The disclosed subject matter relates to turbomachines and, more particularly, a locking system for blades.
In general, turbomachines transfer energy between a fluid and rotating blades. For example, a compressor is driven to rotate blades to compress a gas, such as air. By further example, a turbine includes blades, which are driven to rotate by a fluid flow, such as water, steam, or combustion gases. A typical turbomachine includes a large number of blades coupled to a rotor. Unfortunately, the rotor may be deformed during the attachment of the blades. For example, the blades may be staked or welded directly to the rotor, which deforms the rotor in the vicinity of the blades. At some point during the life of the turbomachine, the blades may be removed and replaced with new blades. As a result, the rotor may be repeatedly deformed during each successive blade replacement, eventually leading to problems attaching a new blade to the rotor. Therefore, a need exists to secure turbomachine blades to the rotor without repeatedly deforming the rotor.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds