Patent ID: 7967567

Claim:
An airfoil for a turbine of a gas turbine engine, said airfoil comprising: an outer wall extending radially between opposing inner and outer ends of said airfoil, said outer wall comprising a pressure side and a suction side joined together at chordally spaced apart leading and trailing edges of said airfoil; a radially extending cooling cavity located between said inner and outer ends of said airfoil and between said pressure side and said suction side; a plurality of partitions extending radially through said cooling cavity and extending from said pressure side to said suction side, said plurality of partitions defining a plurality of cooling channels located at successive chordal locations through said cooling cavity; axial passages extending between adjacent cooling channels at said inner and outer ends of said airfoil to define a serpentine flow path extending in the chordal direction; at least one of said cooling channels comprising a plurality of ribs defining a plurality of chambers located at successive radial locations through said at least one cooling channel; and radial passages extending between pairs of adjacent chambers at one of said pressure side and said suction side to define a serpentine flow path extending in the radial direction, wherein said radial passages between adjacent chambers comprise a space defined by a distance between a distal end of each rib and an adjacent inner surface of one of said pressure side and said suction side, wherein said distance is about 15% to about 25% of a length of said respective rib so as to define elongated flow paths extending between adjacent ones of said ribs perpendicular to the radial direction for effecting a circumferential flow of fluid through said chambers to cause said fluid to impinge on said pressure and suction sides as the fluid flows circumferentially through said chambers.