DUAL WALLED COMPONENT FOR A GAS TURBINE ENGINE

Abstract

An air cooled component for a gas turbine engine including a first wall and a second wall having opposing inner surfaces to define a gap therebetween, and a lattice of intersecting elongate ribs extending longitudinally along the first and second walls and transversely between the inner surfaces of the first and second walls to provide a plurality of cells. One or more portions of the ribs include an aperture to provide a flow path between adjacent cells so that the cells are in fluid communication.

Claims

1. A dual wall aerofoil for a gas turbine engine, comprising: a first wall and a second wall having opposing inner surfaces to define a gap therebetween, the first wall being an external wall of the aerofoil, the second wall being an internal wall; a lattice of intersecting elongate ribs extending longitudinally along the first and second walls and between the inner surfaces of the first and second walls to provide a plurality of cells, wherein one or more portions of ribs include an aperture to provide a flow path between adjacent cells such that the cells are in fluid communication, wherein the lattice of intersecting elongate ribs are provided along intersecting imaginary longitudinal axes which are distributed across the inner surfaces and include a plurality of first longitudinal axes extending in a first direction, and a plurality of second longitudinal axes extending in a second direction wherein the plurality of first and second longitudinal axes are arranged at an angle to each so as to intersect to form a lattice and to define the plurality of cells.

2. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1, wherein the adjacent axes within either or both of the first longitudinal axes and second longitudinal axes, or portions of the ribs associated with each axis, are uniformly spaced from one another.

3. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in either of claim 1, wherein the ribs are straight or curved.

4. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1, wherein the aperture is one of a through-hole, a notch or a discontinuity of rib along the one of the axes.

5. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of cells are bounded by a plurality of ribs which join at intersections, the ribs having a common intersection are adjacent ribs and the ribs not having a common intersection are opposing ribs, further comprising a plurality of apertures located in adjacent ribs only or in opposing ribs only.

6. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1, wherein a hub is located at an intersection of two or more ribs, wherein the hub has a transverse section in the plane of one or more of the walls which is either round or polygonal or x-shaped.

7. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1, wherein a pedestal is located at an intersection of two or more axes.

8. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 7, wherein one or more ribs extend from the pedestal along an axis of the first longitudinal axes, or an axis of the second longitudinal axes.

9. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cells extend between the inner surfaces of the first and second walls at an inclined angle relative to either or both of the inner surfaces.

10. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 9, wherein the inclined angle of the cell is between 45 degrees and 75 degrees.

11. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1 wherein the angle is between 45 degrees and 75 degrees to each other.

12. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1 wherein the plurality of cells are bounded by a plurality of ribs which join at intersections, the ribs having a common intersection are adjacent ribs and the ribs not having a common intersection are opposing ribs and wherein the apertures are arranged in a sequence of opposing walls to provide a fluid path generally in line with the direction of a first group of ribs.

13. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of cells are bounded by a plurality of ribs which join at intersections, the ribs having a common intersection are adjacent ribs and the ribs not having a common intersection are opposing ribs, wherein the apertures are arranged in a sequence of adjacent walls to provide a fluid path transverse to the longitudinal axes of a first and second group of ribs.

14. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1 in which either or both of an inlet aperture and an outlet aperture is provided in either or both of the first or second walls.

15. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1 wherein the second wall is aerofoil shaped.

16. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more pedestals are provided at the intersections of the first and second longitudinal axes.

17. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more apertures provides a partial height rib which extends partially from either or both of the inner surfaces of the first or second wall wherein the partial height rib forms a turbulator.

18. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cells have four sides.

19. A dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gap between the first wall and the second wall is uniform.

20. A method of creating a dual wall aerofoil as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and second walls are separately cast and wherein at least one of the walls is machined to provide the ribs and apertures.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0040] Embodiments of the invention will now be described with the aid of the following drawings of which:

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a schematic longitudinal section of a gas turbine engine.

[0042] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of circumferential section of a high pressure turbine stage.

[0043] FIG. 3 shows a transverse section of an air cooled aerofoil.

[0044] FIG. 4 shows a schematic arrangement of ribs and associated cells of an air cooled component.

[0045] FIG. 5 shows various optional rib shapes in plan.

[0046] FIGS. 6a-d show examples of aperture shapes.

[0047] FIGS. 7a-c show examples of hub shapes.

[0048] FIG. 8 shows a transverse section of a dual wall component in which the cells are inclined to the planes of the first and second walls.

[0049] FIGS. 9 and 10 show different examples of cooling patterns.

[0050] FIG. 11 shows an arrangement of a dual wall component having inlet and outlet apertures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] Unless stated to the contrary, in the following description, the length of the ribs is the dimension along the longitudinal axis, the height is the dimension of the rib which extends between the first and second walls and the width is the dimension transverse to the length when viewed in plan. It will be appreciated that opposing walls may be defined as walls which are separated by at least one further wall, the further wall being an adjacent or adjoining wall. Axial and radial directions are taken to be in relation to the principal axis of the engine. Upstream and downstream directions are to be taken in reference to the main gas path flow.

[0052] FIG. 3 shows a transverse section (in relation to the radial) of an air cooled aerofoil 310 having leading 312 and trailing 314 edges with pressure 316 and suction 318 surfaces extending therebetween. The aerofoil has a dual wall construction in which there is provided a first 320 wall and a second wall 322 separated by a gap 324 therebetween. The first wall provides the outer, gas washed, surface of the aerofoil which resides within the main gas flow path in use. The second wall is an inner wall which is located within and enveloped by the first outer wall 320 of the aerofoil. The inner wall 324 comprises a pressure surface portion and a suction surface portion which are spanned by a plurality of webs 326 distributed along the axial length of the aerofoil 310. The inner wall 322 and webs 326 define radially extending flow passages 328 within the core of the aerofoil 310 for the distribution of cooling air as is well known in the art. The gap 324 between the inner 320 and outer 322 walls may be generally uniform across the extent of the of the component or may vary according as required.

[0053] The component may be any air cooled component. Within a gas turbine engine, such components may include an aerofoil or end wall of an aerofoil or a part of the combustor for example. The aerofoil may be that of a vane or blade similar to those shown in FIG. 2. The vane may be that of a nozzle guide vane. The blade may be a rotor blade.

[0054] FIG. 4 shows a perspective section of the aerofoil wall 311 which includes the first wall 320 and the second wall 322, the latter of which indicated by the dashed lines. The first 320 and second 322 walls include respective opposing inner wall surfaces 330 and 322 which define between them the aforementioned gap 324. The gap 324 between the inner wall surfaces 330, 332 is bridged by a plurality of projections in the form of elongate ribs 334 which define between them cells 336.

[0055] One or more of ribs 334 include an aperture 338 to provide a flow path between adjacent cells as indicated by the arrow 340 such that the cells are in fluid communication. The ribs 334 provide structural support between the first 320 and second 322 walls which allows the respective thickness of the walls to be reduced and the aerofoil mass reduced.

[0056] The ribs 334 can be thought of as being arranged on a lattice of intersecting imaginary longitudinal axes which are distributed across the inner surfaces 330 and 332 and define the plurality of cells 336. The longitudinal axes include a plurality of first longitudinal axes 342 extending in a first direction, and a plurality of second longitudinal axes 344 extending in a second direction.

[0057] The plurality of first 342 and second 344 longitudinal axes are arranged at an angle to each so as to intersect to define the plurality of cells. The shape and spacing of the axes 342, 344 and associated ribs 334 will determine the shape and size of the cells 336. In the depiction of shown in FIG. 4, a is 90 degrees and the axes are straight, equally spaced and parallel to each other (within their own respective set) such that the cells are square. However, as shown in FIG. 5, the first and second axes and associated ribs may differ in shape from one another as a set and within each set. The axes and ribs may be curved 346, straight 348, undulating 350, tortuous, wavy, saw tooth, castellated, zigzag 352 or any other shape or combination thereof. Thus, the distribution of longitudinal axes within each of the first and second groups of longitudinal axes may be uniformly spaced along their length or generally parallel 354 to one another. Alternatively, the axes and ribs may be angled relative to one another. The angling may provide a fanned distribution 356 in which the axes are closer together at a first end and further apart at a second end. The adjacent longitudinal axes may be divergent or convergent 358. The spacing of the axes may be even 362 or differ 360 throughout the distribution. It will be appreciated that FIG. 5 shows various possible alternatives which may but are unlikely to be used in the combination as shown. The exact distribution will be determined by the structural and load requirements of the component and portion of wall in question, together with the cooling required.

[0058] The shape of the cells may therefore be any shape. However, the cells will typically have four sides. The sides may be straight to provide a polygonal cell. The cell may be a quadrilateral. The quadrilateral may be a parallelogram and may be rectangular, square or rhomboidal.

[0059] The ribs 334 are arranged along the imaginary axes 342, 344 and extend between the inner surfaces of the first and second walls to partition and, in some cases, fluidically isolate the cells 336. However, one or more of the ribs may include an aperture 338 which fluidically connect adjacent cells.

[0060] The apertures 338 may be provided by any opening in a section of rib 334 which defines a cell 336. FIGS. 6a to 6d provides some alternative types of aperture. FIG. 6a shows a rib 634 carrying round through-holes in the form of a circle 638a1 and an oval 638a2. FIG. 6b shows an elongate aperture 638b which is bounded above and below by strips of shallow rib 639a, 639b which attach to the inner wall surfaces 630, 632 respectively, of the first and second walls act as a turbulator in use. Turbulators are elongate projections which sit into the cooling air flow to disrupt the cooling air flow and increase the heat transfer from the wall as is well known in the art. FIG. 6c provides a notch 638c in the rib so that a portion of the rib is attached to only one of the other of the first or second wall with a vacancy extending from the shallow rib to the opposing inner wall surface 632. The remaining partial height rib provides a turbulator similar to the strips described in relation to FIG. 6b. Finally, FIG. 6d which shows a plurality of discontinuities 638d in the length of the rib 634 so as to provide apertures in the form of gaps in the rib. The gap or gaps may be the full height of the rib 634. It will be appreciated that each portion of rib may have single or multiple types of apertures as required by the stress and cooling requirements for the specific location on the component. Further, other types and shapes of aperture may be possible.

[0061] The apertures 338 provide a fluid pathway between adjacent cells 336. The fluid pathway may be link a plurality of cells 336 in fluid series as shown in FIG. 3, or provide a parallel flow arrangement in which fluid can flow through multiple cells in parallel flow paths. The apertures may be any size or shape and placed between any cells 336 as required by the flow and stress distribution of the component. The apertures may be placed anywhere along the length of the ribs but are typically located at a mid-portion of the ribs. Further examples are provided in FIGS. 9 and 10 below.

[0062] As shown in FIGS. 7a to 7c, the ribs 334 may terminate in a hub, at the intersection with adjacent ribs 334. The hub may be in the form of a pillar or pedestal to provide the union. A pedestal may extend from one of the inner surfaces of the wall to a free end short of the other of the inner surfaces. A pillar extends full span between the two inner surfaces. It will be appreciated that pedestals can extend from each of the first and second wall inner surfaces so as to oppose one another.

[0063] The hub may have any desirable section such as diamond 364 or circular 365. Alternatively, the hub 366 may be provided by a simple intersection of the ribs 334.

[0064] The angle between the longitudinal axis of the ribs may be any desired angle but will preferably be between 45 and 90 degrees. In some examples the ribs will preferably be separated by an angle of between 45 and 65 degrees. The ribs in FIG. 4 are at approximately 90 degrees with those in FIGS. 7a-c, 65 degrees.

[0065] The ribs and therefore cells may extend perpendicularly between the inner surfaces of the first 320 and second 322 walls as shown in FIG. 4. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8, the ribs 334 and hubs 363 may be angled relative to the inner surface of the first 320 and second 322 walls such that the cell 336 is inclined.

[0066] The angle of inclination of the cells 336 may be defined by an offset between the position of the rib 334 or axes lattice on one of the inner wall surfaces relative to the opposing inner wall surface. The angle of the cells 336 inclination will be determined by the offset and width of the gap between the inner walls. In the example of FIG. 8, the angle of inclination of the cells is 45 degrees but the angle may be between 40 and 75 degrees. In some examples the cells will be inclined to each other by an angle of between 55 and 65 degrees.

[0067] The inclination of the cells 336 is beneficial as it allows the construction of the dual walls structure and lattice of ribs to be more readily fabricated using an additive later process. For example, if the aerofoil were to be constructed bottom up as presented in the view of FIG. 8, then the angle allows upper layers to be at least partially supported by the underlying layers. If the ribs and pillars lay perpendicularly to the inner surface of the wall, then the first layers to go down would not be amply supported. It will be noted that the exact angle required will be depending on the build orientation of the component and also the type of apertures that are used, as it is the edges of the apertures which may need to supported rather than the length of the ribs or pillars. A preferable angle for the inclination of the cells 336 may be preferably 60 degrees. Similarly, the angle between the first and second distribution of ribs may preferably be 60 degrees.

[0068] FIGS. 9 and 10 show examples of rib arrangements provided along the first and second axes having different configurations of apertures 338 to show how the flow path indicated by the arrows can be altered through the dual wall component. In both arrangements, there is provided a plurality of ribs 334 arranged along first and second imaginary axes which define cells 336. The plurality of first axes may be evenly distributed and parallel to one another. The plurality of second axes may also be evenly distributed and parallel to one another. The first and second axes intersect with one another at an angle of approximately 60 degrees to provide the lattice which defines the cells 336. Hence, the cells 336 are parallelograms in the form of a rhombi in which all the sides are equally sized.

[0069] The ribs 334 are provided along the axes and extend from the inner surface 330 of the wall and span the gap to the opposing inner surface.

[0070] The angle of inclination, or skew, of the cells in the direction perpendicular to the inner surface of the walls can be seen in FIGS. 9 and 10 which are plan views of the inner surface. Thus, the ribs 334 and hubs 363 extend out of the page and down so that the side walls of the ribs can be seen on the upper side thereof.

[0071] Various ones of the ribs 334 include apertures 338 in the form of discontinuities as shown in FIG. 6c. The discontinuities may extend partially between two adjacent hubs 363 so as to be a minority of the extent, or may be for all or the majority of the dimension between the two hubs 363, as required. In FIG. 9, the gaps in the ribs extend fully between adjacent hubs 363 and the same size in each instance. In FIG. 10, there is a distribution of sizes.

[0072] The portions of rib 334 which are removed from around a cell 336 may be determined according to a particular strengthening or flow pattern requirement. For example, apertures 338 may be in adjacent or adjoining ribs 334 of a cell 336 or in opposing walls of a cell 336, both of which are shown in FIG. 9. By selecting various aperture patterns, the flow path can be made to be aligned with the general direction of the axes, or traverse through the lattice. For example, the flow path may include apertures in two or more opposing walls in sequence to provide an aligned flow path, or sequentially in two or more adjacent walls to provide a traversing trajectory. Alternatively, the apertures may be provided in three or more of an individual cell's ribs 334 so as to provide a bifurcating flow path as shown to the right of FIG. 9.

[0073] As shown in FIG. 10, the ribs 334 may be removed on all sides of a plurality of adjacent hubs 363 to provide a distribution of pillars (or pedestals) extending between the inner surfaces of the inner and outer walls. These may be combined with a number of rib portions in an arrangement to provide a pillar arrangement with directed or metered flow. Hence, there may be an arrangement of pillars or pedestals in which some of the pedestals or pillars have ribs extending therefrom towards other hubs 363 to provide other forms of aperture. The apertures may be any of those described in connection with FIGS. 6a-d, such as those in which there is an absence of rib at the mid-portion of adjacent hubs. The apertures may be in the mid-portion between two hubs, or may be towards one or other of the hubs.

[0074] The flow access into the cells may be provided through a partitioning rib, or through an external aperture provided in one or both of the first and second walls of the dual wall component. The flow direction will provide the definition of the inlet and outlet apertures, but typically, the inner wall of the dual wall component may provide an inlet from the radially extending flow passages described in connection with FIG. 3, and the outlet will be in the externally facing wall to provide film cooling apertures or the like. However, the flow may be directed between flow passages within the inner wall of a component via the dual wall component, in which case the inlet and outlet apertures will both be in the inner wall. The apertures may be arranged in a single cell, or distributed amongst different cells.

[0075] As can be seen in FIG. 11, the first wall includes a series of inlet apertures 368, and the second wall includes a series of outlet apertures 370 to provide a flow path through wall via one or more of the cells.

[0076] The formation of the dual wall component of the type described herein may be achieved using an additive layer process such as selective laser sintering or e-beam sintering in which layers of powders are progressively laid down on a bed and the areas of the component selectively sintered in each layer. Another method would be a so-called cast bond process in which the two walls are separately cast and machined prior to being bonded together as is well known in the art. Thus, the first wall may be cast prior to having the ribs machined therein and the other of the walls being cast and bonded to the first wall thereafter.

[0077] It will be appreciated from above description of the additive layer fabrication technique that the term removal of a portion or portions of a rib to provide an aperture does not require a rib to be provided and subsequently machined or removed. Further, additional apertures may be provided in the inner and outer walls to allow the extraction of powder from the cells after fabrication. These powder holes may provide an in use outlet or inlet or may be sealed prior to using with an appropriate technique such as welding.

[0078] It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the described examples and embodiments and various modifications and improvements can be made within the invention as defined by the appended claims. Except where mutually exclusive, any of the features may be employed separately or in combination with any other features in the disclosure extends to and includes all combinations and sub-combinations of one or more described features.