Effect of Upstream Wake on Passage Flow and Tip Film Cooling Characteristics
Three-dimensional simulations of the squealer tip on the GE-E3 blade with eight film cooling holes were carried out. To form the wake by the trailing edges of the stator vanes, cylindrical rods and delta wings were placed upstream of the blades. The rods were placed according to three positions, and the influence on the film cooling effectiveness was calculated. Because delta wings were placed upstream of the blades to generate in the vane passage, the passage flow also was investigated. However, the passage vortex generated by the delta wings had a profound effect on the passage flow distribution. For the squealer tip, the cavity contributes to the improvement of the cooling effect in the tip zone. The passage flow and the tip leakage flow influenced by cylindrical rods and delta wings were analyzed using numerical simulations with the blowing ratio of M = 0.5. In addition, calculations with and without cylindrical rods and delta wings were performed and then comparisons were enabled. It was found that the vortex created by delta wings made the passage flow more turbulent and the result indicates a slight effect on the film cooling effectiveness in the tip gap.