Cooling the Tip of a Turbine Blade Using Pressure Side Holes—Part I: Adiabatic Effectiveness Measurements

2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (2) ◽  
pp. 270-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Christophel ◽  
K. A. Thole ◽  
F. J. Cunha
Keyword(s):  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Engine Performance ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Flow Phenomena ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Adiabatic Effectiveness

Durability of turbine blade tips has been and continues to be challenging, particularly since increasing turbine inlet temperatures is the driver for improving turbine engine performance. As a result, cooling methods along the blade tip are crucial. Film-cooling is one typically used cooling method whereby coolant is supplied through holes placed along the pressure side of a blade. The subject of this paper is to evaluate the adiabatic effectiveness levels that occur on the blade tip through blowing coolant from holes placed near the tip of a blade along the pressure side. A range of blowing ratios was studied whereby coolant was injected from holes placed along the pressure side tip of a large-scale blade model. Also present were dirt purge holes on the blade tip, which is part of a commonly used blade design to expel any large particles present in the coolant stream. Experiments were conducted in a linear cascade with a scaled-up turbine blade whereby the Reynolds number of the engine was matched. This paper, which is Part 1 of a two part series, compares adiabatic effectiveness levels measured along a blade tip, while Part 2 combines measured heat transfer coefficients with the adiabatic effectiveness levels to assess the overall cooling benefit of pressure side blowing near a blade tip. The results show much better cooling can be achieved for a small tip gap compared with a large tip gap with different flow phenomena occurring for each tip gap setting.

Cooling the Tip of a Turbine Blade Using Pressure Side Holes: Part 1 — Adiabatic Effectiveness Measurements

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Christophel ◽  
K. A. Thole ◽  
F. J. Cunha
Keyword(s):  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Engine Performance ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Flow Phenomena ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Adiabatic Effectiveness

Sealing and durability for turbine blade tips have been challenging problems since the development of gas turbine engines. Blade tip designs are extremely important in terms of sealing and engine performance. In general, overall engine performance can be improved by increasing turbine inlet temperatures. As a result, cooling methods along the blade tip need to be devised and applied effectively. Film-cooling is typically used as a blade tip cooling method, whereby coolant is supplied through holes placed along the pressure side of a blade. Experiments were conducted in a linear cascade with a scaled-up turbine blade whereby the Reynolds number of the engine was matched. A range of blowing ratios was studied whereby coolant was injected from holes placed along the pressure side tip of the blade as well as from dirt purge holes placed on the blade tip. This paper, which is Part 1 of a two part series, compares adiabatic effectiveness levels measured along a blade tip, while Part 2 combines measured heat transfer coefficients with the adiabatic effectiveness levels to assess the overall cooling benefit of pressure side blowing near a blade tip. The results show better cooling can be achieved for a small tip gap compared with a large tip gap with different flow phenomena occurring for each tip gap setting.

Effects of Deposits on Film Cooling of a Vane Endwall Along the Pressure Side

2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Sundaram ◽  
M. D. Barringer ◽  
K. A. Thole
Keyword(s):  
Film Cooling ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Secondary Flows ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Surface Deposition ◽  
Hot Gas ◽  
Turbine Vane ◽  
Adiabatic Effectiveness ◽  
Film Cooling Holes ◽  
Effect Of Surface

Film cooling is influenced by surface roughness and depositions that occur from contaminants present in the hot gas path, whether that film cooling occurs on the vane itself or on the endwalls associated with the vanes. Secondary flows in the endwall region also affect the film-cooling performance along the endwall. An experimental investigation was conducted to study the effect of surface deposition on film cooling along the pressure side of a first-stage turbine vane endwall. A large-scale wind tunnel with a turbine vane cascade was used to perform the experiments. The vane endwall was cooled by an array of film-cooling holes along the pressure side of the airfoil. Deposits having a semielliptical shape were placed along the pressure side to simulate individual row and multiple row depositions. Results indicated that the deposits lowered the average adiabatic effectiveness levels downstream of the film-cooling rows by deflecting the coolant jets toward the vane endwall junction on the pressure side. Results also indicated that there was a steady decrease in adiabatic effectiveness levels with a sequential increase in the number of rows with the deposits.

Transonic Passage Turbine Blade Tip Clearance With Scalloped Shroud: Part III — Heat Transfer in Engine Configuration

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Casey Wilkins ◽  
Gregory M. Feldman ◽  
Wayne S. Strasser ◽  
James H. Leylek
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Viscous Sublayer ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Constant Wall Heat Flux ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Large Scale Land

This work presents a numerical study that was done to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of a transonic turbine blade with a scalloped shroud operating at realistic engine conditions typical of those found in a large scale, land-based gas turbine. The geometry under investigation was an infinite, linear cascade composed of the same blade and shroud design used in an experimental test rig by the research sponsor. This simulation was run for varying nominal tip clearances of 20, 80, and 5.08 mm. For each of these clearances, the simulation was run with and without the scrubbing effects of the outer casing, resulting in a total of six cases that could be used to determine the influence of tip clearance and relative casing motion on heat transfer. A high quality grid (ranging from approximately 10–12 million finite volumes depending on tip clearance) with y+ for first layer cells at or below 1.0 everywhere was used to resolve the flow down to the viscous sublayer. The “realizable” k-ε turbulence model was used for all cases. A constant wall heat flux was imposed on all the surrounding surfaces to obtain heat transfer data. Results produced include a full map of heat transfer coefficients for the suction and pressure surfaces of the blade as well as the tip, shroud, and outer casing for every case. Physical mechanisms responsible for the final heat transfer outcome for all six cases are documented.

Numerical Study of the Film Cooling With Discrete-Hole Arrangement on a Cut Back Squealer Blade Tip

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Zhang ◽  
Zhong Yang ◽  
Shuqing Tian ◽  
Haiteng Ma
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Cooling Effectiveness ◽  
Cooling Performance ◽  
Film Cooling Effectiveness ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Cavity Floor

Detailed numerical investigations of film cooling effectiveness are conducted for the holes on the tip cavity floor and near the tip pressure side. The tested blade tip is a squealer with the trailing rim wall cut to allow the accumulated coolant in the cavity to escape and cool the trailing edge. The heat transfer coefficients on the un-cooled flat and cutback squealer blade tip are studied with numerical and experimental methods. Three dust purging holes with different diameters are arranged along the camber line, which forms the basic cooled case (PG case). Additional six tip cavity holes are arranged on cavity floor near the suction side rim (PG-TF case). Another row of angled twenty-one holes is arranged along the pressure side just below the tip based on the PG case (PG-PSF case). The coolant supply pressure ratios are controlled to be 1, 1.11, and 1.22 respectively, offering local blowing ratio from 0 to 2.5. Results show that the dust purging flow cooling performance increases with the cavity depth. Discrete holes on the cavity floor offer a well-distributed coolant, which refines the cooling effect on the cavity floor. The PG-PSF case with cooling holes on the pressure side has the best overall cooling performance with more coolant consumed, when PR ≥ 1.22. However, maintaining the same coolant mass flow the PG-TF case has the best cooling performance, and the margin between PG-TF and PG-PSF case decreases with mass flow. The moving shroud cases reveal that blade movement will cause significant negative impacts on film cooling effectiveness.

Cooling the Tip of a Turbine Blade Using Pressure Side Holes: Part 2 — Heat Transfer Measurements

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Christophel ◽  
K. A. Thole ◽  
F. J. Cunha
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Heat Flux ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Coolant Flow ◽  
Total Power ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Blade Tip

The clearance gap between a turbine blade tip and its associated shroud allows leakage flow across the tip gap from the pressure side to the suction side of the blade. Understanding how this leakage flow affects heat transfer is critical in extending blade tip durability in terms of oxidation, erosion, clearance, and overall turbine performance. This paper is the second of a two part series that discusses the augmentation of tip heat transfer as a result of blowing from the pressure side of the tip as well as dirt purge holes placed on the tip. For the experimental investigation, three scaled-up blades were used to form a two-passage linear cascade in a low speed wind tunnel. The rig was designed to simulate different tip gap sizes and coolant flow rates. Heat transfer coefficients were quantified by measuring the total power supplied to a constant heat flux surface placed on the tip of the blade and measuring the tip temperatures. Results indicate that increased blowing leads to increased augmentations in tip heat transfer, particularly at the entrance region to the gap. When combined with adiabatic effectiveness measurements, the coolant from the pressure side holes provides an overall net heat flux reduction to the blade tip but is nearly independent of coolant flow levels.

Film Cooling Performance in a Simulated Turbine Blade Tip Geometry

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae H. Yoon ◽  
Ricardo F. Martinez-Botas
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Thermal Loading ◽  
Separation Bubble ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Cooling Performance ◽  
Film Cooling Effectiveness ◽  
Pressure Surface ◽  
Blade Tip

One of the most problematic areas in gas turbine engines is the blade tip region, especially near the trailing edge, where it is very difficult to provide sufficient cooling. In all configurations with unshrouded tips, a clearance gap exists between the turbine blade and the outer shroud. The pressure difference between the suction and pressure sides of the blade drives a sink-like flow through this gap. The combination of leakage flow from the freestream and coolant flow induces high convective heat transfer coefficients on the blade tip surface. The resultant thermal loading can be significant and detrimental to the turbine blade tip durability, leading to early failure. Film cooling can be provided by means of a series of holes located on the tip itself providing protection not dissimilar to film cooling of the main blade. However, the interaction of coolant and the separation bubble resulted in a significantly different film cooling performance to that of non-tip cases. An experimental investigation of the simulated turbine blade tip is presented in here. The first section discusses PIV flow field measurements, the second covers the measurement of film cooling effectiveness and the third heat transfer measurements. All three parts investigate the effect of using different film cooling injection points and blowing ratios for injection on the blade tip itself, close to the pressure surface corner. Additionally, the effect of varying the corner radii between the pressure surface and the tip is reported. The experimental method uses the steady state liquid crystal technique. A Reynolds number of 30,000 based on the clearance gap hydraulic diameter for the main flow was used.

Evaluation of Pressure Side Film Cooling With Flow and Thermal Field Measurements: Part II — Turbulence Effects

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Michael Cutbirth ◽  
David G. Bogard
Keyword(s):  
Film Cooling ◽  
Laser Doppler Velocimetry ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Thermal Fields ◽  
Turbine Vane ◽  
Turbulence Effects ◽  
Average Distribution ◽  
Adiabatic Effectiveness

This study focused on the film cooling performance on the pressure side of a turbine vane subjected to high mainstream turbulence levels, with and without showerhead blowing. Whereas previous studies have measured the adiabatic effectiveness and heat transfer at the surface of the airfoil, the goal of this study was to examine the flow and thermal fields above the surface. These measurements included flow visualization, thermal profiles, and laser Doppler velocimetry. For comparison, adiabatic effectiveness was also measured. A mainstream turbulence level of Tu∞ = 20%, with integral length scale of seven hole diameters, was used. Particularly insightful is the discovery that the large scale high mainstream turbulence causes a lateral oscillation of coolant jet resulting in a much wider time average distribution of coolant. Even with high mainstream turbulence, showerhead blowing was found to still cause a significantly increased dispersion of the pressure side coolant jets.

Effect of Blade Tip Clearance on Turbine Shroud Heat/Mass Transfer

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Ho Rhee ◽  
Jong Hyun Choi ◽  
Hyung Hee Cho
Keyword(s):  
Mass Transfer ◽  
Heat Mass Transfer ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Local Heat ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Mass Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Transfer Characteristics ◽  
Blade Tip

This study investigates the local heat/mass transfer characteristics on the stationary shroud with blade tip clearances for flat tip geometry. A large scale linear cascade is used and the relative motion between the blade and shroud is neglected in this study. A naphthalene sublimation method is employed to determine the detailed local heat/mass transfer coefficients on the shroud surface. The geometry of blade tip used in this study is flat and the tip clearance varies from 0.66% to 2.85% of the blade chord length. The flow enters the gap between the blade tip and shroud at the pressure side due to the pressure difference. Therefore, the heat/mass transfer characteristics on the shroud are changed significantly from those for no tip clearance. High heat/mass transfer region is observed along the pressure side of blade due to the entrance effect and the acceleration of the tip gap flow. Complex heat transfer patterns on the shroud are observed in the region where the blade tip and shroud are overlapped due to the flow separation and reattachment. Then, the heat/mass transfer coefficients on the shroud increase along the suction side of blade because tip leakage vortices are generated with interacting the main flow. The experimental results show that the heat/mass transfer characteristics are changed significantly with the gap distance between the tip of turbine blade and the shroud. However, the turbulence intensity of incoming flow has little influence on the heat/mass transfer coefficients on the shroud with tip clearance.

Effects of Deposits on Film Cooling of a Vane Endwall Along the Pressure Side

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Sundaram ◽  
M. D. Barringer ◽  
K. A. Thole
Keyword(s):  
Film Cooling ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Secondary Flows ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Surface Deposition ◽  
Hot Gas ◽  
Turbine Vane ◽  
Adiabatic Effectiveness ◽  
Film Cooling Holes ◽  
Effect Of Surface

Film-cooling is influenced by surface roughness and depositions that occur from contaminants present in the hot gas path, whether that film-cooling occurs on the vane itself or on the endwalls associated with the vanes. Secondary flows in the endwall region also affect the film-cooling performance along the endwall. An experimental investigation was conducted to study the effect of surface deposition on film-cooling along the pressure side of a first-stage turbine vane endwall. A large-scale wind tunnel with a turbine vane cascade was used to perform the experiments. The vane endwall was cooled by an array of film-cooling holes along the pressure side of the airfoil. Deposits having a semi-elliptical shape were placed along the pressure side to simulate individual row and multiple row depositions. Results indicated that the deposits lowered the average adiabatic effectiveness levels downstream of the film-cooling rows by deflecting the coolant jets towards the vane endwall junction on the pressure side. Results also indicated that there was a steady decrease in adiabatic effectiveness with a sequential increase in the number of rows with the deposits.

Evaluation of Pressure Side Film Cooling With Flow and Thermal Field Measurements—Part II: Turbulence Effects

2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 678-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Michael Cutbirth ◽  
David G. Bogard
Keyword(s):  
Film Cooling ◽  
Laser Doppler Velocimetry ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Thermal Fields ◽  
Turbine Vane ◽  
Turbulence Effects ◽  
Average Distribution ◽  
Adiabatic Effectiveness

This study focused on the film cooling performance on the pressure side of a turbine vane subjected to high mainstream turbulence levels, with and without showerhead blowing. Whereas previous studies have measured the adiabatic effectiveness and heat transfer at the surface of the airfoil, the goal of this study was to examine the flow and thermal fields above the surface. These measurements included flow visualization, thermal profiles, and laser Doppler velocimetry. For comparison, adiabatic effectiveness was also measured. A mainstream turbulence level of Tu∞=20%, with integral length scale of seven hole diameters, was used. Particularly insightful is the discovery that the large-scale high mainstream turbulence causes a lateral oscillation of coolant jet resulting in a much wider time average distribution of coolant. Even with high mainstream turbulence, showerhead blowing was found to still cause a significantly increased dispersion of the pressure side coolant jets.

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