General Electric Company

Antonio C Gominho

Gary Charles Liotta

John Howard Starkweather

Jonathan David Baldiga

Jeffrey Carl Mayer

Jordan Tesorero

Orin J Hall

James Daniel Longhurst

Accelerators, methods of manufacturing accelerators, and gas turbine engines are provided. For example, an accelerator for a gas turbine engine defines a radial direction and an axial direction and comprises an annular outer wall, an annular inner wall, an annular channel defined between the outer and inner walls, and a plurality of vanes disposed within the channel. The channel has an inlet for ingress of a cooling fluid and an outlet for egress of the cooling fluid. Each vane extends from the outer wall to the inner wall adjacent the outlet, which is angled such that an exit angle of the cooling fluid is nonzero with respect to both the radial and axial directions. The accelerator may be manufactured using an additive manufacturing method. The accelerator outlet may be disposed immediately upstream of a first turbine rotor blade stage of a gas turbine engine to direct the cooling fluid thereto.

Compound angle accelerator

A gas turbine engine rotor blade,includes a dovetail,and integral airfoil,. The airfoil includes a pair of sidewalls,extending between leading and trailing edges,, and longitudinally between a root,and tip,. The sidewalls are spaced laterally apart to define a flow channel,for channeling cooling air through the airfoil. The tip includes a floor,atop the flow channel, and a pair of ribs,laterally offset from respective sidewalls. The ribs are longitudinally tapered for increasing cooling conduction thereof.

Tapered tip-rib turbine blade

Growing community of inventors

Andover, MA, United States of America

Antonio C Gominho