Patent ID: 8523525

Claim:
A snubber assembly associated with a rotatable turbine blade in a turbine engine, the turbine blade including a pressure sidewall and a suction sidewall opposed from the pressure wall, the snubber assembly comprising: a first snubber structure associated with the pressure sidewall of the turbine blade; a second snubber structure associated with the suction sidewall of the turbine blade; and a support structure extending through the blade and rigidly coupled at a first end portion thereof to said first snubber structure and at a second end portion thereof to said second snubber structure; wherein: centrifugal loads exerted by said first and second snubber structures caused by rotation thereof during operation of the engine are at least partially transferred to said support structure such that centrifugal loads exerted on the pressure and suctions sidewalls of the turbine blade by said first and second snubber structures are reduced; and each of the blade and said first and second snubber structures are formed from the same material and said support structure is formed from a different material than the blade and said first and second snubber structures.