Patent ID: 8133024

Claim:
An air cooled turbine rotor blade comprising: an aft flowing serpentine flow cooling circuit formed within the airfoil of the blade; the aft flowing serpentine flow circuit including a last leg adjacent to a trailing edge region of the airfoil; a trailing edge cooling circuit connected to the last leg of the aft flowing serpentine flow circuit; a row of cooling air exit slots arranged along the trailing edge and connected to the trailing edge cooling circuit; a vortex chamber fully contained within a root section of the blade and below the trailing edge of the airfoil; a cooling air slot connected between the vortex chamber and the aft flowing serpentine flow circuit to supply a portion of the cooling air into the vortex chamber; and a cooling air exit hole connected to the vortex chamber and opening on a side of the platform to discharge the cooling air from the vortex chamber.