Testing and Characterization of Additively Manufactured Tip Shoe and Combustor

Sponsor: Solar Turbines

A turbine rotor assembly includes a segmented shroud, also known as a turbine tip shoe, for minimizing the turbine tip clearance and providing a flowpath for the turbine tip region. The tip show, shown here, consists of seals on the circumferential faces to prevent leakage and is supported by hooks. The tip shoe experiences high temperatures and thermal gradients which induce high mechanical stresses. Reducing the metal temperatures experienced by the tip shoe by cooling it during operation will minimize the stresses and improve the useful lifetime of the component.

There is a need to improve the cooling of the tip shoe to do the following: i) minimize maximum temperatures < 1500F, and ii) minimize thermal gradients. The specific objectives of this proposed effort is to: minimize the cooling flow and leverage AM features like conformal cooling, lattice structures, functionally graded materials to improve the overall durability of the component.