The present invention relates generally to gas turbine engines, and more particularly to gas turbine engine bladed rotors having separable blade platforms that are coupled to the rotor disk/wheel by mechanical engagement with the rotor disk lugs. Although the present invention was developed for gas turbine engines, certain applications may be outside of this field.
Gas turbine engine rotors typically employ blade platforms that extend generally laterally of the blades to partially define an aerodynamic flow path between adjacent blades. One conventional approach utilized to retain the blades to the rotor disk/wheel has been by the utilization of dovetail and slot arrangements. Associated with this conventional approach of retaining the blades to the rotor disk/wheel has been the utilization of blades with integrally formed platforms.
The continued demand on gas turbine engine technology has resulted in some prior attempts to create blade platforms separate from the blade. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,019,832 and 5,277,548 are two examples of prior efforts to utilize a bladed rotor with non-integral blade platforms. Present technological needs and manufacturing concerns for gas turbine engines requires continued development in the field of bladed rotors utilizing separable blade platforms. The present invention provides a novel and non-obvious way of coupling the separable blade platforms to the gas turbine engine disk/wheel.