GAS TURBINE ENGINE COMPONENTS HAVING SEALED STRESS RELIEF SLOTS AND METHODS FOR THE FABRICATION THEREOF

• Main Authors: Mirzamoghadam, Alexander, Zurmehly, Ed, Smoke, Jason, Tucker, Bradley Reed, Riahi, Ardeshir
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 28.10.2015
• Subjects: BLASTING; CASTING; CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; HEATING; INDEXING SCHEME FOR ASPECTS RELATING TONON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES OR ENGINES, GAS-TURBINES ORJET-PROPULSION PLANTS; INDEXING SCHEMES RELATING TO ENGINES OR PUMPS IN VARIOUSSUBCLASSES OF CLASSES F01-F04; LIGHTING; MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; NON-POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT MACHINES OR ENGINES, e.g. STEAMTURBINES; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; POWDER METALLURGY; STEAM ENGINES; TRANSPORTING; WEAPONS

Embodiments of a gas turbine engine component (60) having sealed stress relief slots are provided, as are embodiments of a gas turbine engine (20) containing such a component. In one embodiment, the gas turbine engine includes a core gas flow path (92), a secondary cooling flow path (94), and a turbine nozzle or other gas turbine engine component. The component includes, in turn, a component body (62, 64, 66) through which the core gas flow path extends, a radially-extending wall (70) projecting from the component body and into the secondary cooling flow path, and one or more stress relief slots (74) formed in the radially-extending wall. The stress relief slots are filled with a high temperature sealing material (104), which impedes leakage between the second cooling and core gas flow paths and which fractures to alleviate thermomechanical stress within the radially-extending wall during gas turbine engine operation.