Combined Experimental and CFD Study of a HP Blade Multi-Pass Cooling System

Progress in the computing power available for CFD predictions now means that full geometry, 3 dimensional predictions are now routinely used in internal cooling system design. This paper reports recent work at Rolls-Royce which has compared the flow and htc predictions in a modern HP turbine cooling system to experiments. The triple pass cooling system includes film cooling vents and inclined ribs. The high resolution heat transfer experiments show that different cooling performance features are predicted with different levels of fidelity by the CFD. The research also revealed the sensitivity of the prediction to accurate modelling of the film cooling hole discharge coefficients and a detailed comparison of the authors’ computer predictions to data available in the literature is reported. Mixed bulk temperature is frequently used in the determination of heat transfer coefficient from experimental data. The current CFD data is used to compare the mixed bulk temperature to the duct centreline temperature. The latter is measured experimentally and the effect of the difference between mixed bulk and centreline temperature is considered in detail.

Investigation of Circular and Shaped Effusion Cooling Arrays for Combustor Liner Application—Part 2: Numerical Analysis

A numerical analysis of two different effusion cooled plates, with a feasible arrangement for combustor liner application, is presented in this paper. Though having the same porosity and very shallow injection angle (17°), the first configuration presents a “conventional” circular drilling, while the other has “shaped” holes with such an elliptical cross-section that leads to a circular imprint on the cooled surface. Either geometries were the object of an experimental survey in which both adiabatic and overall effectiveness were measured. In order to compensate for the lack of detailed aerodynamic measurements, 3D CFD computations were performed for the two geometries. Steady state RANS calculations were carried out using a k–ε Two Layer turbulence model, both in the standard isotropic and in an algebraically corrected non isotropic version specifically tuned to better predict the lateral spreading of jets in a cross flow. Flow characteristic reproduce typical effusion cooled combustor liner conditions with blowing ratio of 5 and coolant jet Reynolds number of 12500. Even though good agreement could not be obtained comparing thermal adiabatic effectiveness with experiments, the findings of the experiments regarding the rating of the cooling efficiency of the two configurations were confirmed. Additionally, conjugate simulations were performed for the circular hole geometry in order to quantify heat transfer effects and to directly compare them with raw experimental overall effectiveness data.

Experimental Study of the Effects of an Oscillating Approach Flow on Overall Cooling Performance of a Simulated Turbine Blade Leading Edge

When a turbine blade passes through wakes from upstream vanes it is subjected to an oscillation of the direction of the approach flow resulting in the oscillation of the position of the stagnation line on the leading edge of the blade. In this study an experimental facility was developed that induced a similar oscillation of the stagnation line position on a simulated turbine blade leading edge. The overall effectiveness was evaluated at various blowing ratios and stagnation line oscillation frequencies. The location of the stagnation line on the leading edge was oscillated to simulate a change in angle of attack between α = ± 5° at a range of frequencies from 2 to 20 Hz. These frequencies were chosen based on matching a range of Strouhal numbers typically seen in an engine due to oscillations caused by passing wakes. The blowing ratio was varied between M = 1, M = 2, and M = 3. These experiments were carried out at a density ratio of DR = 1.5 and mainstream turbulence levels of Tu ≈ 6%. The leading edge model was made of high conductivity epoxy in order to match the Biot number of an actual engine airfoil. Results of these tests showed that the film cooling performance with an oscillating stagnation line was degraded by as much as 25% compared to the performance of a steady flow with the stagnation line aligned with the row of holes at the leading edge.

Heat Transfer and Aerodynamics of Over-Shroud Leakage Flows in a High-Pressure Turbine

An experimental study has been conducted to investigate the distribution of the convective heat transfer on the shroud of a high pressure turbine blade in a large scale rotating rig. A continuous thin heater foil technique has been adapted and implemented on the turbine shroud. Thermochromic Liquid Crystals were employed for the surface temperature measurements to derive the experimental heat transfer data. The heat transfer is presented on the shroud top surfaces and the three fins. The experiments were conducted for a variety of Reynolds numbers and flow coefficients. The effects of different inter-shroud gap sizes and reduced fin tip clearance gaps were also investigated. Details of the shroud flow field were obtained using an advanced Ammonia-Diazo surface flow visualisation technique. CFD predictions are compared with the experimental data and used to aid interpretation. Contour maps of the Nusselt number reveal that regions of highest heat transfer are mostly confined to the suction side of the shroud. Peak values exceed the average by as much as 100 percent. It has been found that the interaction between leakage flow through the inter-shroud gaps and the fin tip leakage jets are responsible for this high heat transfer. The inter-shroud gap leakage flow causes a disruption of the boundary layer on the turbine shroud. Furthermore, the development of the large recirculating shroud cavity vortices is severely altered by this leakage flow.

Computational Analysis of Conjugate Heat Transfer and Particulate Deposition on a High Pressure Turbine Vane

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.

Effect of Radial Location of Nozzles on Heat Transfer in Pre-Swirl Cooling System

This paper investigates heat transfer in a rotating disc system using pre-swirled cooling air from nozzles at high and low radius. The experiments were conducted over a range of rotational speeds, flow rates and pre-swirl ratios. Narrow-band thermochromic liquid crystal (TLC) was specifically calibrated for application to experiments on a disc rotating at ∼ 5000 rpm and subsequently used to measure surface temperature in a transient experiment. The TLC was viewed through the transparent polycarbonate disc using a digital video camera and strobe light synchronised to the disc frequency. The convective heat transfer coefficient, h, was subsequently calculated from the one-dimensional solution of Fourier’s conduction equation for a semi-infinite wall. The analysis accounted for the exponential rise in the air temperature driving the heat transfer, and for experimental uncertainties in the measured values of h. The experimental data was supported by ‘flow visualisation’ determined from CFD. Two heat transfer regimes were revealed for the low-radius pre-swirl system: a viscous regime at relatively low coolant flow rates; and an inertial regime at higher flow rates. Both regimes featured regions of high heat transfer where thin, boundary layers replaced air exiting through receiver holes at high radius on the rotating disc. The heat transfer in the high radius pre-swirl system was shown to be dominated by impingement under the flow conditions tested.

Measurement of Detailed Heat Transfer Coefficient and Film Cooling Effectiveness Distributions Using PSP and TSP

This paper presents the development of a novel experimental technique utilizing both temperature and pressure sensitive paints (TSP and PSP). Through the combination of these paints, both detailed heat transfer coefficient and film cooling effectiveness distributions can be obtained from two short experiments. Using a mass transfer analogy, PSP has proven to be a powerful technique for measurement of film cooling effectiveness. This benefit is exploited to obtain detailed film cooling effectiveness distributions from a steady state flow experiment. This measured film cooling effectiveness is combined with transient temperature distributions obtained from a transient TSP experiment to produce detailed heat transfer coefficient distributions. Optical filters are used to differentiate the light emission from the florescent molecules comprising the PSP and TSP. Although two separate tests are needed to obtain the heat transfer coefficient distributions, the two tests can be performed in succession to minimize setup time and variability. The detailed film effectiveness and heat transfer enhancement ratios have been obtained for a generic, inclined angle (θ = 35°) hole geometry on a flat plate. Distinctive flow features over a wide range of blowing ratios have been captured with the proposed technique. In addition, the measured results have compared favorably to previous studies (both qualitatively and quantitatively), thus substantiating the use of the combined PSP / TSP technique for experimental investigations of three temperature mixing problems.

Practical Slot Configurations for Turbine Film Cooling Applications

Turbine component film cooling is most effective when using a continuous slot to introduce coolant to the surface. However, this is not practical due to the structural weakness that would be inherent with a continuous slot. In this study, several slot-like designs are investigated to establish the film cooling effectiveness. These slot configurations extended only a partial distance through the simulated turbine vane wall, and were fed with impinging cylindrical holes. The configurations were studied on the suction side of a scaled-up turbine vane. In this study varying slot widths, discrete and continuous slots, and diffusing the coolant flow within the slot prior to it being emitted onto the surface of the vane were investigated. Rows of discrete round and shaped holes were also tested for comparison with the slots. The study of varying slot geometries showed that decreasing the width of the slots led to a substantial increase in adiabatic effectiveness. An internal coolant diffusion technique showed promise by maintaining performance levels while potentially providing a design configuration that more readily meets structural demands in real world operating conditions. The coolant flow characteristics were also studied through the use of thermal profiles measurements. These thermal profiles showed significant mainstream ingestion on the top surface of the slot prior to the coolant emitting onto the surface of the vane.

The Effects of Simulated Particle Deposition on Film Cooling

Diminishing natural gas resources has increased incentive to develop cleaner, more efficient combined cycle power plants capable of burning alternative fuels such as coal-derived synthesis gas (syngas). Although syngas is typically filtered, particulate matter still exists in the hot gas path that has proven to be detrimental to the life of turbine components. Solid and molten particles deposit on film cooled surfaces that can alter cooling dynamics and block cooling holes. To gain an understanding of the effects that particle deposits have on film cooling, a methodology was developed to simulate deposition in a low speed wind tunnel using a low melt wax, which can simulate solid and molten phases. A facility was constructed to simulate particle deposition on a flat plate with a row of film cooling holes. Infrared thermography was used to measure wall temperatures for quantifying spatially resolved adiabatic effectiveness values in the vicinity of the film cooling holes as deposition occurred. Results showed that deposition reduced cooling effectiveness by approximately 20% at momentum flux ratios of 0.23 and 0.5 and only 6% at a momentum flux ratio of 0.95.

Effect of Blowing Ratio in the Near-Stagnation Region of a Three-Row Leading Edge Film Cooling Geometry Using Large Eddy Simulations

Computational studies are carried out using Large Eddy Simulations (LES) to investigate the effect of coolant to mainstream blowing ratio in a leading edge region of a film cooled vane. The three row leading edge vane geometry is modeled as a symmetric semi-cylinder with a flat afterbody. One row of coolant holes is located along the stagnation line and the other two rows of coolant holes are located at ±21.3° from the stagnation line. The coolant is injected at 45° to the vane surface with 90° compound angle injection. The coolant to mainstream density ratio is set to unity and the freestream Reynolds number based on leading edge diameter is 32000. Blowing ratios (B.R.) of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 are investigated. It is found that the stagnation cooling jets penetrate much further into the mainstream, both in the normal and lateral directions, than the off-stagnation jets for all blowing ratios. Jet dilution is characterized by turbulent diffusion and entrainment. The strength of both mechanisms increases with blowing ratio. The adiabatic effectiveness in the stagnation region initially increases with blowing ratio but then generally decreases as the blowing ratio increases further. Immediately downstream of off-stagnation injection, the adiabatic effectiveness is highest at B.R. = 0.5. However, further downstream the larger mass of coolant injected at higher blowing ratios, in spite of the larger jet penetration and dilution, increases the effectiveness with blowing ratio.