Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Heat Transfer and Film Cooling Effectiveness of a Highly Loaded Turbine Blade Under Steady and Unsteady Wake Flow Condition

Author(s):  
A. Nikparto ◽  
T. Rice ◽  
M. T. Schobeiri

The current study investigates the heat transfer and film-cooling effectiveness on a highly loaded turbine blade under steady and periodic unsteady wake induced flow conditions from both experimental and numerical simulation points of view. For the experimental measurements, the cascade facility in Turbomachinery Performance and Flow Research Lab (TPFL) at Texas A&M University was used to simulate the periodic unsteady flow condition inside gas turbine engines. The current paper includes steady and unsteady inlet flow conditions. Moving wakes, originated from upstream stator blades, are simulated inside the cascade facility by moving rods in front of the blades. The flow coefficient is maintained at 0.8 and the incoming wakes have a reduced frequency of 3.18. For film-cooling effectiveness study a special blade was designed and inserted into the cascade facility that has a total of 617 holes distributed along 13 different rows on the blade surfaces. 6 rows cover the suction side, 6 other rows cover the pressure side and one last row feeds the leading edge. There are six coolant cavities inside the blade. Each cavity is connected to one row on either sides of the blade, except for the closest cavity to leading edge since it is connected to the leading edge row as well. The rows that are connected to the same cavity have identical injection hole numbers, arrangement (except for leading edge) and compound angles. Coolant is injected from either sides of the blade through the 6 cavities to form a uniform distribution along the lateral extent of the blade. In order to increase the effectiveness, the coolant injection holes are shaped holes. In the regions close to the end-walls of the cascade the holes have compound angles to overcome the effects of horseshoe and passage vortices. To study the film cooling effectiveness, the blade surfaces were covered with Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) excited with green light. Experiments were performed for Reynolds number of 150,000 and the average blowing ratio of coolant was maintained at one for all rows throughout the experiments. For heat transfer coefficient measurements, the liquid crystal method was used. For that reason the surfaces of the blade were covered by liquid crystal sheets and it was tested at the same Reynolds number. As computational platform, a RANS based solver was selected for this study. Sliding mesh technique was incorporated into the simulations to produce moving wakes. Experimental and numerical investigations were performed to determine the effect of flow separation, and pressure gradient on film-cooling effectiveness in the absence of wakes. Moreover, the effect of impinging wakes on the overall film coverage of blade surfaces and heat transfer coefficient was studied. Comparison of numerical and experimental results reveals deficiencies of numerical simulation.

Author(s):  
Shichuan Ou ◽  
Richard Rivir ◽  
Matthew Meininger ◽  
Fred Soechting ◽  
Martin Tabbita

This paper studies the film effectiveness and heat transfer coefficients on a large scale symmetric circular leading edge with three rows of film holes. The film hole configuration focuses on a smaller injection angle of 20° and a larger hole pitch with respect to the hole diameter (P/d = 7.86). The study includes four blowing ratios (M = 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5), two Reynolds numbers (Re = 30,000 and 60,000), and two free stream turbulence levels (approximately Tu = 1% and 20% depending on the Reynolds number). The method used to obtain the film cooling effectiveness and the heat transfer coefficient in the experiment is a transient liquid crystal technique. The distributions of film effectiveness and heat transfer coefficient are obtained with spatial resolutions of about 0.6 mm or 13% of the film cooling hole diameter. Results are presented for detailed and spanwise averaged values of film effectiveness and Frössling number. Blowing ratios investigated result in up to 2.8 times the lowest blowing ratio’s film effectiveness. Increasing the Reynolds number from 30,000 to 60,000 results in increasing the effectiveness by up to 55% at high turbulence. Turbulence intensity has up to a 60% attenuation on effectiveness between rows at Re = 30,000. The turbulence intensity has the same order of magnitude but opposite effect as Reynolds number, which also has the same order of magnitude effect as blowing ratio on the film effectiveness. A crossover from attenuation to improved film effectiveness after the second row of film holes is found for the high turbulence case as blowing ratio increases. The blowing ratio of two shows a spatial coupling of the stagnation row of film holes with the second row (21.5°) of film holes which results in the highest film effectiveness and also the highest Frössling numbers.


Author(s):  
Sumanta Acharya ◽  
Gregory Kramer ◽  
Louis Moreaux ◽  
Chiyuki Nakamata

Heat transfer coefficients and film cooling effectiveness values were obtained numerically on a film cooled 2-D gas turbine blade tip model featuring a cutback squealer. In addition, pressure distributions were obtained at 50% and 98% spans. The calculations were performed for a single blade with periodic boundary conditions imposed along the two mid-passage boundaries formed by the adjacent blades. The calculations were performed with the realizable k-ε turbulence model and non-equilibrium wall function using 1.1 million elements. The numerical results are obtained for 4 blowing ratios and for Reynolds number based on axial chord and inlet velocity of 75,000. Limited experimental measurements of the blade pressure distributions and the uncooled tip heat transfer coefficients were performed for validation of the numerical results. The experiments were conducted in a six-blade low-speed wind tunnel cascade at a Reynolds number of 75,000. The heat transfer experiment involved a transient infrared thermography technique. Experimental heat transfer coefficients were extracted using a transient technique. The predicted pressure distributions agree very well with the measurements while the heat transfer coefficient predictions show qualitative agreement. From the numerical results, it can be seen that as the blowing ratio is increased, larger regions of film cooling effectiveness were seen with higher effectiveness values between the camber line and suction side. Heat transfer coefficients were largest near the leading edge for all cases.


2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Nikparto ◽  
Meinhard T. Schobeiri

This paper describes the experimental investigations of film-cooling effectiveness on a highly loaded low-pressure turbine blade under steady and unsteady wake flow conditions. The cascade facility in Turbomachinery Performance and Flow Research Lab (TPFL) at the Texas A&M University was used to simulate the periodic flow condition inside gas turbine engines. Moving wakes, originated from upstream stator blades, are simulated inside the cascade facility by moving rods in front of the blades. The flow coefficient is maintained at 0.8 and the incoming wakes have a reduced frequency of 3.18. A total of 617 holes on the blade are distributed along 13 different rows. Six rows cover the suction side, six other rows cover the pressure side, and one last row feeds the leading edge. Each row has a twin row on the other side of the blade with exact same number of holes and arrangement (except for leading edge). They both are connected to the same cavity. Coolant is injected from either sides of the blade through cavities to form a uniform distribution along the span of the blade. Film-cooling effectiveness under periodic unsteady flow condition was studied using pressure-sensitive paint. Experiments were performed at Reynolds number of 150,000 and blowing ratio of one, based on equal mass flux distribution. Experimental investigations were performed to determine the effect of flow separation and pressure gradient on film-cooling effectiveness. Moreover, the effect of impinging wakes on the overall film coverage of blade surfaces was studied. It was found that heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and film-cooling effectiveness (FCE) in majority of regions behave in opposite ways. This can be justified from turbulence intensity and velocity fluctuation point of view. Also, unsteady wakes imposed on top of film injection have opposite effects on suction and pressure side of the blade. This is more clearly seen in region near leading edge.


Author(s):  
Bo-lun Zhang ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Hui-ren Zhu ◽  
Jian-sheng Wei ◽  
Zhong-yi Fu

Film cooling performance of the double-wave trench was numerically studied to improve the film cooling characteristics. Double-wave trench was formed by changing the leading edge and trailing edge of transverse trench into cosine wave. The film cooling characteristics of transverse trench and double-wave trench were numerically studied using Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) simulations with realizable k-ε turbulence model and enhanced wall treatment. The film cooling effectiveness and heat transfer coefficient of double-wave trench at different trench width (W = 0.8D, 1.4D, 2.1D) conditions are investigated, and the distribution of temperature field and flow field were analyzed. The results show that double-wave trench effectively improves the film cooling effectiveness and the uniformity of jet at the downstream wall of the trench. The span-wise averaged film cooling effectiveness of the double-wave trench model increases 20–63% comparing with that of the transverse trench at high blowing ratio. The anti-counter-rotating vortices which can press the film on near-wall are formed at the downstream wall of the double-wave trench. With the double-wave trench width decreasing, the film cooling effectiveness gradually reduces at the hole center-line region of the downstream trench. With the increase of the blowing ratio, the span-wise averaged heat transfer coefficient increases. The span-wise averaged heat transfer coefficient of the double-wave trench with 0.8D and 2.1D trench width is higher than that of the double-wave trench with 1.4D trench width at the high blowing ratio conditions.


Author(s):  
Rui-dong Wang ◽  
Cun-liang Liu ◽  
Hai-yong Liu ◽  
Hui-ren Zhu ◽  
Qi-ling Guo ◽  
...  

Heat transfer of the counter-inclined cylindrical and laid-back holes with and without impingement on the turbine vane leading edge model are investigated in this paper. To obtain the film cooling effectiveness and heat transfer coefficient, transient temperature measurement technique on complete surface based on double thermochromic liquid crystals is used in this research. A semi-cylinder model is used to model the vane leading edge which is arranged with two rows of holes. Four test models are measured under four blowing ratios including cylindrical film holes with and without impingement tube structure, laid-back film holes with and without impingement tube structure. This is the second part of a two-part paper, the first part paper GT2018-76061 focuses on film cooling effectiveness and this study will focus on heat transfer. Contours of surface heat transfer coefficient and laterally averaged result are presented in this paper. The result shows that the heat transfer coefficient on the surface of the leading edge is enhanced with the increase of blowing ratio for same structure. The shape of the high heat transfer coefficient region gradually inclines to span-wise direction as the blowing ratio increases. Heat transfer coefficient in the region where the jet core flows through is relatively lower, while in the jet edge region the heat transfer coefficient is relatively higher. Compared with cylindrical hole, laid-back holes give higher heat transfer coefficient. Meanwhile, the introduction of impingement also makes heat transfer coefficient higher compared with cross flow air intake. It is found that the heat transfer of the combination of laid-back hole and impingement tube can be very high under large blowing ratio which should get attention in the design process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Fraas ◽  
Tobias Glasenapp ◽  
Achmed Schulz ◽  
Hans-Jörg Bauer

Internal coolant passages of gas turbine vanes and blades have various orientations relative to the external hot gas flow. As a consequence, the inflow of film cooling holes varies as well. To further identify the influencing parameters of film cooling under varying inflow conditions, the present paper provides detailed experimental data. The generic study is performed in a novel test rig, which enables compliance with all relevant similarity parameters including density ratio. Film cooling effectiveness as well as heat transfer of a 10–10–10 deg laidback fan-shaped cooling hole is discussed. Data are processed and presented over 50 hole diameters downstream of the cooling hole exit. First, the parallel coolant flow setup is discussed. Subsequently, it is compared to a perpendicular coolant flow setup at a moderate coolant channel Reynolds number. For the perpendicular coolant flow, asymmetric flow separation in the diffuser occurs and leads to a reduction of film cooling effectiveness. For a higher coolant channel Reynolds number and perpendicular coolant flow, asymmetry increases and cooling effectiveness is further decreased. An increase in blowing ratio does not lead to a significant increase in cooling effectiveness. For all cases investigated, heat transfer augmentation due to film cooling is observed. Heat transfer is highest in the near-hole region and decreases further downstream. Results prove that coolant flow orientation has a severe impact on both parameters.


Author(s):  
Akhilesh P. Rallabandi ◽  
Shiou-Jiuan Li ◽  
Je-Chin Han

The effect of an unsteady stator wake (simulated by wake rods mounted on a spoke wheel wake generator) on the modeled rotor blade is studied using the Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) mass transfer analogy method. Emphasis of the current study is on the mid-span region of the blade. The flow is in the low Mach number (incompressible) regime. The suction (convex) side has simple angled cylindrical film-cooling holes; the pressure (concave) side has compound angled cylindrical film cooling holes. The blade also has radial shower-head leading edge film cooling holes. Strouhal numbers studied range from 0 to 0.36; the exit Reynolds Number based on the axial chord is 530,000. Blowing ratios range from 0.5 to 2.0 on the suction side; 0.5 to 4.0 on the pressure side. Density ratios studied range from 1.0 to 2.5, to simulate actual engine conditions. The convex suction surface experiences film-cooling jet lift-off at higher blowing ratios, resulting in low effectiveness values. The film coolant is found to reattach downstream on the concave pressure surface, increasing effectiveness at higher blowing ratios. Results show deterioration in film cooling effectiveness due to increased local turbulence caused by the unsteady wake, especially on the suction side. Results also show a monotonic increase in film-cooling effectiveness on increasing the coolant to mainstream density ratio.


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.


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 targets 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 it reattaches at about half of the axial chord. In this zone, film cooling rows are placed among others for 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 main flow separation. Film cooling can contribute to a reduction of the size of the separation bubble reducing aerodynamic losses but increases in general heat transfer due to turbulent mixing. The reduction of the size of the separation bubble might also be two-fold since it acts like a thermal insulator on the blade and reducing the size of the bubble might lead to stronger heating of the blade. Film cooling should therefore take into account both: firstly, a proper protection of the surface, and secondly, reduce aerodynamic losses diminishing the extension of the main flow separation. The overall effectiveness of film cooling for a real engine has to combine heat transfer with film cooling effect. In this paper, the overall effectiveness of film cooling, combining results from measurements of the adiabatic film cooling effectiveness and the local heat transfer coefficient are shown. The tests comprise the analysis of the effect of different outlet Mach and Reynolds numbers at engine relevant values and film cooling ratio. A new parameter is introduced which allows for the evaluation of the effect of film cooling accounting at the same time for the change of local heat transfer coefficient. To the authors’ opinion this parameter allows a better, physically based assessment than the strategy using the so-called heat flux ratio. A parameter study is carried out in order to benchmark the effect of changes of the blade design.


1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 302-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Abuaf ◽  
R. Bunker ◽  
C. P. Lee

A warm (315°C) wind tunnel test facility equipped with a linear cascade of film cooled vane airfoils was used in the simultaneous determination of the local gas side heat transfer coefficients and the adiabatic film cooling effectiveness. The test rig can be operated in either a steady-state or a transient mode. The steady-state operation provides adiabatic film cooling effectiveness values while the transient mode generates data for the determination of the local heat transfer coefficients from the temperature–time variations and of the film effectiveness from the steady wall temperatures within the same aerothermal environment. The linear cascade consists of five airfoils. The 14 percent cascade inlet free-stream turbulence intensity is generated by a perforated plate, positioned upstream of the airfoil leading edge. For the first transient tests, five cylinders having roughly the same blockage as the initial 20 percent axial chord of the airfoils were used. The cylinder stagnation point heat transfer coefficients compare well with values calculated from correlations. Static pressure distributions measured over an instrumented airfoil agree with inviscid predictions. Heat transfer coefficients and adiabatic film cooling effectiveness results were obtained with a smooth airfoil having three separate film injection locations, two along the suction side, and the third one covering the leading edge showerhead region. Near the film injection locations, the heat transfer coefficients increase with the blowing film. At the termination of the film cooled airfoil tests, the film holes were plugged and heat transfer tests were conducted with non-film cooled airfoils. These results agree with boundary layer code predictions.


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