General Electric Company

Gaoqiu Zhu

Bhanu Mahasamudram Reddy

Tyler Frederick Hooper

Robert Francis Manning

Richard William Albrecht, Jr

Michael Jong Lee

Mark Douglas Gledhill

Douglas Bryan Ballantyne

Bridget Lucy Lessard

An apparatus and method of cooling an airfoil for a gas turbine engine includes a tip for the radially outer end of the airfoil with internal ribs defining cooling circuits within an interior of the airfoil. The ribs can be full-length, extending between a root and tip of the airfoil. A gap can be formed in the full-length ribs near the tip to form a thermal stress reduction structure for the full-length rib.

Turbine engine airfoil with cooling

Methods and apparatus for cooling gas turbine rotor blades is provided. The blade includes an airfoil having an internal three pass serpentine cooling circuit having radially extending first, second, and third serpentine cooling cavities partially separated by, in axially aft succession, a first radially extending internal rib and a second radially extending internal rib. The serpentine cooling circuit includes a first inlet in flow communication with the first cavity and a second inlet in flow communication with at least one of the second and third cavities wherein the first and second inlets are formed during casting of the airfoil.

Method and apparatus for cooling gas turbine rotor blades

Methods and apparatus for cooling gas turbine rotor blades is provided. The rotor blades include an airfoil having a pressure sidewall and a second suction sidewall connected together at a leading edge and a trailing edge, such that an internal three pass serpentine cooling circuit is formed therebetween. The cooling circuit includes radially extending first, second, and third serpentine cooling cavities partially separated by, in axially aft succession, a first radially extending internal rib and a second internal rib. The second rib includes a radially inner first portion and a radially outer portion wherein the radially outer portion is angled obliquely with respect to the first portion.

A turbine blade assembly for a gas turbine engine that includes a turbine platform including contoured edges. The turbine blade assembly includes a platform, a turbine airfoil extending radially outward from the platform, a shank that extends radially inward from the platform, and a dovetail extending from the shank. The platform includes a leading edge and a trailing edge separated by a pressure edge and an opposite suction edge, the pressure edge including a plurality of arcs extending between the leading edge and the trailing edge, the suction edge including a plurality of arcs extending between the leading and trailing edges.

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Billerica, MA, United States of America

Gaoqiu Zhu