Gas turbine engine component having engineered vascular structure

1. A component, comprising:

a wall; and

a vascular engineered lattice structure formed inside of the wall, the vascular engineered lattice structure including a plurality of nodes, a plurality of branches that extend between the plurality of nodes, and a plurality of passages extending between the plurality of nodes and the plurality of branches, wherein at least one of the plurality of branches is non-circular in cross-section; and

wherein the at least one of the plurality of branches includes an airfoil shape in cross-section.

2. The component as recited in claim 1 , wherein another one of the plurality of branches includes a cross-section having a surface extending substantially perpendicular to an expected direction of fluid flow.

3. The component as recited in claim 2 , wherein another one of the plurality of branches includes a triangular shape in cross-section.

4. The component as recited in claim 1 , wherein:

the component includes a first branch of the plurality of branches and a second branch of the plurality of branches at a location downstream of the first branch;

each of the first and second branches being non-circular in cross-section; and

the cross-sections of the first and second branches are dissimilar.

5. The component as recited in claim 4 , wherein:

the cross-section of the first branch is an airfoil shape; and

the cross-section of the second branch has a surface extending substantially perpendicular to an expected direction of fluid flow.

6. The component as recited as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of nodes and the plurality of branches are uniformly distributed throughout the vascular engineered lattice structure.

7. The component as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of nodes and the plurality of branches are non-uniformly distributed throughout the vascular engineered lattice structure.

8. The component as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of branches are one of (1) orthogonal to the plurality of nodes and (2) non-orthogonal to the plurality of nodes.

9. The component as recited in claim 1 , wherein the wall is part of an airfoil of a gas turbine engine.

10. The component as recited in claim 9 , wherein the wall is a gas path wall exposed to a core airflow of a gas turbine engine.

11. The component as recited in claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of branches is hollow and includes an internal flow passageway.

12. A component, comprising:

a wall; and

a vascular engineered lattice structure formed inside of the wall, the vascular engineered lattice structure including a plurality of nodes, a plurality of branches that extend between the plurality of nodes, and a plurality of passages extending between the plurality of nodes and the plurality of branches, wherein at least one of the plurality of branches is non-circular in cross-section, the at least one of the plurality of branches including a triangular shape in cross-section or an airfoil shape in cross-section, and wherein the at least one of the plurality of branches is hollow and includes an internal flow passageway.

13. A component, comprising:

a wall; and

a vascular engineered lattice structure formed inside of the wall, the vascular engineered lattice structure including a plurality of nodes, a plurality of branches that extend between the plurality of nodes, and a plurality of passages extending between the plurality of nodes and the plurality of branches, wherein a first branch of the plurality of branches and a second branch of the plurality of branches are both non-circular in cross-section, and wherein the cross-sections of the first and second branches are dissimilar; and

wherein the cross-section of the first branch is an airfoil shape.

14. The component as recited in claim 13 , wherein:

the cross-section of the second branch has a surface extending substantially perpendicular to an expected direction of fluid flow.

15. The component as recited in claim 14 , wherein the second branch includes a triangular shape in cross-section.

16. The component as recited in claim 13 , wherein the second branch is downstream of the first branch.

17. The component as recited in claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first and second branches is hollow and includes an internal flow passageway.

18. A method for producing a component, comprising the steps of:

forming a vascular engineered lattice structure inside of a wall of the component, the vascular engineered lattice structure including a plurality of nodes, a plurality of branches that extend between the plurality of nodes, and a plurality of passages extending between the plurality of nodes and the plurality of branches, wherein at least one of the plurality of branches is non-circular in cross-section;

wherein the cross-section of the at least one of the plurality of branches is an airfoil shape; and

wherein the step of forming the vascular engineered lattice structure includes forming a core using an additive manufacturing process and using the core to cast the vascular engineered lattice structure.

19. The method as recited in claim 18 , wherein the step of forming the vascular engineered lattice structure includes:

forming a first branch of the plurality of branches and a second branch of the plurality of branches at a location downstream of the first branch, each of the first and second branches being non-circular in cross-section, and wherein the cross-sections of the first and second branches are dissimilar.

20. The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein the cross-section of the first branch is an airfoil shape, and wherein the cross-section of the second branch has a surface extending substantially perpendicular to an expected direction of fluid flow.

21. The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein at least one of the first and second branches is hollow and includes an internal flow passageway, and the cross-section of the second branch is a triangular shape.