Performance Prediction of a Novel Design for Turbine Vane Film Cooling With Low Aerodynamic Loss and High Effectiveness

Author(s):  
William D. York ◽  
James H. Leylek

A new film-cooling scheme for the suction surface of a gas turbine vane in a transonic cascade is studied numerically. The concept of the present design is to inject a substantial amount of coolant at a very small angle, approaching a “wall-jet,” through a single row of relatively few, large holes near the vane leading edge. The near-match of the coolant stream and mainstream momentums, coupled with the low coolant trajectory, theoretically results in low aerodynamic losses due to mixing. A minimal effect of the film cooling on the vane loading is also important to realize, as well as good coolant coverage and high adiabatic effectiveness. A systematic computational methodology, developed in the Advanced Computational Research Laboratory (ACRL) and tested numerous times on film-cooling applications, is applied in the present work. For validation purposes, predictions from two previous turbine airfoil film-cooling studies, both employing this same numerical method, are presented and compared to experimental data. Simulations of the new film-cooling configuration are performed for two blowing ratios, M=0.90 and M=1.04, and the density ratio of the coolant to the mainstream flow is unity in both cases. A solid vane with no film cooling is also studied as a reference case in the evaluation of losses. The unstructured numerical mesh contains about 5.5 million finite-volumes, after solution-based adaption. Grid resolution is such that the full boundary layer and all passage shocks are resolved. The Renormalization Group (RNG) k-ε turbulence model is used to close the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Predictions indicate that the new film-cooling scheme meets design intent and has negligible impact on the total pressure losses through the vane cascade. Additionally, excellent coolant coverage is observed all the way to the trailing edge, resulting in high far-field effectiveness. Keeping the design environment in mind, this work represents the power of validated computational methods to provide a rapid and reasonably cost-effective analysis of innovative turbine airfoil cooling.

Author(s):  
Chao-Cheng Shiau ◽  
Nafiz H. K. Chowdhury ◽  
Je-Chin Han ◽  
Alexander V. Mirzamoghadam ◽  
Ardeshir Riahi

This work focuses on the parametric experimental study of film cooling effectiveness on the suction side of a scaled turbine vane under transonic flow condition. The experiments were performed in a five-vane annular sector cascade blowdown facility. The controlled exit Mach numbers were 0.7, 0.9, and 1.1, from high subsonic to transonic conditions. N2, CO2, and Argon/SF6 mixture were used to investigate the effects of coolant-to-mainstream density ratios, ranging from 1.0, 1.5 to 2.0. Three row-averaged coolant-to-mainstream blowing ratios in the range 0.7, 1.0, and 1.6 are studied. The test vane includes three rows of radial-angle cylindrical holes around the leading edge and two rows of compound-angle shaped holes on the suction side. All the cooling holes are active in order to study the resultant film cooling on suction side as well as from leading edge. Pressure sensitive paint (PSP) technique was used to obtain the film cooling effectiveness distributions from suction side holes and the contribution from leading edge showerhead holes. This work shows the effects of coolant-to-mainstream blowing ratio, density ratio, and exit Mach number on the film cooling effectiveness as well as its interaction with a potential shock wave. The results indicate that when the cooling holes are located in a critical region on the vane suction surface, the parametric effect on film cooling performance will significantly deviate from the common trend for a typical hole geometry.


2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M. Miner

This paper presents the results of a study using a coarse grid to analyze the flow in the impeller of a mixed flow pump. A commercial computational fluid dynamics code (FLOTRAN) is used to solve the 3-D Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equations in a rotating cylindrical coordinate system. The standardk-εturbulence model is used. The mesh for this study uses 26,000 nodes and the model is run on a SPARCstation 20. This is in contrast to typical analyses using in excess of 100,000 nodes that are run on a super computer platform. The smaller mesh size has advantages in the design environment. Stage design parameters are, rotational speed 1185 rpm, flow coefficientφ=0.116, head coefficientψ=0.094, and specific speed 2.01 (5475 US). Results for the model include circumferentially averaged results at the leading and trailing edges of the impeller, and analysis of the flow field within the impeller passage. Circumferentially averaged results include axial and tangential velocities, static pressure, and total pressure. Within the impeller passage the static pressure and velocity results are presented on surfaces from the leading edge to the trailing edge, the hub to the shroud, and the pressure surface to the suction surface. Results of this study are consistent with the expected flow characteristics of mixed flow impellers, indicating that small CFD models can be used to evaluate impeller performance in the design environment.


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.


Author(s):  
Hossein Nadali Najafabadi ◽  
Matts Karlsson ◽  
Mats Kinell ◽  
Esa Utriainen

Improving film cooling performance of turbine vanes and blades is often achieved through application of multiple arrays of cooling holes on the suction side, the showerhead region and the pressure side. This study investigates the pressure side cooling under the influence of single and multiple rows of cooling in the presence of a showerhead from a heat transfer coefficient augmentation perspective. Experiments are conducted on a prototype turbine vane working at engine representative conditions. Transient IR thermography is used to measure time-resolved surface temperature and the semi-infinite method is utilized to calculate the heat transfer coefficient on a low conductive material. Investigations are performed for cylindrical and fan-shaped holes covering blowing ratio 0.6 and 1.8 at density ratio of about unity. The freestream turbulence is approximately 5% close to the leading edge. The resulting heat transfer coefficient enhancement, the ratio of HTC with to that without film cooling, from different case scenarios have been compared to showerhead cooling only. Findings of the study highlight the importance of showerhead cooling to be used with additional row of cooling on the pressure side in order to reduce heat transfer coefficient enhancement. In addition, it is shown that extra rows of cooling will not significantly influence heat transfer augmentation, regardless of the cooling hole shape.


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

Experimental investigation has been performed to study the film cooling characteristics of counter-inclined structures on the turbine vane leading edge. In this paper, four counter-inclined models are measured including cylindrical film holes with and without impingement holes, laid-back film holes with and without impingement holes. A semi-cylinder model is used to model the turbine vane leading edge. Two rows of film holes are located at ±15° on either side of the leading edge model, inclined 90° to the flow direction and 45° to the spanwise direction. Film cooling effectiveness and heat transfer coefficient have been obtained using a transient heat transfer measurement technique with double thermochromic liquid crystals with four blowing ratios ranging from 0.5 to 2 at a 1.0 density ratio. The results show that the film cooling effectiveness decreases with the increase of blowing ratio. No matter cylindrical hole or laid-back hole, the addition of impingement enhances the film cooling effectiveness. Compared with cylindrical hole, laid-back hole produces a better film cooling performance mainly because of stronger lateral momentum. Moreover, the benefits of both adding impingement and exit shaping are more obvious under a large blowing ratio.


Author(s):  
Daniel G. Hyams ◽  
James H. Leylek

The physics of the film cooling process for shaped, streamwise-injected, inclined jets is studied for blowing ratio (M = 1.25, 1.88), density ratio (DR = 1.6), and length-to-diameter ratio (L/D = 4) parameters typical of gas turbine operations. A previously documented computational methodology is applied for the study of five distinct film cooling configurations: (1) cylindrical film hole (reference case); (2) forward-diffused film hole; (3) laterally-diffused film hole; (4) inlet shaped film hole, and (5) cusp-shaped film hole. The effects of various film hole geometries on both flow and thermal field characteristics is isolated, and the dominant mechanisms responsible for differences in these characteristics are documented. Special consideration is given to explaining crucial flow mechanisms from a vorticity point of view. It is found that vorticity analysis of the flow exiting the film hole can aid substantially in explaining the flow behavior downstream of the film hole. Results indicate that changes in the film hole shape can significantly alter the distribution of the exit-plane variables, therefore strongly affecting the downstream behavior of the film. Computational solutions of the steady, Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are obtained using an unstructured/adaptive, fully implicit, pressure-correction solver. Turbulence closure is obtained via the high Reynolds number k-ε model with generalized wall functions. Detailed field results as well as surface phenomena involving adiabatic film effectiveness (η) and heat transfer coefficient (h) are presented. When possible, computational results are validated against corresponding experimental cases from data found in the open literature. Detailed comparisons are made between surface and field results of the film hole shapes investigated in this work; design criteria for optimizing downstream heat transfer characteristics are then suggested.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
William D. York ◽  
James H. Leylek

A proven computational methodology was applied to investigate film cooling from diffused holes on the simulated leading edge of a turbine airfoil. The short film-hole diffuser section was conical in shape with a shallow half-angle, and was joined to a plenum by a cylindrical metering section. The diffusion resulted in a film-hole breakout area of 2.5 times that of a cylindrical hole. In the present paper, predictions of adiabatic effectiveness for the cases with diffused holes are compared to results for standard cylindrical holes, and performance is analyzed in the context of extensive flowfield data. The leading edge surface was elliptic in shape to accurately model a turbine airfoil. The geometry consisted of one row of holes centered on the stagnation line, and two additional rows located 3.5 hole (metering section) diameters downstream on either side of the stagnation line. Film holes in the downstream rows were centered laterally between holes in the stagnation row. All holes were angled at 20 deg with the leading edge surface, and were turned 90 deg with respect to the streamwise direction (radial injection). The average blowing ratio was varied from 1.0 to 2.5, and the coolant-to-mainstream density ratio was equal to 1.8. The steady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations were solved with a pressure-correction algorithm on an unstructured, multi-block grid containing 4.6 million finite-volumes. A realizable k-ε turbulence model was employed to close the equations. Convergence and grid-independence was verified using strict criteria. Based on the laterally averaged effectiveness over the leading edge, the diffused holes showed a marked advantage over standard holes through the range of blowing ratios. However, ingestion of hot crossflow and thermal diffusion into the second row of film holes was observed to cause significant, and potentially detrimental, heating of the film-hole walls.


Author(s):  
William D. York ◽  
James H. Leylek

A documented, systematic, computational methodology is applied to singularly investigate the effects of mainstream pressure gradients on film cooling over a flat surface for realistic gas turbine parameters. Key aspects of the study include: (1) validation of the ability of computational fluid dynamics to simulate film cooling in regions of mainstream pressure gradients, accomplished through the isolation of this parameter and the careful modeling of a published experimental study; (2) documentation of the effects of the applied pressure gradient on film cooling adiabatic effectiveness, as compared to the zero-pressure gradient case; and (3) detailed discussion of the pertinent physical mechanisms involved, with appropriate flowfield results. The imposed pressure gradient is typical of the suction surface of a gas turbine airfoil, with a strong favorable pressure gradient (the acceleration parameter was K = 1.5×10−6 at injection) transitioning to a mild adverse pressure gradient region beyond 30 diameters downstream. A single row of cylindrical film-cooling holes had an injection angle of 35°, with hole length-to-diameter ratio of 4.0 and a lateral spacing of 3.0 diameters. The simulated mass flux ratios were M = 0.6, 1.0, and 1.5, and the density ratio was held constant at 1.6. Solutions were obtained using a multi-block, multi-topology grid and a pressure-correction based, fully-implicit Navier-Stokes solver. A “realizeable” k-ε turbulence model, which eliminates the documented unrealistic turbulence production of the standard k-ε model in regions of large flow strain, was employed to obtain practical results economically. The applied pressure gradient resulted in a small advantage in center-line effectiveness, while laterally averaged effectiveness was slightly lower as compared to the zero-pressure gradient reference case. The results of this study demonstrate the ability of the applied computational methodology to accurately model film cooling in the presence of mainstream pressure gradients and resolve one of the key fundamental issues in turbine airfoil film cooling.


Author(s):  
William D. York ◽  
James H. Leylek

A proven computational methodology was applied to investigate film cooling from diffused holes on the simulated leading edge of a turbine airfoil. The short film-hole diffuser section was conical in shape with a shallow half-angle, and was joined to a plenum by a cylindrical metering section. The diffusion resulted in a film-hole breakout area of 2.5 times that of a cylindrical hole. In the present paper, predictions of adiabatic effectiveness for the cases with diffused holes are compared to results for standard cylindrical holes, and performance is analyzed in the context of extensive flowfield data. The leading edge surface was elliptic in shape to accurately model a turbine airfoil. The geometry consisted of one row of holes centered on the stagnation line, and two additional rows located 3.5 hole (metering section) diameters downstream on either side of the stagnation line. Film holes in the downstream rows were centered laterally between holes in the stagnation row. All holes were angled at 20° with the leading edge surface, and were turned 90° with respect to the streamwise direction (radial injection). The average blowing ratio was varied from 1.0 to 2.5, and the coolant-to-mainstream density ratio was equal to 1.8. The steady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations were solved with a pressure-correction algorithm on an unstructured, multi-block grid containing 4.6 million finite-volumes. A realizable k-ε turbulence model was employed to close the equations. Convergence and grid-independence was verified using strict criteria. Based on the laterally averaged effectiveness over the leading edge, the diffused holes showed a marked advantage over standard holes through the range of blowing ratios. However, ingestion of hot crossflow and thermal diffusion into the second row of film holes was observed to cause significant, and potentially detrimental, heating of the film-hole walls.


Author(s):  
Sridharan Ramesh ◽  
Christopher LeBlanc ◽  
Diganta Narzary ◽  
Srinath Ekkad ◽  
Mary Anne Alvin

Film cooling performance of the antivortex (AV) hole has been well documented for a flat plate. The goal of this study is to evaluate the same over an airfoil at three different locations: leading edge suction and pressure surface and midchord suction surface. The airfoil is a scaled up first stage vane from GE E3 engine and is mounted on a low-speed linear cascade wind tunnel. Steady-state infrared (IR) technique was employed to measure the adiabatic film cooling effectiveness. The study has been divided into two parts: the initial part focuses on the performance of the antivortex tripod hole compared to the cylindrical (CY) hole on the leading edge. Effects of blowing ratio (BR) and density ratio (DR) on the performance of cooling holes are studied here. Results show that the tripod hole clearly provides higher film cooling effectiveness than the baseline cylindrical hole case with overall reduced coolant usage on the both pressure and suction sides of the airfoil. The second part of the study focuses on evaluating the performance on the midchord suction surface. While the hole designs studied in the first part were retained as baseline cases, two additional geometries were also tested. These include cylindrical and tripod holes with shaped (SH) exits. Film cooling effectiveness was found at four different blowing ratios. Results show that the tripod holes with and without shaped exits provide much higher film effectiveness than cylindrical and slightly higher effectiveness than shaped exit holes using 50% lesser cooling air while operating at the same blowing ratios. Effectiveness values up to 0.2–0.25 are seen 40-hole diameters downstream for the tripod hole configurations, thus providing cooling in the important trailing edge portion of the airfoil.


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