Patent ID: 8851846

Claim:
A platform cooling arrangement in a turbine rotor blade having a platform at an interface between an airfoil and a root, wherein the rotor blade includes an interior cooling passage formed therein that extends from a connection with a coolant source at the root to at least the approximate radial height of the platform, wherein, along a side that coincides with a pressure side of the airfoil, a pressure side of the platform comprises a planar topside extending circumferentially from the airfoil to a pressure side slashface, and along a side that coincides with a suction side of the airfoil, a suction side of the platform comprises a topside extending circumferentially from the airfoil to a suction side slashface, the platform cooling arrangement comprising: a main plenum residing just inboard of the planar topside of the pressure side of the platform and extending from an aft position to a forward position within the pressure side of the platform, the main plenum having a longitudinal axis that is approximately parallel to the planar topside of the pressure side of the platform; a supply plenum that extends between the main plenum and the interior cooling passage; and a plurality of cooling apertures, each cooling aperture extending from the pressure side slashface to a connection with the main plenum, wherein: the main plenum extends from an aft position to a forward position within the pressure side of the platform; and from an aft position on or in proximity to the pressure side slashface to a forward position on or in proximity to the pressure side slashface, the main plenum forms an arc, the arc curvature corresponding in shape to the contour profile of the pressure side of the airfoil.