General Electric Company

Robert Ingram Ackerman

John Peter Heyward

David Edwin Budinger

Richard William Albrecht, Jr

Wayne Ray Grady

David Alan Frey

Sean Robert Keith

Alan Majors Walker

Leslie Eugene Leeke, Jr

Todd Stephen Heffron

Matthew Nicklus Miller

Gregory Alan White

Clive Andrew Morgan

Marek M Steplewski

Ronald Eugene Mc Rae, Jr

Kenneth Morand Lieland

Steven Curtiss Warfield

Richard Hartley Pugh

Cary Michael Kinder

Ronald E Schlechtweg

Edward F Pietraszkiewicz

Eric J Wienholts

Ian Craig Linscott

Carl D Wright

Todd S Heffron

Olive A Morgan

A turbine nozzle may be repaired by severing the inner band from the vanes and outer band, which may then be discarded. A replacement nozzle is cast to include replacement vanes extending between a replacement outer band and an inner web, with the replacement outer band and vanes conforming with the original outer band and vanes. The new web is configured differently than the old inner band and includes a tie bar. The inner band is machined to form vane seats. The web is machined to form plinths atop the tie bar at each of the replacement vanes. The plinths and tie bar are assembled through the vane seats and bonded to the machined inner band to collectively form the repaired turbine nozzle.

Turbine nozzle biform repair

A dovetail assembly including non-parallel relief faces that facilitates reduced pressure face brinelling in turbine engines. The assembly includes a plurality of rotor blades, each including a dovetail. Each dovetail includes at least a pair of blade tangs including blade relief faces. The dovetail assembly also includes a rotor disk including a plurality of dovetail slots, each sized to receive a dovetail. Each dovetail slot is defined by at least one pair of opposing disk tangs including disk relief faces. The disk relief faces are non-parallel to the blade relief faces when the dovetail is mounted in the dovetail slot.

Method and apparatus for non-parallel turbine dovetail-faces

A turbine nozzle includes segments of outer and inner bands supporting corresponding vane pairs. The bands adjoin each other at corresponding ends along splitlines, with each band having a forward land, an opposite aft land, and a middle land extending therebetween. The forward lands have a nominal aft-facing step, the aft lands have a nominal forward-facing step and the middle lands are nominally flush.

Selective step turbine nozzle

A gas turbine engine arcuate segment has an arcuate band segment, at least one tab and an arcuate rail segment spaced axially apart from the tab and located along an axial end of the band segment. The tab and the arcuate rail segment extend radially away from the band segment and a space is located between the tab and the rail segment. A tab aperture extends entirely through the tab. The rail segment has a rail aperture entirely therethrough. A leaf seal and a spring are disposed within the space to bias the leaf seal against the aft rail. In an exemplary embodiment, a spring aperture extends entirely through the spring, a seal aperture extends entirely through the leaf seal, and a headless pin is disposed in the apertures such that the leaf seal and the spring are radially restrained by the pin.

Turbine leaf seal mounting with headless pins

A nozzle vane includes a row of trailing edge apertures and cooperating inboard slots joined in flow communication with a mid-chord cavity. An outboard slot is spaced outwardly from a respective last one of the inboard slots, and outboard of a respective last one of the trailing edge apertures. The outboard slot extends behind a braze joint between the vane and a supporting band and is effective for backside cooling thereof.

Nozzle braze backside cooling

A shroud includes a panel having leading and trailing edges and inner and outer surfaces extending therebetween. A cooling passage extends through the panel from adjacent the leading edge to an intermediate location and is generally parallel to the inner and outer surfaces. The cooling passage has an inlet for receiving cooling air from adjacent the panel outer surface, a plurality of spaced apart turbulators disposed adjacent to the panel inner surface, and an outlet disposed at the leading edge for discharging the cooling air from the passage.

Cooled shroud

The invention comprises the use of a split retaining ring cooperating with an inner nozzle support member to retain nozzle segments and a stationary seal without the use of threaded fasteners. Elimination of bolt heads from the rotor/stator cavity reduces windage losses and enables a shortening of the inner nozzle band overhang, reducing the requirement for high pressure cooling and cavity purge air.

Boltless turbine nozzle/stationary seal mounting

Growing community of inventors

West Chester, OH, United States of America

Robert Ingram Ackerman