Patent ID: 8123481

Claim:
An air cooled turbine rotor blade comprising: an airfoil having an airfoil cross sectional shape with a leading edge and a trailing edge, and a pressure side wall and a suction side wall both extending between the two edges; a showerhead arrangement of film cooling holes on the leading edge region to provide film cooling for the leading edge of the airfoil; a trailing edge cooling circuit that includes a row of metering holes that discharge into an impingement channel, and a row of exit slots that discharge spent cooling air out the trailing edge region of the airfoil; a first aft flowing serpentine flow circuit having a first leg located adjacent to the leading edge of the airfoil and connected to the showerhead arrangement of film cooling holes; the first aft flowing serpentine flow circuit includes a last leg located adjacent to the trailing edge cooling circuit to supply cooling air to the trailing edge cooling circuit; a second forward flowing serpentine flow circuit located between the first and last legs of the first aft flowing serpentine flow circuit; and, the first leg of the second forward flowing serpentine flow circuit being connected to the last leg of the first aft flowing serpentine flow circuit.