COMPONENTS WITH RE-ENTRANT SHAPED COOLING CHANNELS AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURE

• US 20120111545A1
• Filed: 11/10/2010
• Published: 05/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Infrastructure Technology, LLC (General Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Bunker, Ronald Scott, Wei, Bin, Hammond, Mitchell Nile
• Granted Patent: US 8,387,245 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 165/133
• CPC Class Codes: B23P 15/04 turbine or like blades from several pieces
• CPC Class Codes: B23P 2700/13 Parts of turbine combustion chambers
• CPC Class Codes: B24C 1/04 for treating only selected parts of a surface, e.g. for carving stone or glass
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/16 on metallic substrates or on substrates of boron or silicon
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/32 by explosion; by evaporation and subsequent ionisation of the vapours , e.g. ion-platingC23C14/34 - C23C14/48 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 4/02 Pretreatment of the material to be coated, e.g. for coating on selected surface areas
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 4/04 characterised by the coating material
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 4/12 characterised by the method of spraying
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 4/134 Plasma spraying
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 5/187 Convection cooling
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2230/10 by removing material
• CPC Class Codes: F28F 13/18 by applying coatings, e.g. radiation-absorbing, radiation-reflecting; by surface treatment, e.g. polishing
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 50/60 Efficient propulsion technologies, e.g. for aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49339 Hollow blade
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49341 with cooling passage

Abstract

A method of fabricating a component is provided. The method includes forming one or more grooves in a surface of a substrate, where the substrate has at least one hollow interior space. Each of the one or more grooves extends at least partially along the substrate surface and has a base and a top. The base is wider than the top, such that each of the one or more grooves comprises a re-entrant shaped groove. The method further includes forming one or more access holes through the base of a respective groove, to connect the groove in fluid communication with respective ones of the hollow interior space(s), and disposing a coating over at least a portion of the substrate surface. The one or more grooves and coating define one or more re-entrant shaped channels for cooling the component. A component with one or more re-entrant shaped channels and a method of coating a component are also provided.

Claims

1. A method of fabricating a component, the method comprising:

forming one or more grooves in a surface of a substrate, wherein the substrate has at least one hollow interior space, wherein each of the one or more grooves extends at least partially along the surface of the substrate and has a base and a top, wherein the base is wider than the top such that each of the one or more grooves comprises a re-entrant shaped groove;

forming one or more access holes through the base of a respective one of the one or more grooves, to connect the groove in fluid communication with respective ones of the at least one hollow interior space; and

disposing a coating over at least a portion of the surface of the substrate, wherein the one or more grooves and the coating define one or more re-entrant shaped channels for cooling the component.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising casting the substrate prior to forming the one or more grooves in the surface of the substrate.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more re-entrant shaped grooves are formed by directing an abrasive liquid jet at the surface of the substrate.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more re-entrant shaped grooves are formed by directing the abrasive liquid jet at a lateral angle relative to the surface of the substrate in a first pass of the abrasive liquid jet and then making a subsequent pass at an angle substantially opposite to that of the lateral angle.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of forming the one or more re-entrant shaped grooves further comprises performing at least one additional pass where the abrasive liquid jet is directed toward the base of the groove at one or more angles between the lateral angle and the substantially opposite angle, such that material is removed from the base of the groove.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the base of a respective one of the one or more re-entrant shaped grooves is at least 2 times wider than the top of the respective groove.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the base of the respective re-entrant shaped groove is at least 3 times wider than the top of the respective groove.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the base of the respective re-entrant shaped groove is in a range of about 3-4 times wider than the top of the respective groove.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a wall of a respective one of the one or more re-entrant shaped grooves is oriented at an angle φ

in a range of about 10-89 degrees relative to a surface normal.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the wall of the respective one of the one or more re-entrant shaped grooves is oriented at the angle φ

in a range of about 20-45 degrees relative to the surface normal.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein disposing a coating over at least the portion of the surface of the substrate comprises performing an ion plasma deposition.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the coating comprises a superalloy.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein disposing a coating over at least the portion of the surface of the substrate comprises performing a thermal spray process.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the thermal spray process comprises high velocity oxygen fuel spraying (HVOF) or high velocity air fuel spraying (HVAF).

15. The method of claim 1, wherein disposing a coating over at least the portion of the surface of the substrate comprises performing a low pressure plasma spray (LPPS) process.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more re-entrant shaped grooves (132) are formed using one or more of an abrasive liquid jet, plunge electrochemical machining (ECM), electric discharge machining (EDM) with a spinning electrode (milling EDM) and laser machining.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the coating completely bridges the respective one or more grooves such that the coating seals the respective one or more channels.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the coating defines one or more porous gaps such that the coating does not completely bridge each of the respective one or more grooves.

19. A component comprising

a substrate comprising an outer surface and an inner surface, wherein the inner surface defines at least one hollow, interior space, wherein the outer surface defines one or more grooves, wherein each of the one or more grooves extends at least partially along the surface of the substrate and has a base and a top, wherein the base is wider than the top such that each of the one or more grooves comprises a re-entrant shaped groove, wherein one or more access holes is formed through the base of a respective one of the one or more grooves, to connect respective ones of the one or more grooves in fluid communication with respective ones of the at least one hollow interior space;

and

at least one coating disposed over at least a portion of the surface of the substrate, wherein the one or more grooves and the coating define one or more re-entrant shaped channels for cooling the component.

20. The component of claim 19, wherein the coating comprises at least one of a metal coating, a bond coating, and a thermal barrier coating.

21. The component of claim 19, wherein the base of a respective one of the one or more re-entrant shaped grooves is at least 2 times wider than the top of the respective groove.

22. The component of claim 21, wherein the base of the respective re-entrant shaped groove is in a range of about 3-4 times wider than the top of the respective groove.

23. The component of claim 19, wherein a wall of a respective one of the one or more re-entrant shaped grooves is oriented at an angle φ

in a range of about 10-89 degrees relative to a surface normal.

24. The component of claim 23, wherein the wall of the respective one of the one or more re-entrant shaped grooves is oriented at an angle φ

in a range of about 20-45 degrees relative to a surface normal.

25. The component of claim 19, wherein the coating completely bridges the respective one or more grooves such that the coating seals the respective one or more channels.

26. The component of claim 19, wherein the coating defines one or more porous gaps such that the coating does not completely bridge each of the respective one or more grooves.

27. A method of coating a component without the use of a sacrificial filler, the method comprising:

forming one or more grooves in a surface of a substrate, wherein the substrate has at least one hollow interior space, wherein each of the one or more grooves extends at least partially along the surface of the substrate and has a base and a top, wherein the top is about 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm in width; and

disposing a coating over at least a portion of the surface of the substrate directly over open ones of the one or more grooves, wherein the one or more grooves and the coating define one or more channels for cooling the component.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

casting the substrate prior to forming the one or more grooves in the surface of the substrate; and

forming one or more access holes through the base of a respective one of the one or more grooves, to connect the groove in fluid communication with respective ones of the at least one hollow interior space,

wherein the coating comprises at least one of a metal coating, a bond coating, and a thermal barrier coating.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein disposing a coating over at least the portion of the surface of the substrate comprises performing at least one of:

an ion plasma deposition,

a high velocity oxygen fuel spray (HVOF) process,

a high velocity air fuel spray (HVAF) process, or

a low pressure plasma spray (LPPS) process.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein the coating completely bridges the respective one or more grooves, such that the coating seals the respective one or more channels.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the coating defines one or more porous gaps, such that the coating does not completely bridge each of the respective one or more grooves.