Patent ID: 8192166

Claim:
A turbine blade comprising: an airfoil including upper and lower ends; a root coupled to said airfoil lower end, said root adapted to couple said blade to a rotatable disk; a shroud coupled to said airfoil upper end; and at least one sealing rail extending radially outwardly from an upper surface of said shroud and extending generally along a circumferential length of said shroud, said sealing rail comprising a mid-section, opposing end sections and at least one intermediate section located between said mid-section and one of said opposing end sections and being spaced circumferentially from said airfoil, an axial thickness of said sealing rail varying such that said mid-section has a first thickness, said intermediate section has a second thickness and said one end section has a third thickness, said first thickness being greater than said second thickness and said second thickness being greater than said third thickness.