenum is connected to the at least one cooling passage in the turbine bucket.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plenum has a shape that is rectangular, conical, cylindrical, hexagonal, curved, pyramid, or a combination thereof.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plenum includes more than one plenum passages connected to one plenum chamber.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plenum includes one plenum passage connected to more than one plenum chamber.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plenum does not coincide with at least one casted air duct inside the turbine bucket.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plenum chamber is machined to have a horizontal dimension and a radial dimension, and the dimensions are larger than or equal to 1.2 times of a diameter of the plenum passage.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plenum passage does not have a consistent diameter throughout an entire length of the passage between the plenum chamber and the plenum inlet.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plenum does not include a radial through hole that extends into the airfoil portion.

13 . A method to supply additional cooling flow to a casted turbine bucket, comprising:
machining a plenum into a turbine bucket, wherein the machining of the plenum forms a plenum chamber, a plenum passage, and a plenum inlet at a root portion of the turbine bucket; connecting the turbine bucket to a turbine wheel; the machining step includes positioning an inlet to the plenum passage proximate to a source of cooling air and configured to receive cooling air into the plenum, and redirecting cooling flow to enter the inlet of the plenum at the root portion of the turbine bucket towards the plenum chamber inside the turbine bucket.

14 . The method of claim 13 further comprising at least one cooling passage inside the turbine bucket.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein at least one cooling passage is inside a platform portion of the turbine bucket.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein cooling flow is directed to flow through the plenum passage, the plenum chamber, and the at least one cooling passage.

17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the at least one plenum is machined using a process that is a Shaped-Tube Electrochemical Machining (STEM) process, an Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) process, an Electrochemical Machining process, or a combination thereof.

18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the machining process includes displacing material from inside the turbine bucket to create the plenum.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Zhang Xiuzhang James
• Debellis Lisa
• Wang Haiping

Classifications

• F05D2230/21

  by casting · CPC title

• F05D2230/11

  by electrochemical methods · CPC title

• F01D5/187 Primary

  Convection cooling · CPC title

• F05D2230/12

  by spark erosion methods · CPC title

• F05D2240/81

  Cooled platforms · CPC title