Patents by Inventor Gary W. Swartzbeck

Gary W. Swartzbeck has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6638639
    Abstract: High efficiency, thin-walled turbine components such as turbine blade airfoils comprise a superalloy substrate covered by a thin skin. The thin skin may be bonded to the inner spar structure of a turbine blade airfoil by a transient liquid phase bonding process. The inner spar preferably comprises a cast single crystal nickel base superalloy. The thin skin may comprise a single crystal or polycrystalline nickel base superalloy or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2003
    Assignee: Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation
    Inventors: Michael A. Burke, Paula D. Freyer, Mohan A. Hebbar, Brij B. Seth, Gary W. Swartzbeck, Thomas Walter Zagar
  • Patent number: 6508000
    Abstract: A method of repairing gas turbine engine components is provided. The method includes removing the damaged portion and fabricating an insert to match the removed portion. The insert is precision machined and crystallographically matched to the original component, and then bonded to this component using transient liquid phase bonding techniques and suitable heat treatment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2003
    Assignee: Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation
    Inventors: Michael A. Burke, Gary W. Swartzbeck, Paula D. Freyer
  • Publication number: 20020148115
    Abstract: A method of repairing gas turbine engine components is provided. The method includes removing the damaged portion and fabricating an insert to match the removed portion. The insert is precision machined and crystallographically matched to the original component, and then bonded to this component using transient liquid phase bonding techniques and suitable heat treatment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2001
    Publication date: October 17, 2002
    Applicant: Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation
    Inventors: Michael A. Burke, Gary W. Swartzbeck, Paula D. Freyer
  • Patent number: 6384365
    Abstract: A method of consolidating or repairing turbine component parts, such as turbine blades (10), requires providing a turbine component part (60, 61, 62, 63), establishing a contact pressure between the opposing surfaces (40, 42), where, optionally, fine particles may be present between such surfaces (40, 42), and then generating an electrical field to provide heat, and applying pressure on the opposing surfaces, resulting in high temperature spark plasma sintering to provide a consolidated turbine blade (50).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Assignee: Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation
    Inventors: Brij B. Seth, Greg P. Wagner, Gary W. Swartzbeck
  • Patent number: 6331217
    Abstract: Large gas turbine blades made from separate cast segments of superalloys are disclosed. The turbine blade is designed such that bond lines between adjacent segments are placed in low stress regions of the blade. The cast superalloy segments of the blades are aligned and fitted together with specified tolerances. The turbine blade segments are then joined by transient liquid phase bonding, followed by a controlled heat treatment which produces the desired microstructure in the bond region. The method allows for the production of large, high quality turbine blades by joining small, high quality cast superalloy sections, in comparison with prior attempts to cast large turbine blades as single pieces which have produced very low yields and high individual component costs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2001
    Assignee: Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation
    Inventors: Michael A. Burke, Paula D. Freyer, Mohan A. Hebbar, Brij B. Seth, Gary W. Swartzbeck, Thomas Walter Zagar
  • Patent number: 6325871
    Abstract: A method of bonding cast superalloys is disclosed. The method includes the steps of casting separate superalloy component parts, machining the mating surfaces of the separate parts in a controlled manner to avoid recrystallization of the material and to ensure a tight fit between the parts, bonding the parts together, and thermally treating the bonded component. In a preferred embodiment, the component is a turbine blade for a land-based gas turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2001
    Assignee: Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation
    Inventors: Michael A. Burke, Paula D. Freyer, Mohan A. Hebbar, Brij B. Seth, Gary W. Swartzbeck, Thomas Walter Zagar
  • Patent number: 5760371
    Abstract: A process is disclosed for repairing leaks in turbine generators that have water cooled stator coils with hollow conductor strands. Such generators have a tendency to leak where the stator coil joins a header. Once a leak is detected the repair is accomplished by following the steps off the invention. First, the header is cut into an outboard section, and into an inboard section that remains attached to the conductor strands. Second, the exposed lead ends of the conductor strands and the attached inboard section are cleaned to remove oxidation. Third, a water-tight braze seal is applied over the lead ends of the conductor strands. And finally, the stator coil and the inboard section are joined to a new outboard section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 2, 1998
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corporation
    Inventors: George F. Dailey, Gary W. Swartzbeck, Greyson L. Mellon, Michael T. O'Leary