Patent ID: 7645122

Claim:
A turbine rotor blade for use in a gas turbine engine, the blade comprising: a root portion; an airfoil portion extending from the root portion; a blade tip portion; a leading edge cooling supply channel; an impingement cavity adjacent to the leading edge of the blade and in fluid communication with the leading edge supply channel by a plurality of impingement holes; a first triple-pass serpentine flow cooling circuit having a first leg adjacent to the leading edge cooling supply cavity and separated from the supply channel by a continuous rib; a second triple-pass serpentine flow cooling circuit nested within the first triple-pass serpentine flow cooling circuit, the two nested serpentine flow cooling circuits being separated by a continuous rib extending along the legs of the serpentine flow circuit; a plurality of cooling slots arranged along the trailing edge of the blade, the slots being in fluid communication with the last leg of the second triple-pass serpentine flow circuit; and, blade tip cooling holes in fluid communication with the leading edge cooling channel, the first triple-pass serpentine flow circuit, and the last legs of the two nested serpentine flow circuits to provide cooling to the blade tip portion.