Patent ID: 8529194

Claim:
A turbine bucket, comprising: a shank defining a cavity therein, which is connectable with a rotor such that wheelspace air having an initial pressure is permitted to flow into the cavity; and a platform coupled to the shank and defining a cooling hole therein, the platform comprising an aft platform at which the cooling hole terminates, wherein the aft platform separates a flow path from a trench cavity and defines a flow path facing surface and a trench cavity facing surface, the cooling hole comprising a plurality of cooling holes, a first group of the plurality of cooling holes being aligned with one another and terminating at the flow path facing surface and a second group of the plurality of cooling holes being aligned with one another and terminating at the trench cavity facing surface, and the shank and the platform each further defining the cavity and the cooling hole, respectively, such that the cavity and the cooling hole are fluidly communicative and such that the wheelspace air, which is permitted to flow into the cavity, is deliverable: from the cavity to the cooling hole, and through the cooling hole at a second pressure, which is greater than the initial pressure.