CFD Evaluation of Internal Flow Effects on Turbine Blade Leading-Edge Film Cooling With Shaped Hole Geometries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher C. Easterby ◽  
Jacob D. Moore ◽  
David G. Bogard

Abstract In gas turbine engines, the highest heat loads occur at the leading-edge areas of turbine blades and vanes. To protect the blades and vanes, a “showerhead” configuration of film cooling holes is often used for this location, in which several rows of holes are configured closely together to maximize film coverage. Typically, these film cooling holes are fed by impingement cooling jets, helping to cool the leading edge internally, but also changing the internal flow field. The effects of these internal flow fields on film cooling are not well known, and experimental research is very limited in its ability to analyze them. Because of this, computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations using RANS were used as a way to analyze these internal flow fields. To isolate the effects of the impingement jet, results were compared to a pseudo-plenum internal feed, and rotation in the hole was found to be a key factor in performance. Computational results from both coolant feed configurations were compared to experimental results for the same configurations. The CFD RANS results were found to follow the same trends as the experimental results for both the impingement-fed and plenum-fed cases, suggesting that RANS is able to accurately model some of the important physics associated with leading-edge film cooling.

1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Hay ◽  
S. E. Henshall ◽  
A. Manning

In the cooling passages of gas turbine blades, branches are often angled to the direction of the internal flow. This is particularly the case with film cooling holes. Accurate knowledge of the discharge coefficient of such holes at the design stage is vital so that the holes are correctly sized, thus avoiding wastage of coolant and the formation of hot spots on the blade. This paper describes an experimental investigation to determine the discharge coefficient of 30 deg inclined holes with various degrees of inlet radiusing and with the axis of the hole at various orientation angles to the direction of the flow. Results are given for nominal main flow Mach numbers of 0, 0.15, and 0.3. The effects of radiusing, orientation, and crossflow Mach number are quantified in the paper, the general trends are described, and the criteria for optimum performance are identified.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 580-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene Böttger ◽  
Martin Lange ◽  
Ronald Mailach ◽  
Konrad Vogeler

The concurrent use of film cooling and internal cooling plays an important role to maintain the life of turbine blades and increase thermal efficiency. Several studies were published on the interaction of these cooling strategies but these are mainly investigations on how internal cooling influences film cooling. The present study contributes to an improved understanding on how the cooling extraction through film cooling holes is influencing internal flow structures and therefore internal cooling. The flow field in an internal cooling channel is investigated by measuring the velocity distribution with 2D-PIV. Heat transfer measurements are performed using the thermochromic liquid crystal technique. The test stand models a rectangular cooling channel (AR=2:1), which is equipped with parallel ribs of four different geometries (90° ribs, 60° ribs, 60°-V-shaped ribs and 60°-Λ-shaped ribs). Bleed holes are placed in the rib segments and are positioned at three positions in streamwise direction. The suction ratio is varied between 0 and 6 and the cooling channel Reynolds number is 30.000.


Author(s):  
Zhihong Gao ◽  
Lesley M. Wright ◽  
Je-Chin Han

Film cooling is commonly used on the leading edge of turbine blades to protect the blade surface from hot mainstream gases in the turbine. Obtaining detailed film cooling effectiveness distributions on the leading edge can be challenging. This paper considers two measurement techniques which can be applied to the leading edge (modeled by a cylinder) to obtain detailed distributions of the film effectiveness. A steady state pressure sensitive paint (PSP) technique and a transient infrared (IR) thermography technique are used to obtain detailed film cooling effectiveness distributions on the cylinder. The cylinder, 7.62 cm in diameter, is placed in a low speed wind tunnel, with the mainstream flow having a Reynolds number of 100,900 (based on the cylinder diameter). The cylinder has two rows of film cooling holes located at ±15° from the cylinder’s stagnation line. The pitch-to-diameter ratio of the film holes is 4, and holes are inclined 30° in spanwise direction. PSP continues to show promise for film cooling effectiveness measurements. Detailed distributions can be obtained near the film cooling holes because this technique relies on mass transfer rather than heat transfer. In order to reduce the error caused by conduction in heat transfer experiments, transient measurement techniques are favorable. Transient IR measurements are taken, and film cooling effectiveness is determined on the cylinder’s surface. Although the effect of conduction is reduced with the transient IR technique (compared to a steady state heat transfer experiment), heat conduction through the cylinder has not been eliminated (or even minimized). Without correction, the results obtained from transient heat transfer experiments must be used cautiously. For this reason, PSP is developing a niche within the gas turbine community for detailed film cooling effectiveness measurements.


Author(s):  
N. Hay ◽  
S. E. Henshall ◽  
A. Manning

In the cooling passages of gas turbine blades, branches are often angled to the direction of the internal flow. This is particularly the case with film cooling holes. Accurate knowledge of the discharge coefficient of such holes at the design stage is vital so that the holes are correctly sized thus avoiding wastage of coolant and the formation of hot spots on the blade. This paper describes an experimental investigation to determine the discharge coefficient of 30° inclined holes with various degrees of inlet radiusing and with the axis of the hole at various orientation angles to the direction of the flow. Results are given for nominal main flow Mach numbers of 0, 0.15 and 0.3. The effects of radiusing, orientation and cross flow Mach number are quantified in the paper, the general trends are described, and the criteria for optimum performance are identified.


Author(s):  
Albert Kaufman ◽  
R. E. Gaugler

Cyclic temperature and stress-strain states in cooled turbine blades were calculated for a simulated mission of an advanced technology aircraft engine. TACT1 (three dimensional heat transfer) and MARC (non-linear structural analysis) computer programs were used to analyze impingement cooled airfoils, with and without leading-edge film cooling. Creep was the pre-dominant damage mode, particularly around film cooling holes. Radially angled holes exhibited less creep than holes normal to surface. Beam-type analyses of all-impingement cooled airfoils gave fair agreement with MARC results for initial creep.


Author(s):  
Weiguo Ai ◽  
Thomas H. Fletcher

Numerical computations were conducted to simulate flyash deposition experiments on gas turbine disk samples with internal impingement and film cooling using a CFD code (FLUENT). The standard k-ω turbulence model and RANS were employed to compute the flow field and heat transfer. The boundary conditions were specified to be in agreement with the conditions measured in experiments performed in the BYU Turbine Accelerated Deposition Facility (TADF). A Lagrangian particle method was utilized to predict the ash particulate deposition. User-defined subroutines were linked with FLUENT to build the deposition model. The model includes particle sticking/rebounding and particle detachment, which are applied to the interaction of particles with the impinged wall surface to describe the particle behavior. Conjugate heat transfer calculations were performed to determine the temperature distribution and heat transfer coefficient in the region close to the film-cooling hole and in the regions further downstream of a row of film-cooling holes. Computational and experimental results were compared to understand the effect of film hole spacing, hole size and TBC on surface heat transfer. Calculated capture efficiencies compare well with experimental results.


Author(s):  
Vijay K. Garg

A multi-block, three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code has been used to compute heat transfer coefficient on the blade, hub and shroud for a rotating high-pressure turbine blade with 172 film-cooling holes in eight rows. Film cooling effectiveness is also computed on the adiabatic blade. Wilcox’s k-ω model is used for modeling the turbulence. Of the eight rows of holes, three are staggered on the shower-head with compound-angled holes. With so many holes on the blade it was somewhat of a challenge to get a good quality grid on and around the blade and in the tip clearance region. The final multi-block grid consists of 4784 elementary blocks which were merged into 276 super blocks. The viscous grid has over 2.2 million cells. Each hole exit, in its true oval shape, has 80 cells within it so that coolant velocity, temperature, k and ω distributions can be specified at these hole exits. It is found that for the given parameters, heat transfer coefficient on the cooled, isothermal blade is highest in the leading edge region and in the tip region. Also, the effectiveness over the cooled, adiabatic blade is the lowest in these regions. Results for an uncooled blade are also shown, providing a direct comparison with those for the cooled blade. Also, the heat transfer coefficient is much higher on the shroud as compared to that on the hub for both the cooled and the uncooled cases.


Author(s):  
Andrew F. Chen ◽  
Chao-Cheng Shiau ◽  
Je-Chin Han

The combined effects of inlet purge flow and the slashface leakage flow on the film cooling effectiveness of a turbine blade platform were studied using the pressure sensitive paint (PSP) technique. Detailed film cooling effectiveness distributions on the endwall were obtained and analyzed. The inlet purge flow was generated by a row of equally-spaced cylindrical injection holes inside a single-tooth generic stator-rotor seal. In addition to the traditional 90 degree (radial outward) injection for the inlet purge flow, injection at a 45 degree angle was adopted to create a circumferential/azimuthal velocity component toward the suction side of the blades, which created a swirl ratio (SR) of 0.6. Discrete cylindrical film cooling holes were arranged to achieve an improved coverage on the endwall. Backward injection was attempted by placing backward injection holes near the pressure side leading edge portion. Slashface leakage flow was simulated by equally-spaced cylindrical injection holes inside a slot. Experiments were done in a five-blade linear cascade with an average turbulence intensity of 10.5%. The inlet and exit Mach numbers were 0.26 and 0.43, respectively. The inlet and exit mainstream Reynolds numbers based on the axial chord length of the blade were 475,000 and 720,000, respectively. The coolant-to-mainstream mass flow ratios (MFR) were varied from 0.5%, 0.75%, to 1% for the inlet purge flow. For the endwall film cooling holes and slashface leakage flow, blowing ratios (M) of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 were examined. Coolant-to-mainstream density ratios (DR) that range from 1.0 (close to low temperature experiments) to 1.5 (intermediate DR) and 2.0 (close to engine conditions) were also examined. The results provide the gas turbine engine designers a better insight into improved film cooling hole configurations as well as various parametric effects on endwall film cooling when the inlet (swirl) purge flow and slashface leakage flow were incorporated.


Author(s):  
R. W. Ainsworth ◽  
T. V. Jones

Internal convection cooling of turbine blades and nozzle guide vanes in jet engines is a method used to prolong the life of those components, which are subjected to very high temperature flows from the engine’s combustion chambers. The cooling is effected by passing cold gas through the internal coolant passages situated in the core of the components, the shape of these passages in many cases being simple duct geometries. Experiments are described in which transient techniques were used in an Internal Flow Facility to measure the flow property variation and heat transfer in various geometries simulating typical internal coolant passages, at conditions representative of those found in engines. Results obtained from the three geometries studied (circular, rectangular, and triangular ducts) are compared with existing experimental data and an integral-approach theoretical prediction. In addition, flow in the circular duct with mass removal representing film cooling mass flow was also studied experimentally, and these results are compared with theoretical predictions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 168781401988581
Author(s):  
Chao Gao ◽  
Haiwang Li ◽  
Huimin Zhou ◽  
Yiwen Ma ◽  
Ruquan You

In this article, film cooling characteristics, especially the phenomenon of backflow for the straight turbine blade leading edge, are investigated. Shear stress transport k-ω turbulence model and structured grids are employed to assure the accuracy of the simulation, and the computational method is verified by the available experimental data. The influences of blow ratio, hole diameter, and the spacing between holes in each row are analyzed. The formation mechanism of backflow is discussed to prevent it from happening or relieve the degree of backflow, thereby to improve the cooling efficiency. The results showed that backflow can be avoided by adjusting the structure and the layout of film cooling holes. With increase in blow ratio, the cooling film becomes more obvious at first and then fades gradually for departing from the blade surface. The jet flow is influenced by the total pressure ratio between coolant cavity and surface of blade leading edge. Smaller film hole diameter and larger hole spacing makes it easier to eject coolant and form continuous film by slowing down the pressure in the cavity. Increasing ratio of hole spacing to hole diameter ( p/ d) can effectively prevent backflow, whereas larger p/ d also makes the film coverage area smaller.


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