General Electric Company

Robert Craig Akin

Ian David Wilson

Daniel David Snook

Sacheverel Quentin Eldrid

John Herbert Dimmick

Gene David Palmer

Ariel Caesar Prepena Jacala

Alan Richard DeMania

Charles Alan Bulgrin

Philip Michael Caruso

Richard Francis Gutta

Srinivas Ravi

Ralph Chris Bruner

Rachel Jane Obermeyer

Azad A Ladhani

Lisa Shirley Rathbun

Roger Clayton Walker

Fernando Casanova

A uniquely configured rotating seal tooth is used in conjunction with commonly used labyrinth-type seals that provide a seal between a rotating component and a stationary component. The uniquely configured rotating seal tooth produces a compression mechanism to counter leakage flow through the labyrinth of seal teeth, thereby lessening the pressure gradient that drives leakage and reversing the direction of some of the leakage flow.

Labyrinth compression seal and turbine incorporating the same

Blade load path on a gas turbine disk can be diverted to provide a significant disk fatigue life benefit. A plurality of gas turbine blades are attachable to a gas turbine disk, where each of the gas turbine blades includes a blade dovetail engageable in a correspondingly-shaped dovetail slot in the gas turbine disk. In order to reduce gas turbine disk stress, an optimal material removal area is defined according to blade and/or disk geometry to maximize a balance between stress reduction on the gas turbine disk, a useful life of the gas turbine blade, and maintaining or improving the aeromechanical behavior of the gas turbine blade. Removing material from the material removal area effects the maximized balance.

Blade/disk dovetail backcut for blade/disk stress reduction (7FA+e, stage 1)

In a turbine having closed-circuit steam-cooling passages about the rim of the rotor during steady-state operation, compressor discharge air is supplied to the rotor bore for passage radially outwardly into the wheel space cavities between the wheels and spacers. Communicating slots and channels in the spacers and wheels at circumferentially spaced positions enable egress of the compressor discharge air into the hot gas flow path. At turbine startup, cooling air flows through the closed-circuit steam passages to cool the outer rim of the rotor while compressor discharge air pre-warms the wheels and spacers. At steady-state, cooling steam is supplied in the closed-circuit steam-cooling passages and compressor discharge air is supplied through the bore and into the wheel space cavities to cool the rotor.

Rotor bore and turbine rotor wheel/spacer heat exchange flow circuit

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Greer, SC, United States of America

Robert Craig Akin