Typically, gas turbine engines include a compressor for compressing air, a combustor for mixing the compressed air with fuel and igniting the mixture, and a turbine blade assembly for producing power. Combustors often operate at high temperatures that may exceed 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Typical turbine combustor configurations expose turbine vane and blade assemblies to these high temperatures. As a result, turbine vanes and blades, combustor liners, and transitions must be made of materials capable of withstanding such high temperatures. In addition, turbine vanes and blades, combustor liners, and transitions often contain cooling systems for prolonging the life of the components and reducing the likelihood of failure as a result of excessive temperatures.
Typically, turbine blades are formed from an elongated portion. The blade is ordinarily composed of a leading edge, a trailing edge, a suction side, and a pressure side. The inner aspects of most turbine blades typically contain an intricate maze of cooling circuits forming a cooling system. The cooling circuits in the blades receive air from the compressor of the turbine engine and pass the blade. The cooling circuits often include multiple flow circuits that control metal temperature to ensure component durability and functionality. At least some of the air passing through these cooling circuits is exhausted through orifices in the leading edge, trailing edge, suction side, and pressure side of the blade.
Pin fin banks are commonly used within internal cooling chambers in turbine airfoils to increase heat transfer from the airfoil to the cooling fluids passing through internal cooling channels in the airfoil. In applications in which pin fin banks are utilized, the aggregate weight of the pin fins increases the centrifugal stresses on the turbine blade. The increase stresses reduce the average life of the turbine blade.