Patent ID: 8070442

Claim:
A turbine airfoil comprising: a main spar extending along the entire airfoil surface; the main spar forming a main support for the airfoil; a thermal skin bonded to the main spar to form an outer airfoil surface; the main spar forming a cooling air supply chamber adjacent to a leading edge region of the airfoil; the main spar forming a series of collector chambers extending along the airfoil from the cooling air supply chamber to the trailing edge region of the airfoil; a series of impingement chambers formed in the leading edge region of the airfoil and connected to the cooling air supply chamber by a row of impingement holes; a suction side impingement chamber formed between the main spar and the thermal skin; a pressure side impingement chamber formed between the main spar and the thermal skin; and, impingement holes formed within the main spar to connect the series of leading edge impingement chambers and the suction side impingement chamber and the pressure side impingement chamber such that the cooling air supplied to the cooling air supply chamber flows through the series of leading edge impingement chambers, one of the collector chambers, the suction side impingement chamber, a collector chamber adjacent to the cooling air supply chamber, and then into the pressure side impingement chamber to provide impingement cooling to the backside of the thermal skin in each of the chambers in series.