Aerothermal Investigations of Tip Leakage Flow in Axial Flow Turbines—Part III: TIP Cooling

2008 ◽  
Vol 131 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Newton ◽  
G. D. Lock ◽  
S. K. Krishnababu ◽  
H. P. Hodson ◽  
W. N. Dawes ◽  
...  

Contours of heat transfer coefficient and effectiveness have been measured on the tip of a generic cooled turbine blade, using the transient liquid crystal technique. The experiments were conducted at an exit Reynolds number of 2.3×105 in a five-blade linear cascade with tip clearances of 1.6% and 2.8% chord and featuring engine-representative cooling geometries. These experiments were supported by oil-flow visualization and pressure measurements on the tip and casing and by flow visualization calculated using CFX, all of which provided insight into the fluid dynamics within the gap. The data were compared with measurements taken from the uncooled tip gap, where the fluid dynamics is dominated by flow separation at the pressure-side edge. Here, the highest levels of heat transfer are located where the flow reattaches on the tip surface downstream of the separation bubble. A quantitative assessment using the net heat flux reduction (NHFR) revealed a significant benefit of ejecting coolant inside this separation bubble. Engine-representative blowing rates of approximately 0.6–0.8 resulted in good film-cooling coverage and a reduction in heat flux to the tip when compared to both the flat tip profile and the squealer and cavity tip geometries discussed in Part 1 of this paper. Of the two novel coolant-hole configurations studied, injecting the coolant inside the separation bubble resulted in an improved NHFR when compared to injecting coolant at the location of reattachment.

Author(s):  
P. J. Newton ◽  
G. D. Lock ◽  
S. K. Krishnababu ◽  
H. P. Hodson ◽  
W. N. Dawes ◽  
...  

Contours of heat transfer coefficient and effectiveness have been measured on the tip of a generic cooled turbine blade, using the transient liquid crystal technique. The experiments were conducted at an exit Reynolds number of 2.3 × 105 in a five-blade linear cascade with tip clearances of 1.6% and 2.8% chord and featuring engine-representative cooling geometries. These experiments were supported by oil flow visualisation and pressure measurements on the tip and casing and by flow visualisation calculated using CFX, all of which provided insight into the fluid dynamics within the gap. The data were compared with measurements taken from the uncooled tip gap, where the fluid dynamics is dominated by flow separation at the pressure-side edge. Here the highest levels of heat transfer are located where the flow reattaches on the tip surface downstream of the separation bubble. A quantitative assessment using the Net Heat Flux Reduction (NHFR) revealed a significant benefit of ejecting coolant inside this separation bubble. Engine-representative blowing rates of approximately 0.6 – 0.8 resulted in good film cooling coverage and a reduction in heat flux to the tip when compared to both the flat tip profile and the squealer and cavity tip geometries discussed in Part 1 of this paper. Of the two novel coolant-hole configurations studied, injecting the coolant inside the separation bubble resulted in an improved NHFR when compared to injecting coolant at the location of reattachment.


Author(s):  
S. K. Krishnababu ◽  
H. P. Hodson ◽  
G. D. Booth ◽  
G. D. Lock ◽  
W. N. Dawes

A numerical investigation of the flow and heat transfer characteristics of tip leakage in a typical film cooled industrial gas turbine rotor is presented in this paper. The computations were performed on a rotating domain of a single blade with a clearance gap of 1.28% chord in an engine environment. This standard blade featured two coolant and two dust holes, in a cavity-type tip with a central rib. The computations were performed using CFX 5.6, which was validated for similar flow situations by Krishnababu et al., [18]. These predictions were further verified by comparing the flow and heat transfer characteristics computed in the absence of coolant ejection with computations previously performed in the company (SIEMENS) using standard in-house codes. Turbulence was modelled using the SST k-ω turbulence model. The comparison of calculations performed with and without coolant ejection has shown that the coolant flow partially blocks the tip gap, resulting in a reduction of the amount of mainstream leakage flow. The calculations identified that the main detrimental heat transfer issues were caused by impingement of the hot leakage flow onto the tip. Hence three different modifications (referred as Cases 1 to 3) were made to the standard blade tip in an attempt to reduce the tip gap exit mass flow and the associated impingement heat transfer. The improvements and limitations of the modified geometries, in terms of tip gap exit mass flow, total area of the tip affected by the hot flow and the total heat flux to the tip, are discussed. The main feature of the Case 1 geometry is the removal of the rib and this modification was found to effectively reduce both the total area affected by the hot leakage flow and total heat flux to the tip while maintaining the same leakage mass flow as the standard blade. Case 2 featured a rearrangement of the dust holes in the tip which, in terms of aero-thermal-dynamics, proved to be marginally inferior to Case 1. Case 3, which essentially created a suction-side squealer geometry, was found to be inferior even to the standard cavity tip blade. It was also found that the hot spots which occur in the leading edge region of the standard tip and all modifications contributed significantly to the area affected by the hot tip leakage flow and the total heat flux.


Author(s):  
James D. Heidmann ◽  
David L. Rigby ◽  
Ali A. Ameri

A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes simulation has been performed for a realistic film-cooled turbine vane using the LeRC-HT code. The simulation includes the flow regions inside the coolant plena and film cooling holes in addition to the external flow. The vane is the subject of an upcoming NASA Lewis Research Center experiment and has both circular cross-section and shaped film cooling holes. This complex geometry is modeled using a multi-block grid which accurately discretizes the actual vane geometry including shaped holes. The simulation matches operating conditions for the planned experiment and assumes periodicity in the spanwise direction on the scale of one pitch of the film cooling hole pattern. Two computations were performed for different isothermal wall temperatures, allowing independent determination of heat transfer coefficients and film effectiveness values. The results indicate separate localized regions of high heat flux in the showerhead region due to low film effectiveness and high heat transfer coefficient values, while the shaped holes provide a reduction in heat flux through both parameters. Hole exit data indicate rather simple skewed profiles for the round holes, but complex profiles for the shaped holes with mass fluxes skewed strongly toward their leading edges.


Author(s):  
Qihe Huang ◽  
Jiao Wang ◽  
Lei He ◽  
Qiang Xu

A numerical study is performed to simulate the tip leakage flow and heat transfer on the first stage rotor blade tip of GE-E3 turbine, which represents a modern gas turbine blade geometry. Calculations consist of the flat blade tip without and with film cooling. For the flat tip without film cooling case, in order to investigate the effect of tip gap clearance on the leakage flow and heat transfer on the blade tip, three different tip gap clearances of 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.5% of the blade span are considered. And to assess the performance of the turbulence models in correctly predicting the blade tip heat transfer, the simulations have been performed by using four different models (the standard k-ε, the RNG k-ε, the standard k-ω and the SST models), and the comparison shows that the standard k-ω model provides the best results. All the calculations of the flat tip without film cooling have been compared and validated with the experimental data of Azad[1] and the predictions of Yang[2]. For the flat tip with film cooling case, three different blowing ratio (M = 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5) have been studied to the influence on the leakage flow in tip gap and the cooling effectiveness on the blade tip. Tip film cooling can largely reduce the overall heat transfer on the tip. And the blowing ratio M = 1.0, the cooling effect for the blade tip is the best.


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Heidmann ◽  
Srinath Ekkad

A novel turbine film-cooling hole shape has been conceived and designed at NASA Glenn Research Center. This “antivortex” design is unique in that it requires only easily machinable round holes, unlike shaped film-cooling holes and other advanced concepts. The hole design is intended to counteract the detrimental vorticity associated with standard circular cross-section film-cooling holes. This vorticity typically entrains hot freestream gas and is associated with jet separation from the turbine blade surface. The antivortex film-cooling hole concept has been modeled computationally for a single row of 30 deg angled holes on a flat surface using the 3D Navier–Stokes solver GLENN-HT. A blowing ratio of 1.0 and density ratios of 1.05 and 2.0 are studied. Both film effectiveness and heat transfer coefficient values are computed and compared to standard round hole cases for the same blowing rates. A net heat flux reduction is also determined using both the film effectiveness and heat transfer coefficient values to ascertain the overall effectiveness of the concept. An improvement in film effectiveness of about 0.2 and in net heat flux reduction of about 0.2 is demonstrated for the antivortex concept compared to the standard round hole for both blowing ratios. Detailed flow visualization shows that as expected, the design counteracts the detrimental vorticity of the round hole flow, allowing it to remain attached to the surface.


Author(s):  
R. J. Anthony ◽  
J. P. Clark ◽  
J. Finnegan ◽  
J. J. Johnson

Abstract Full-scale annular experimental evaluation of two different high pressure turbine first stage vane cooling designs was carried out using high frequency surface heat-flux measurements in the Turbine Research Facility at the Air Force Research Laboratory. A baseline film cooling geometry was tested simultaneously with a genetically optimized vane aimed to improve efficiency and part life. Part 1 of this two-part paper describes the experimental instrumentation, test facility, and surface heat flux measurements used to evaluate both cooling schemes. Part 2 of this paper describes the result of companion conjugate heat transfer posttest predictions, and gives numerical background on the design and modelling of both film cooling geometries. Time-resolved surface heat flux data is captured at multiple airfoil span and chord locations for each cooling design. Area based assessment of surface flux data verifies the genetic optimization redistributes excessive cooling away from midspan areas to improve efficiency. Results further reveal key discrepancies between design intent and real hardware behavior. Elevated heat flux above intent in some areas led to investigation of backflow margin and unsteady hot gas ingestion at certain film holes. Analysis shows areas toward the vane inner and outer endwalls of the aft pressure side were more sensitive to reduced aft cavity backflow margin. In addition, temporal analysis shows film cooled heat flux having large high frequency fluctuations that can vary across nearly the full range of film cooling effectiveness at some locations. Velocity and acceleration of these large unsteady heat flux events moving near the endwall of the vane pressure side is reported for the first time. The temporal nature of the unsteady 3-D film cooling features are a large factor in determining average local heat flux levels. This study determined this effect to be particularly important in areas on real hardware along the HPT vane pressure side endwalls towards the trailing edge, where numerical assumptions are often challenged. Better understanding of the physics of the highly unsteady 3D film cooled flow features occurring in real hardware is necessary to accurately predict distress progression in localized areas, prevent unforeseen part failures, and enable improvements to turbine engine efficiency. The results of this two-part paper are relevant to engines in extended service today.


2015 ◽  
Vol 138 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Schreivogel ◽  
Michael Pfitzner

A new approach for steady-state heat transfer measurements is proposed. Temperature distributions are measured at the surface and a defined depth inside the wall to provide boundary conditions for a three-dimensional heat flux calculation. The practical application of the technique is demonstrated by employing a superposition method to measure heat transfer and film cooling effectiveness downstream of two different 0.75D deep narrow trench geometries and cylindrical holes. Compared to the cylindrical holes, both trench geometries lead to an augmentation of the heat transfer coefficient supposedly caused by the highly turbulent attached cooling film emanating from the trenches. Areas of high heat transfer are visible, where recirculation bubbles or large amounts of coolant are expected. Increasing the density ratio from 1.33 to 1.60 led to a slight reduction of the heat transfer coefficient and an increased cooling effectiveness. Both trenches provide a net heat flux reduction (NHFR) superior to that of cylindrical holes, especially at the highest momentum flux ratios.


1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 850-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. G. Wiedner ◽  
C. Camci

The present study focuses on the high-resolution determination of local heat flux distributions encountered in forced convection heat transfer studies. The specific method results in an uncertainty level less than 4 percent of the heat transfer coefficient on surfaces with arbitrarily defined geometric boundaries. Heat transfer surfaces constructed for use in steady-state techniques typically use rectangular thin foil electric heaters to generate a constant heat flux boundary condition. There are also past studies dealing with geometrically complex heating elements. Past studies have either omitted the nonuniform heat flux regions or applied correctional techniques that are approximate. The current study combines electric field theory and a finite element method to solve directly for a nonuniform surface heat flux distribution due to the specific shape of the heater boundary. Heat generation per unit volume of the surface heater element in the form of local Joule heating is accurately calculated using a finite element technique. The technique is shown to be applicable to many complex convective heat transfer configurations. These configurations often have complex geometric boundaries such as turbine endwall platforms, surfaces disturbed by film cooling holes, blade tip sections, etc. A complete high-resolution steady-state heat transfer technique using liquid crystal thermography is presented for the endwall surface of a 90 deg turning duct. The inlet flow is fully turbulent with an inlet Re number of 360,000. The solution of the surface heat flux distribution is also demonstrated for a heat transfer surface that contains an array of discrete film cooling holes. The current method can easily be extended to any heat transfer surface that has arbitrarily prescribed boundaries.


2012 ◽  
Vol 135 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinaldo A. Gomes ◽  
Reinhard Niehuis

Film cooling experiments were run at the high speed cascade wind tunnel of the University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich. The investigations were carried out with a linear cascade of highly loaded turbine blades. The main objectives of the tests were to assess the film cooling effectiveness and the heat transfer in zones with main flow separation. Therefore, the blades were designed to force the flow to detach on the pressure side shortly downstream of the leading edge and reattach at about half of the axial chord. In this zone, film cooling rows are placed among others for a reduction of the size of the separation bubble. The analyzed region on the blade is critical due to the high heat transfer present at the leading edge and at the reattachment line after the main flow separation. Film cooling can contribute to a reduction of the size of the separation bubble reducing aerodynamic losses, however, in general, it increases heat transfer due to turbulent mixing. The reduction of the size of the separation bubble might also be twofold, since it acts like a thermal insulator on the blade and reducing the size of the bubble might lead to a stronger heating of the blade. Film cooling should, therefore, take both into account: first, a proper protection of the surface and second, reducing aerodynamic losses, diminishing the extension of the main flow separation. While experimental results of the adiabatic film cooling effectiveness were shown in previous publications, the local heat transfer is analyzed in this paper. Emphasis is also placed upon analyzing, in detail, the flow separation process. Furthermore, the tests comprise the analysis of the effect of different outlet Mach and Reynolds numbers and film cooling. In part two of this paper, the overall film cooling effectiveness is addressed. Local heat transfer is still difficult to predict with modern numerical tools and this is especially true for complex flows with flow separation. Some numerical results with the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and large eddy simulation (LES) show the capability of a commercial solver in predicting the heat transfer.


Author(s):  
A. C. Smith ◽  
A. C. Nix ◽  
T. E. Diller ◽  
W. F. Ng

This paper documents the measurement of the unsteady effects of passing shock waves on film cooling heat transfer on both the pressure and suction surfaces of first stage transonic turbine blades with leading edge showerhead film cooling. Experiments were performed for several cooling blowing ratios with an emphasis on time-resolved pressure and heat flux measurements on the pressure surface. Results without film cooling on the pressure surface demonstrated that increases in heat flux were a result of shock heating (the increase in temperature across the shock wave) rather than shock interaction with the boundary layer or film layer. Time-resolved measurements with film cooling demonstrated that the relatively strong shock wave along the suction surface appears to retard coolant ejection there and causes excess coolant to be ejected from pressure surface holes. This actually causes a decrease in heat transfer on the pressure surface during a large portion of the shock passing event. The magnitude of the decrease is almost as large as the increase in heat transfer without film cooling. The decrease in coolant ejection from the suction surface holes did not appear to have any effects on suction surface heat transfer.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document