Patent attributes
A large chord turbine stator vane with a 5-pass serpentine aft flow cooling circuit with the built-in cooling flow modulation. The first leg of the 5-pass serpentine flow circuit provides the cooling for the airfoil leading edge. The second, third, and fourth legs of the five pass serpentine flow circuit provide cooling for the airfoil mid-chord section which is subject to a lower heat load for the entire component. The fifth and last leg of the serpentine flow circuit provides cooling for the airfoil aft section as well as cooling flow supply channel for the airfoil trailing edge exit cooling slots. Two cooling modulation devices are utilized in this prior art cooling circuit. One is located at the ID endwall for the regulation of the fourth leg of the serpentine flow channel and the other is located on the OD endwall for the regulation of the fifth leg of the trailing edge flow channel. Once the fourth and the fifth legs of the serpentine flow channels are regulated, cooling flow to the second and the third flow channels or legs will be changed simultaneously.
