Other

Southern California Edison Company

Southern California Edison

Ralph J Ortolano

Kenneth A Ball

Gary Bowman

Eugene V Clark

Richard E Serpa

Patrick O Smith

John P Pepe

Steam turbine fluid directing components are improved in erosive wear resistance by application of either relatively tougher and relatively less hard thermal spray or relatively harder and relatively less tough diffusion alloy surface modification to different portions of the component as a function of the locally greater or locally smaller angle of attack of solid particles on those portions in the use condition of the component.

Steam turbine components with differentially coated surfaces

Turbine blades are held in groups formed by a series of spaced lugs constituting a lashing structure. Selected lugs have gaps which are 'Z'-shaped, the gaps tending to close during untwisting of the blades when the blades are subjected to high centrifugal forces.

Turbine lashing structure

A component is provided with a relative undersize in an area to be subjected to increased stress, for instance, through temperature. The component is made of a hardenable steel. The undersize is overlaid with a non-hardenable steel thereby to provide the full size. A second layer on top of the first layer can be provided. When the second layer is metallurgically bonded in a manner that generates heat, it does not cause a heat affected zone in the base hardenable steel. Blades for steam turbines benefit from this procedure.

Components made of hardenable and non-hardenable materials

An integral covered blading for a turbine is achieved by cutting a short arc cover spanning tips of multiple adjacent blades. Adjacent cover portions are formed for adjacent blades, each portion having facing sides. A material buildup between the facing sides of cover portions is effected and selective machining of the material buildup develops an interface between adjacent cover portions of adjacent blades. Short group blading is thereby converted to equivalent integral covered blading.

Converting grouped blading to equivalent integral covered blading

A tool for locating a predetermined number of turbine blades in relative operative position with each other includes a base with a space and walls with a space between them. Blades are located sequentially and adjacently. An arc of curvature is representative of the arc of curvature for a rotor for accommodating the blades ordinarily. When the blades are located, the curvature of the top conforms with the curvature of the rotor. The blades can then be adjusted and aligned such that when located in the rotor they will be accurately positioned. With a serrated root, the root is located near the plate and held with steeple screws. With a forked root, there is a post between the fork. A finger root is secured between sidewalls.

Blade assembling

Method of converting grouped blading to equivalent integral covered

Fitting a shroud band to the tenons located at the tips of a blade of a turbine uses a jig. The precise location of the tenons relative to pitch, radial and axial location is determined by fingers which can interlock with an elongated segment. The fingers have apertures which define the position of the tenons. The apertures in the fingers are transferred to a shroud band into which apertures are formed. The shroud band is progressively apertured to form a long arc shroud for adjacent blades of the turbine.

Shroud fitting

Steam turbine blades and buckles are attached to a rotor with pins which fit through dove-tailed connections. In one extremity of the blade and a mating position on the rotor. The pins are composed of a first material which is in a state of compression due to shot peening, a second metallic material being on the surface of the pins. The second metallic material is not as hard as the first material and provides a relative lubricating surface to facilitate removal from a mating aperture in the dove-tail formations.

Connector for turbine element

A tool for locating a predetermined number of turbine blades in relative operative position with each other includes a base with a space and sidewalls with a space between them. Blades are located sequentially and adjacently between the sidewalls so that the blades are accurately and snugly located between the sidewalls. The top of the sidewalls has an arc of curvature representative of the arc of curvature for a rotor for accommodating the blades ordinarily. When the blades are located in the space, the curvature of the top of the sidewalls conforms with the curvature of the rotor. The blades can then be adjusted and aligned such that when located in the rotor they will be accurately positioned.

Blade assembly tool

An improved bladed rotor structure for an axial structure for a turbine which is easy to disassemble and produces high damping. Coupling members are located between adjacent blade ends to couple adjacent blades together. Anchoring elements affix adjacent blades with the coupling members which are non-rightangular parallelogram-shaped blocks.

Structure for an axial flow elastic fluid utilizing machine

An axial flow rotor disc apparatus of the radial blade entry type wherein bifurcated roots of the blades engage opposite sides of a circumferential rib member of the disc has shims or root liners between at least some of the blades for adjusting the blade spacing to match the circumference of the disc. The root liners are split into pairs for separate insertion from opposite sides of the rib member at convenient locations around the periphery of the disc, without requiring insertion at an entry slot for the blades. In one version of the apparatus, the liners are retained against the rib member by deforming corners of the roots circumferentially over the liners. In another version, the liners have dogs that engage cavities in the adjacent root. The liners can also be joined along an interlocking split line for holding each pair together.

Bladed rotor structure having bifurcated blade roots

Turbine blades are held in long arc groups by a shroud structure, with gaps between segments of the shroud structure. These gaps are Z-shaped, the gaps tending to close due to untwisting of the blades when the blades are subjected to high centrifugal forces.

Connected turbine shrouding

The blade rotor structure of an axial flow elastic fluid utilizing machine such as a turbine is divided into groups by a lashing wire structure. The lashing wires of adjacent groups are flexibly connected to each other by sleeves that are held in place without heating so that the sleeves can be used with electroplated blades without the problems associated with brazing.

Sleeve connectors for turbines

An improved blade rotor structure for an axial flow turbine substantially reduces vibratory stress at resonant frequencies by rigidly connecting the blades to each other in groups equal in number to an integer multiple of the resonant frequency of the blades (i.e. a harmonic frequency) divided by the rotor running speed. Flexible tie means are used for connecting adjacent groups of blades together for substantially reducing axial-torsional vibration of the blades.

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Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, United States of America

Ralph J Ortolano