Turbomachinery blade with improved tip cap

Claim 1

In a turbomachinery blade including an airfoil-shaped, hollow body having sidewalls defining one portion of an internal cavity and an airfoil-shaped tip cap defining the radially outer boundary of said internal cavity, the improvement wherein: the tip cap being discrete from the sidewalls and comprising first and second discrete members, one made of an alloy of composition and properties different from the other; said first member being an airfoil-shaped unitary closure plate, including a plurality of openings therethrough, extending across said internal cavity for providing closure of said internal cavity, said first member being of a first alloy selected from the group consisting of nickel-base and cobalt-base superalloys and characterized by high mechanical strength properties at elevated temperatures, said first member being bonded to the sidewalls of said hollow body at the radially outer edges of said sidewalls, and said second member being a rib substantially of the airfoil shape of the first member and being of a second alloy of composition different from that of the first alloy and characterized by resistance to oxidation, sulfidation and thermal fatigue at elevated temperatures, said second member being disposed about the outer periphery radially outwardly from said first member and bonded to said first member to provide a radial outer tip extension of said blade.