Patent ID: 7967568

Claim:
A stationary vane for a gas turbine engine comprising: an airfoil defined by a pressure side wall and a suction side wall joined at respective leading and trailing edges; inner and outer platforms connected to the airfoil at respective opposed ends of the airfoil; a cooling cavity defined between the pressure side wall and the suction side wall; a plurality of geometrically-shaped members disposed in the cooling cavity for reducing an effective cross-sectional flow area of the cooling cavity by defining a plurality of cooling sub-passages around the geometric shapes; and inlet and outlet grates disposed at opposed ends of the cooling cavity for directing a cooling fluid into and out of the cooling cavity and for supporting the plurality of geometrically-shaped members within the cavity; wherein the inlet and outlet grates comprise a distribution of openings preferentially allowing more coolant to flow there through proximate the wall than proximate a center of the cavity.