Turbine blade

Claim 2

A fluid-directing element adapted to be incorporated into a turbomachine rotor and including a blade the spanwise direction of which is generally perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the rotor, the blade being a hollow structure of controlled porosity having a wall defined by the mutually bonded layers of metal having an array of holes extending through the layers for flow of a fluid through the blade wall, the holes in at least one of said layers being out of register with the holes in a contiguous layer, in which at least some of the holes are of oblong configuration with the long dimension of the holes extending generally spanwise of the blade so as to provide a high ratio of metal area to hole area in a chordwise cross section of the wall for a given ratio of hole area to total area in the plane of the layers.

Claim 3

A fluid-directing element as recited in claim 1 in combination with a turbine motor on which the element is mounted and a plurality of other fluid-directing elements as recited in claim 2 mounted on the rotor.

Claim 4

A fluid-directing element as recited in claim 1 in which at least one of said layers tapers in thickness toward the tip of the blade.

Claim 5

A turbine blade assembly comprising a base, a hollow porous blade fixed to and extending from the base, the blade having a wall tapering in thickness toward the tip of the blade, and a hollow porous reinforcing layer fixed to the base, lying against the interior surFace of the blade, and fixed to the blade, so as to reinforce the attachment of the blade to the base, the reinforcing layer having porosity increasing in the direction away from the base.

Claim 6

A turbine blade assembly comprising a base, a hollow porous blade fixed to and extending from the base, the blade having a wall tapering in thickness toward the tip of the blade, and a hollow porous reinforcing layer fixed to the base, lying against the interior surFace of the blade, and fixed to the blade, so as to reinforce the attachment of the blade to the base, the reinforcing layer having porosity increasing in the direction away from the base.

Claim 7

A blade assembly as recited in claim 4 in which the hollow porous blade is defined by a laminated metal structure.

Claim 8

A blade assembly as recited in claim 4 in which the blade is defined by a wall having pores at predetermined points and the reinforcing layer has holes registering with holes in the blade wall.

Claim 9

A blade assembly as recited in claim 4 in which the reinforcing layer tapers in thickness toward the tip of the blade.

Claim 10

A turbine blade assembly comprising a base, a hollow porous blade fixed to and extending from the base, and a hollow porous reinforcing layer fixed to the base, lying against the interior surface of the blade, and fixed to the blade, so as to reinforce the attachment of the blade to the base, the reinforcing layer tapering in thickness toward the tip of the blade and having porosity increasing in the direction away from the base.

Claim 11

A turbine blade assembly comprising a base, a hollow porous blade fixed to and extending from the base, and a hollow porous reinforcing layer fixed to the base, lying against the interior surface of the blade, and fixed to the blade, so as to reinforce the attachment of the blade to the base, the reinforcing layer tapering in thickness toward the tip of the blade and having porosity increasing in the direction away from the base.

Claim 12

A blade assembly as recited in claim 4 in which the reinforcing layer has slots through it and the concentration of slots increases in the direction away from the base.

Claim 13

A blade assembly as recited in claim 9 in which the slots are oblong with their major axes extending generally spanwise of the blade.

Claim 14

A fluid-directing element for a turbomachine adapted for transpiration cooling comprising in combination, an attaching portion configured for mounting on a turbomachine rotor and a blade extending from the attaching portion; the blade including a porous outer wall adapted for flow of a cooling fluid from within the wall to the exterior of the blade; and including an inner wall lying against and bonded to the outer wall, both walls extending into the attaching portion and being fixed to the attaching portion; the innner wall serving as stress-carrying member to reinforce the outer wall against stresses generated in the blade by centrifugal and fluid-dynamic forces; one of said walls tapering in thickness toward the tip of the blade the inner wall having pores extending through to conduct cooling fluid from within the inner wall to the outer wall; the ratio of pore volume to metal volume increasing in the inner wall in the direction away from the attaching portion so that the density and tensile strength of the inner wall increases in the direction toward the attaching portion.

Claim 15

A fluid-directing element for a turbomachine adapted for transpiration cooling comprising in combination, an attaching portion configured for mounting on a turbomachine rotor and a blade extending from the attaching portion; the blade including a porous outer wall adapted for flow of a cooling fluid from within the wall to the exterior of the blade; and including an inner wall lying against and bonded to the outer wall, both walls extending into the attaching portion and being fixed to the attaching portion; the innner wall serving as stress-carrying member to reinforce the outer wall against stresses generated in the blade by centrifugal and fluid-dynamic forces; one of said walls tapering in thickness toward the tip of the blade the inner wall having pores extending through to conduct cooling fluid from within the inner wall to the outer wall; the ratio of pore volume to metal volume increasing in the inner wall in the direction away from the attaching portion so that the density and tensile strength of the inner wall increases in the direction toward the attaching portion.

Claim 16

A fluid-directing element as recited in claim 11 in which both said walls taper in thickness toward the tip of the blade

Claim 17

An element as recited in claim 11 in which the outer wall has pores distributed in a predetermined pattern registering with pores in the inner wall and the pores in the inner wall are of greater area than those in the outer wall so that those in the outer wall control the effective porosity.

Claim 18

An element as recited in claim 11 in which the pores in the inner wall are oblong with the major axis directed substantially spanwise of the blade so as to provide a high ratio of metal area to pore area in a chordwise cross section of the wall for a given ratio of pore area to total area in the plane of the layers.

Claim 19

A fluid-directing element for a turbomachine adapted for transpiration cooling comprising, in combination, an attaching portion configured for mounting on a turbomachine rotor and a blade extending from the attaching portion; the blade including a porous outer wall made up of plural layers bonded together, the layers having pores through the layers defining passages through the wall adapted for flow of a cooling fluid from within the wall to the exterior of the blade; and including an inner wall lying against and bonded to the outer wall, both walls extending into the attaching portion and being fixed to the attaching portion, the inner wall serving as a stress-carrying member to reinforce the outer wall against stresses generated in the blade by centrifugal and fluid-dynamic forces; the inner wall having pores extending through it to conduct cooling fluid from within the inner wall to the pores in the outer wall; the pores in the outer wall registering with pores in the inner wall, the pores in the inner wall being of oblong configuration with the long dimensions of the pores extending generally spanwise of the blade so as to provide a high ratio of metal area to pore area in a chordwise cross section of the wall for a given ratio of pore area to total area in the plane of the layers; one of said walls tapering in thickness toward the tip of the blade.

Claim 20

A fluid-directing element for a turbomachine adapted for transpiration cooling comprising, in combination, an attaching portion configured for mounting on a turbomachine rotor and a blade extending from the attaching portion; the blade including a porous outer wall made up of plural layers bonded together, the layers having pores through the layers defining passages through the wall adapted for flow of a cooling fluid from within the wall to the exterior of the blade; and including an inner wall lying against and bonded to the outer wall, both walls extending into the attaching portion and being fixed to the attaching portion, the inner wall serving as a stress-carrying member to reinforce the outer wall against stresses generated in the blade by centrifugal and fluid-dynamic forces; the inner wall having pores extending through it to conduct cooling fluid from within the inner wall to the pores in the outer wall; the pores in the outer wall registering with pores in the inner wall, the pores in the inner wall being of oblong configuration with the long dimensions of the pores extending generally spanwise of the blade so as to provide a high ratio of metal area to pore area in a chordwise cross section of the wall for a given ratio of pore area to total area in the plane of the layers; one of said walls tapering in thickness toward the tip of the blade.

Claim 21

A fluid-directing element as recited in claim 15 in which both said walls taper in thickness toward the tip of the blade.