Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention include turbine blades and systems employing such blades. Various particular embodiments include a turbine blade having: an airfoil having: a suction side; a pressure side opposing the suction side; a leading edge spanning between the pressure side and the suction side; and a trailing edge opposing the leading edge and spanning between the pressure side and the suction side, wherein the trailing edge defines a radial throat distribution between the airfoil and an adjacent airfoil; and a base connected with a first end of the airfoil along the suction side, pressure side, trailing edge and the leading edge.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention include turbine blades and systems employing such blades. Various particular embodiments include a turbine blade having: an airfoil having: a suction side; a pressure side opposing the suction side; a leading edge spanning between the pressure side and the suction side; and a trailing edge opposing the leading edge and spanning between the pressure side and the suction side, wherein the trailing edge defines a radial throat distribution between the airfoil and an adjacent airfoil; and a base connected with a first end of the airfoil along the suction side, pressure side, trailing edge and the leading edge.

Abstract: A method for enhancing one or more performance parameters of a gas turbine having at least one row of clocked airfoils may generally include choosing a first, a second and a third row of airfoils where the third row is clocked relative to the first row. An unsteady computational fluid dynamics model may be used to determine at least one wake parameter of a working fluid flowing from the second row of the airfoils to the third row of the airfoils. At least one design parameter of the airfoils of the second row may be modified, and the unsteady computational fluid dynamics model may then be used to determine the effect of the airfoil design parameter modification on the at least one wake parameter. The effect on the wake parameter may be compared to a predetermined target range.

Abstract: A method of clocking a turbine is disclosed in which the leading edge of clocked downstream airfoils are bathed by either a low total pressure wake, or a cooled low total temperature wake, or both, by reshaping at least the leading edge of an airfoil along the airfoils' span or radial distance. The improvement is due to the fact that gas turbine wakes tend to be non-linear, such that a straight clocked downstream airfoil will receive a benefit of low total temperature or pressure over a portion of its span, while a restacked airfoil receives a benefit over a greater portion of the airfoil span from turbine hub to casing.

Abstract: Clocking of downstream turbine airfoils can provide significant thermal and other performance benefits. The benefit from clocking the downstream airfoils is improved by skewing the airfoil wakes in the upstream turbine airfoils so that an increase in the amount of the radial spans of the clocked, downstream airfoils are impacted by the upstream wakes. This is achieved by skewing the upstream wakes using vortexing and restacking of the upstream airfoils so that the upstream wakes impact a mid-span portion of one clocked, downstream airfoil and two outer span portions of an adjacent clocked, downstream airfoil.

Abstract: A method for enhancing one or more performance parameters of a gas turbine having at least one row of clocked airfoils may generally include choosing a first, a second and a third row of airfoils where the third row is clocked relative to the first row. An unsteady computational fluid dynamics model may be used to determine at least one wake parameter of a working fluid flowing from the second row of the airfoils to the third row of the airfoils. At least one design parameter of the airfoils of the second row may be modified, and the unsteady computational fluid dynamics model may then be used to determine the effect of the airfoil design parameter modification on the at least one wake parameter. The effect on the wake parameter may be compared to a predetermined target range.