Controlled leakage pin and vibration damper for active cooling and purge of bucket slash faces

• US 7,163,376 B2
• Filed: 11/24/2004
• Issued: 01/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Infrastructure Technology, LLC (General Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Itzel, Gary Michael, Jacala, Ariel Caesar-Prepena
• Primary Examiner(s): Look; Edward K.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HANAN, DEVIN J
• Application Number:
  US10/995,342
• Publication Number:
  US 20060110255A1
• Time in Patent Office: 783 Days
• Field of Search: 415/115, 415/119, 416/97.R, 416/193.A, 416/500
• US Class Current: 416/193.00A
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 11/006 Sealing the gap between rotor blades or blades and rotor
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 11/008 by spacer elements between the blades, e.g. independent interblade platforms
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 5/16 for counteracting blade vibration
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 5/22 Blade-to-blade connections, e.g. for damping vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2260/96 Preventing, counteracting or reducing vibration or noise
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 50/60 Efficient propulsion technologies, e.g. for aircraft

Abstract

Damper pins are disposed in circumferentially registering grooves of turbine bucket platform slash faces. The pins have a plurality of channels formed about peripheral portions thereof for flowing leakage cooling air from below the platform past the pin and groove into the interplatform gap. The channels may be staggered in an axial direction. By flowing cooling air through the channels, the slash faces are convectively cooled, opposite slash faces to the channels are impingement cooled and the exiting cooling air purges the gap between the slash faces adjacent the hot gas path. Alternatively, the channels may be formed in the grooved surfaces and a cylindrical damping pin may be inserted with similar cooling effects.

Claims

1. Cooling apparatus for a turbine, comprising:

adjacent turbine bucket platforms having opposed slash faces; and

;

a generally cylindrical-shaped pin having a plurality of channels formed about peripheral portions of the pin at spaced axial locations therealong for communicating a cooling medium through said channels and cooling at least one of the slash faces of the adjacent turbine bucket platforms, wherein said channels extend along opposite sides of said pin.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said channels terminate short of the full periphery of the pin.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said channels are staggered relative to one another along the length of said pin.

4. In a turbine having a pair of circumferentially adjacent buckets having bucket platforms with slash faces in general circumferential registration with one another, each said slash face including a groove in generally circumferential registration with one another below surfaces of said platforms exposed to a hot gas path of the turbines, a cooling system for cooling at least one of the slash faces comprising a generally cylindrical pin disposed in said registering grooves having a plurality of channels formed about peripheral portions of the pin at spaced axial locations therealong for communicating a cooling medium through said channels and cooling at least one of the slash faces of the adjacent turbine bucket platforms wherein surfaces of one of said grooves lie in opposition to said channels and are convectively cooled by the cooling medium flowing in the channels.

5. The system according to claim 4 wherein said channels have discharge ports for directing the cooling medium exiting the channels to impingement cool another of said slash faces.

6. The system according to claim 5 wherein said groove surfaces form part of said one slash face and said cooling channels are arranged to convectively cool said one slash face and impingement cool said another slash face.

7. The system according to claim 4 wherein said channels extend along opposite sides of said pin and terminate short of the full periphery of the pin.

8. The system according to claim 4 wherein said channels lie along opposite sides of said pin and are staggered relative to one another along the length of said pin.

9. A cooling system for a turbine having a hot gas path comprising:

an annular array of turbine buckets each having an airfoil, a root and a platform with slash faces of adjacent bucket platforms in circumferential registration with one another,

each said slash face including an elongated arcuate groove in generally circumferential registration with one another below surfaces of the platforms exposed to the hot gas path of the turbine, at least one of said slash faces including a plurality of axially spaced arcuate channels formed within peripheral surface portions of one of the arcuate grooves thereof, and

a substantially cylindrical damper pin disposed along adjacent pairs of said grooves enabling a cooling medium for flow through said channels of said one groove and cooling at least one or another of the slash faces of the adjacent turbine buckets, wherein said arcuate channels and adjacent surfaces of said damper pin are substantially parallel.

10. A system according to claim 9 wherein said channels are formed in each of said grooves.

11. A system according to claim 10 wherein said channels are staggered relative to one another along the lengths of said grooves.

12. A system according to claim 11 wherein the surfaces of said channels are convectively cooled by the cooling medium.

13. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said channels have discharge ports for directing the cooling medium to impingement cool a slash face opposite the slash face containing said channels.