Low windage loss, light weight closure bucket design and related method

摘要

A turbine closure bucket adapted to complete assembly of a row of tangential entry buckets on a rotor wheel includes an airfoil portion and a mounting portion for mounting the bucket to a turbine wheel. The mounting portion has front and back faces, with weight reduction cavities formed internally in the front and back faces. Externally, the front and back faces of the closure bucket are substantially identical to front and back faces of adjacent buckets in the row.