Turbine engine with an airfoil and insert

Abstract

An airfoil assembly for a turbine engine can comprise an airfoil including an outer wall extending between a root and a tip, a tip opening fluidly coupled to a first source of air, a root opening fluidly coupled to a second source of air, and an insert with impingement openings.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An airfoil assembly for a turbine engine comprising:
 an outer wall bounding an interior and extending between a leading edge and a trailing edge to define a chord-wise direction and between a root and a tip to define a span-wise direction;   a tip opening located at the tip and fluidly coupled to a first source of air;   a root opening located at the root and fluidly coupled to a second source of air; and   an impingement insert with impingement openings located within the interior and having a first chamber fluidly coupling the first source of air to a first set of the impingement openings, and a second chamber fluidly coupling the second source of air to a second set of the impingement openings.   
     
     
         2 . The airfoil assembly of  claim 1  wherein the impingement insert comprises a monolithic structure divided into the first and second chambers. 
     
     
         3 . The airfoil assembly of  claim 2  wherein the monolithic structure comprises a tubular structure having opposing first and second insert openings defining a passage with a dividing wall closing the passage and dividing the passage into the first chamber having the first insert opening and the second chamber having the second insert opening. 
     
     
         4 . The airfoil assembly of  claim 3  wherein the dividing wall evenly divides the passage in at least one of length and volume. 
     
     
         5 . The airfoil assembly of  claim 3  wherein the dividing wall unevenly divides the passage in at least one of length and volume. 
     
     
         6 . The airfoil assembly of  claim 2  wherein the impingement insert is sized to be inserted into the interior through one of the tip opening and root opening. 
     
     
         7 . The airfoil assembly of  claim 6  wherein the impingement insert comprises a stop abutting at least one of the outer wall, tip, or root to limit the insertion of the impingement insert. 
     
     
         8 . The airfoil assembly of  claim 7  wherein the stop is a collar circumscribing the monolithic structure. 
     
     
         9 . The airfoil assembly of  claim 1  wherein the impingement insert comprises a first insert inserted through the tip opening and a second insert inserted through the root opening. 
     
     
         10 . The airfoil assembly of  claim 9  further comprising a connector coupling the first and second inserts once inserted. 
     
     
         11 . The airfoil assembly of  claim 10  wherein the connector comprises at least one of:
 a) a strike on one of the first and second inserts and a catch on the other of the first and second inserts, or 
 b) a key on one of the first and second inserts and a keyway on the other of the first and second inserts. 
 
     
     
         12 . The airfoil assembly of  claim 1  wherein the impingement insert is spaced from an inner surface of the outer wall when the impingement insert is located within the interior. 
     
     
         13 . The airfoil assembly of  claim 1  wherein the airfoil assembly is a nozzle assembly with at least two vanes, and at least one of the vanes defines the outer wall. 
     
     
         14 . A component for a turbine engine comprising:
 a wall bounding an interior and having a first opening fluidly coupled to a first source of air and a second opening fluidly coupled to a second source of air; and   an impingement insert with impingement openings located within the interior and having a first chamber fluidly coupling the first source of air to a first set of the impingement openings, and a second chamber fluidly coupling the second source of air to a second set of the impingement openings.   
     
     
         15 . The component of  claim 14  wherein the impingement insert comprises a monolithic structure divided into the first and second chambers. 
     
     
         16 . The component of  claim 15  wherein the monolithic structure comprises a tubular structure having opposing first and second insert openings defining a passage with a dividing wall closing the passage and dividing the passage into a first chamber having the first insert opening and a second chamber having the second insert opening. 
     
     
         17 . The component of  claim 16  wherein the dividing wall unevenly divides the passage in at least one of length and volume. 
     
     
         18 . The component of  claim 14  wherein the impingement insert is sized to be inserted into the interior through one of the first and second openings. 
     
     
         19 . The component of  claim 18  wherein the impingement insert comprises a stop abutting at least one of an outer wall, tip, or root to limit the insertion of the impingement insert. 
     
     
         20 . The component of  claim 14  wherein the impingement insert comprises a first insert inserted through the first opening and a second insert inserted through the second opening. 
     
     
         21 . The component of  claim 20  further comprising a connector coupling the first and second inserts once inserted. 
     
     
         22 . The component of  claim 14  wherein the impingement insert is spaced from an inner surface of the outer wall when the impingement insert is located within the interior. 
     
     
         23 . A method of impingement cooling an interior of a component for a turbine engine, the method comprising:
 supplying a first source of air into a first impingement insert located within the interior; and   supplying a second source of air, separate from the first source of air, into a second impingement insert located within the interior;   wherein the first and second sources of air have at least one different property.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23  wherein the at least one different property comprises at least one of: temperature, pressure, Mach number. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23  wherein the supplying the first and second sources of air comprises proportionally controlling the amount of first and second sources based on the at least one different property. 
     
     
         26 . A method of assembling an airfoil for a turbine engine, the method comprising:
 inserting a first insert at least partially into the airfoil;   inserting a second insert at least partially into the airfoil; and   coupling the first insert to the second insert.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  wherein the coupling comprises mechanically coupling the first and second inserts. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26  wherein inserting the first insert comprises inserting the first insert into a first end of the airfoil. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28  wherein inserting the second insert comprises inserting the second insert into a second end of the airfoil. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29  wherein the first end is opposite the second end. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30  wherein the first end is at least one of a tip or root of the airfoil and the second end is the other of a tip or root of the airfoil. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 26  wherein one of first and second inserts is inserted into the airfoil before the other of the first and second inserts.