Method for producing a rotor vane for a turbomachine

Abstract

A method for producing a rotor vane (10) for a turbomachine, including producing a rough casting, the heel of which has a downstream lip (121) with a transverse increased thickness (130) such that the lip has an upstream surface (134) substantially parallel to an axis The method further includes machining said increased thickness so that the downstream lip has an upstream surface (138) inclined in relation to the axis.

Claims

1. A method for producing a rotor blade-for a turbine engine, said blade comprising a vane which is connected at one end to a root and at the opposite end thereof to a heel bearing upstream and downstream knife-edge seals, which are inclined at least in part relative to the longitudinal axis (X) of the blade, the method comprising a step which consists in producing a blank casting which is to be machined, wherein the downstream knife-edge seal is formed by casting having a transverse machining allowance in such a way that said knife-edge seal has an upstream face which is substantially parallel to the above-mentioned axis, and in that the method comprises an additional step which consists in machining said machining allowance so that the downstream knife-edge seal has an upstream face which is inclined relative to the above-mentioned axis.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the knife-edge seals are produced by casting using a mould which, after solidification of the knife-edge seals, is removed from the blade by moving it in translation towards the outside in a direction which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis (X) of the blade.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the machining is carried out using a grinding wheel.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the knife-edge seals have different angles of inclination relative to the above-mentioned axis.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said upstream face extends over substantially the entire axial dimension of the downstream knife-edge seal.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the blank casting is made of an anisotropic material.

7. A mould for carrying out casting of the upstream and downstream knife-edge seals of the heel of a turbine engine rotor blade, comprising a first cavity for forming the upstream knife-edge seal and a second cavity for forming the downstream knife-edge seal, the cavities opening onto a substantially planar face of the mould which is intended to define an outer face of the heel of the blade, wherein the first cavity comprises a downstream face which is inclined relative to a normal to said planar face, and the second cavity comprises an upstream face which is substantially parallel to said normal.

8. A blank casting which is to be machined to produce a turbine engine rotor blade, comprising a vane which is connected at one end to a root and at the opposite end thereof to a heel bearing upstream and downstream knife-edge seals, the upstream knife-edge seal being inclined at least in part relative to the longitudinal axis of the blade, wherein the downstream knife-edge seal comprises an upstream face which is substantially parallel to the above-mentioned axis and a downstream face which is inclined relative to said axis.

9. The blank casting according to claim 8, wherein the upstream knife-edge seal is inclined by an angle of approximately 30° relative to the above-mentioned axis, and the downstream face of the downstream knife-edge seal is inclined by an angle of approximately 15° relative to said axis.

10. The blank casting according to claim 8, wherein said knife-edge seals are interconnected by a material web.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the anisotropic material is a nickel-based material.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will be better understood, and other details, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a rotor blade of a low-pressure turbine of a turbine engine;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view on a larger scale of the heel of the blade from FIG. 1, said heel bearing straight knife-edge seals;

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the heel of a rotor blade and of a mould for casting the inclined knife-edge seals of said heel;

(5) FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of another blade heel bearing inclined knife-edge seals;

(6) FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of the heel of a blank casting;

(7) FIG. 6 is another schematic perspective view of the heel from FIG. 5;

(8) FIG. 7 is another schematic perspective view of the heel from FIG. 5, after machining the downstream knife-edge seal of the heel from FIG. 5; and

(9) FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of a mould for casting the knife-edge seals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(10) Reference is made firstly to FIG. 1 which shows a rotor blade 10 of a low-pressure turbine of a turbine engine, said blade comprising a vane 12 which is connected at one end by a platform 14 to a root 16, having a dovetail cross section in this case, and at the opposite end thereof to a heel 18 bearing knife-edge seals 20 extending radially towards the outside (relative to the longitudinal axis A of the turbine).

(11) FIG. 2 shows a heel 18 of which the knife-edge seals are straight, that is to say that they extend in parallel with the longitudinal axis X of the blade, and FIG. 3 shows a heel having knife-edge seals which are inclined relative to said axis X.

(12) The blade 10 is produced by casting, for example by a lost wax technique. The casting process makes it possible to obtain a blank casting which is to be machined for the final grading of the different portions of the blade. This process is implemented using in particular a mould comprising cavities for producing the knife-edge seals.

(13) In the case where the knife-edge seals are straight (FIG. 2), the mould is removed by moving it in translation towards the outside in parallel with the axis X (arrow 22). In the case where the knife-edge seals are inclined (FIG. 3), the mould 26 should be removed by moving it in translation towards the outside in a direction which is parallel to the plane of inclination of the knife-edge seals (arrow 24).

(14) However, the latter operation is not feasible in practice, in particular because, in the blank casting, the knife-edge seals are interconnected by a material web which requires the above-mentioned mould to be removed in a direction in parallel with the axis X.

(15) The invention makes it possible to remedy this problem due to the downstream knife-edge seal being produced having a transverse machining allowance (or axial machining allowance along the above-mentioned axis A) which is intended to facilitate the removal of the mould in the preferred direction (along the axis X) and to be subsequently machined.

(16) FIG. 4 shows the heel 118 of a rotor blade 100 (in continuous lines) obtained by the method according to the invention, and the corresponding portion of the blank casting 101 (in dotted lines).

(17) The blank casting 101 is intended to be machined, for example by grinding. In the embodiment shown, the machined portions of the blank casting are: the upstream and downstream ends of the heel 118, the radially outer ends of the knife-edge seals 120, 121, the above-mentioned material web 128, and the above-mentioned machining allowance 130 which is provided on the downstream knife-edge seal. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the downstream knife-edge seal 121 has a thickness of approximately 1 mm at the radially outer end thereof and of approximately 3.7 mm at the radially inner end thereof, the machining allowance being approximately 1-2 mm.

(18) FIGS. 5 and 6 show the heel 118 of a blank casting 101 according to the invention, and FIG. 7 shows said heel 118 after machining the downstream knife-edge seal 121.

(19) The upstream knife-edge seal 120 is oriented from downstream to upstream towards the outside and facing upstream. Said seal comprises an upstream face 130 and a downstream face 132 which are inclined for example by approximately 30° relative to the longitudinal axis X of the blade.

(20) The downstream blade 121 of the blank casting 101 comprises an upstream face 134 (located opposite the upstream knife-edge seal 120) which is substantially in parallel with the axis X and a downstream face 136 which is inclined relative to said axis X and oriented from downstream to upstream towards the outside and facing upstream. The upstream face extends over substantially the entire radial dimension (relative to the axis A—or axial dimension relative to the axis X) of the knife-edge seal 121 and is connected at the radially outer end thereof to the outer radial edge of the knife-edge seal and at the radially inner end thereof to the radially outer face of the heel 118.

(21) The machining of the downstream knife-edge seal 121 and in particular of the upstream end portion thereof makes it possible to form an upstream face 138 on said seal which is inclined relative to the axis X, for example of approximately 15°. FIG. 4 shows the amount of material removed by machining. It is noted that the majority of this amount is removed in the region of the base or radially inner end of the downstream knife-edge seal 121.

(22) FIG. 8 shows a mould 150 for producing the knife-edge seals 120, 121 of the heel 118, said mould comprising cavities 152, 154 for forming the knife-edge seals which open onto a planar face 156 which is intended to define the outer face of the heel 118. The cavity 152 for forming the upstream knife-edge seal 120 comprises a face 158 which is inclined relative to a normal 160 to the planar face and is intended to define the downstream face 132 of the upstream knife-edge seal 120. The cavity 154 for forming the downstream knife-edge seal 121 comprises, on the side of the cavity 152, a face 162 which is parallel to the normal 160, and, on the opposite side, a face 164 which is inclined relative to said normal. The mould 150 further comprises a groove 166 opening onto the planar face 156 and connecting the two cavities 152, 154, said groove being intended to receive material for forming the above-mentioned material web.