US 6,981,840 B2
Converging pin cooled airfoil
Ching-Pang Lee, Cincinnati, Ohio (US); Ronald Scott Bunker, Niskayuna, N.Y. (US); and Chander Prakash, Cincinnati, Ohio (US)
Assigned to General Electric Company, Schenectady, N.Y. (US)
Filed on Oct. 24, 2003, as Appl. No. 10/692,700.
Prior Publication US 2005/0169752 A1, Aug. 04, 2005
Int. Cl. F03D 11/00 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 415—115 25 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A turbine airfoil comprising:
transversely spaced apart pressure and suction sidewalls joined together at chordally opposite leading and trailing edges and extending in span from a root to a tip;
a septum spaced between said pressure and suction sidewalls to define with said sidewalls first and second cooling circuits extending in span along opposite sides of said septum and converging between said leading and trailing edges;
said first circuit being disposed along said pressure sidewall, and said second circuit being disposed along said suction sidewall and extending aft from said first circuit to said trailing edge; and
an array of pins extending inwardly from said pressure sidewall at a discharge end of one of said first and second circuits, and said pins decrease in length to conform with said one circuit converging between said leading and trailing edges.