James R Downs

US Patent:

6634859, Oct 21, 2003

Filed:

Dec 10, 2001

Appl. No.:

10/006725

Inventors:

Bernhard Weigand - Filderstadt, DE
James P. Downs - Juno Beach FL

Assignee:

Alstom (Switzerland) Ltd - Baden

International Classification:

F01D 518

US Classification:

416 97R, 415115, 4151212

Abstract:

An apparatus and a process are provided for impingement cooling of a component exposed to heat in a flow machine. The component includes a wall section on at least one side of which at least one impingement air flow impinges, the air flow passing through a flow channel within a surface element arranged spaced apart from the wall section and striking against the wall section to be cooled. The flow channel has an inlet aperture and an outlet aperture, with the outlet aperture directly facing toward the wall section to be cooled, and the inlet aperture has a throughflow cross section which is smaller than the throughflow cross section of the outlet aperture.

US Patent:

7334992, Feb 26, 2008

Filed:

May 31, 2005

Appl. No.:

11/140786

Inventors:

James P. Downs - Jupiter FL, US
Norman F. Roeloffs - Tequesta FL, US
Edward F. Pietraszkiewicz - Southington CT, US

Assignee:

United Technologies Corporation - Hartford CT

International Classification:

F01D 5/18

US Classification:

416 97R

Abstract:

A turbine blade cooling system for a gas turbine engine includes a turbine blade having a trailing edge, a concave side, and a convex side. The trailing edge defines at least one set of impingement holes each having a central longitudinal axis which is closer to a nearest portion of an edge of the blade at one of the concave and convex sides relative to a nearest portion of an edge of the blade at the other of the concave and convex sides. Alternatively or in addition to the foregoing, the trailing edge can define at least one set of impingement holes each having a central longitudinal axis which is angled in a direction of a flow of cooling medium toward one of the concave and convex sides relative to the other of the concave and convex sides.

US Patent:

7371048, May 13, 2008

Filed:

May 27, 2005

Appl. No.:

11/140631

Inventors:

James P. Downs - Jupiter FL, US
Norman F. Roeloffs - Tequesta FL, US
Edward Pietraszkiewicz - Southington CT, US
David Michael Kontrovitz - Manchester CT, US
Takao Fukuda - East Hartford CT, US

Assignee:

United Technologies Corporation - Hartford CT

International Classification:

F01D 5/18

US Classification:

416 97R

Abstract:

A turbine blade system for a gas turbine engine includes a turbine blade having a trailing edge region extending in a lateral direction and in a lengthwise direction from a pressure side surface to a trailing edge. The trailing edge region includes a plurality of riblets extending in the lengthwise direction from the pressure side surface toward the trailing edge. The trailing edge region defines a plurality of ejection slots each laterally disposed between two of the riblets. The plurality of riblets each define an upper surface having at least a portion in the lengthwise direction being curved relative to the pressure side surface so as to generally shield the upper surface from a high heat load propagating from the pressure side surface and to facilitate cooling air flowing from the ejection slots to flow over the upper surface.

US Patent:

7419363, Sep 2, 2008

Filed:

Aug 18, 2005

Appl. No.:

11/206471

Inventors:

James Downs - Jupiter FL, US

Assignee:

Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc. - Jupiter FL

International Classification:

B64C 27/46

US Classification:

416223R, 416229 R, 416241 B

Abstract:

A blade used in a gas turbine engine in which the blade is formed of a blade portion made from a metallic material, and a tip portion made of a ceramic material, the tip portion forming at least 10% of the overall blade length such that the blade is lighter than a all-metallic blade. The ceramic tip of the blade allows the blade to withstand higher temperature environments without damaging the blade as would occur in an all-metallic blade.

US Patent:

8061988, Nov 22, 2011

Filed:

Nov 19, 2007

Appl. No.:

11/986026

Inventors:

Christopher K. Rawlings - Jupiter FL, US
James P. Downs - Jupiter FL, US
Kenneth K. Landis - Tequestra FL, US

Assignee:

Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc. - Jupiter FL

International Classification:

G06G 7/50

US Classification:

416 97R, 703 9

Abstract:

The present invention is a process for designing the internal cooling passages with these small scale features using a meshed solid model in a FEA program to perform the CFD analysis. Instead of modeling these small scale features (cooling holes, impingement holes, and turbulators) in the meshed FEA solid model, most of the small scale features are replaced by grid extraneous source terms in which the small scale feature is eliminated from the solid model and replaced with point source terms. The source terms can duplicate the effect of the feature within the analysis without requiring the complex analysis that such features would require in the analysis. Text files for each of the cooling holes, impingement holes and turbulators are inputted and then translated into grid extraneous source terms that include position, energy, and continuity. A conjugate CFD solver performs an analysis and produces new values for the thermal and boundary conditions.

US Patent:

8096766, Jan 17, 2012

Filed:

Jan 9, 2009

Appl. No.:

12/351624

Inventors:

James P. Downs - Jupiter FL, US

Assignee:

Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc. - Jupiter FL

International Classification:

F01D 5/08
F01D 5/20

US Classification:

416 96R, 416 96 A, 416 97 R, 416 97 A

Abstract:

An air cooled turbine airfoil, such as a rotor blade, with a sequential impingement cooling circuit that provides a high level of cooling with a low amount of cooling air. The airfoil is formed of a spar and shell construction in which the spar is formed from a series of alternating layers that form the cooling circuit with the shell forming the gap for the impingement cooling channels. Two different layers form the impingement cooling channels with a third layer being a separation layer. The impingement cooling circuit includes a first impingement circuit to cooling a forward half of the pressure side wall, a second impingement cooling circuit to cool the aft half of the pressure side wall, and a third impingement cooling circuit to cool the entire suction side wall. The spent cooling air is collected and channeled through a series of exit holes in the trailing edge to discharge the cooling air form the airfoil.

US Patent:

8167537, May 1, 2012

Filed:

Nov 17, 2011

Appl. No.:

13/298379

Inventors:

William L. Plank - Tequestra FL, US
James P. Downs - Jupiter FL, US
John A. Fedock - Port St. Lucie FL, US

Assignee:

Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc. - Jupiter FL

International Classification:

F03B 11/00
F01D 5/14
F01D 5/08
F01D 5/20
F03D 11/00
F04D 29/38

US Classification:

415115, 416 97 R

Abstract:

An air cooled turbine airfoil such as a stator vane in which the airfoil is hollowed out and an insert is secured within the hollowed out section that produces sequential impingement cooling of the airfoil. The insert is formed from a plurality of plates bonded together outside of or inside of the airfoil to form a single piece insert with the cooling circuit. The plates are bonded together using TLP bonding process with sheets of boron placed between adjacent plates so that no excess material seeps out and into the cooling features formed with the plates. The cooling features of the plates are formed by photo-etching.

US Patent:

8317475, Nov 27, 2012

Filed:

Jan 25, 2010

Appl. No.:

12/692744

Inventors:

James P Downs - Jupiter FL, US

Assignee:

Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc. - Jupiter FL

International Classification:

F01D 5/18

US Classification:

416 97R

Abstract:

An air cooled turbine airfoil having micro cooling air passages formed within the airfoil that is of such size that the present day investment coating process cannot be used. The internal cooling air features of the airfoil are formed using the Tomo Lithographic Molding (TLM) process. The TLM process is a low pressure casting process that can produce precise micro-features integral to macro-scale structures using any of the exotic alloys or other metallic materials currently being used in airfoil production. The normal internal cooling air passages as well as very small features such as trip strips, pin fins, dimples, pedestals and enclosed passages such as film holes can be produced using the TLM process.