Experimental and Computational Comparisons of Fan-Shaped Film Cooling on a Turbine Vane Surface

2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Colban ◽  
K. A. Thole ◽  
M. Haendler

The flow exiting the combustor in a gas turbine engine is considerably hotter than the melting temperature of the turbine section components, of which the turbine nozzle guide vanes see the hottest gas temperatures. One method used to cool the vanes is to use rows of film-cooling holes to inject bleed air that is lower in temperature through an array of discrete holes onto the vane surface. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the row-by-row interaction of fan-shaped holes as compared to the performance of a single row of fan-shaped holes in the same locations. This study presents adiabatic film-cooling effectiveness measurements from a scaled-up, two-passage vane cascade. High-resolution film-cooling measurements were made with an infrared camera at a number of engine representative flow conditions. Computational fluid dynamics predictions were also made to evaluate the performance of some of the current turbulence models in predicting a complex flow such as turbine film-cooling. The renormalization group (RNG) k‐ε turbulence model gave a closer prediction of the overall level of film effectiveness, while the v2‐f turbulence model gave a more accurate representation of the flow physics seen in the experiments.

Author(s):  
W. Colban ◽  
K. A. Thole ◽  
M. Haendler

The flow exiting the combustor in a gas turbine engine is considerably hotter than the melting temperature of the turbine section components, of which the turbine nozzle guide vanes see the hottest gas temperatures. One method used to cool the vanes is to use rows of film-cooling holes to inject bleed air that is lower in temperature through an array of discrete holes onto the vane surface. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the row-by-row interaction of fan-shaped holes as compared to the performance of a single row of fan-shaped holes in the same locations. This study presents adiabatic film-cooling effectiveness measurements from a scaled-up, two-passage vane cascade. High resolution film-cooling measurements were made with an infrared (IR) camera at a number of engine representative flow conditions. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions were also made to evaluate the performance of some of the current turbulence models in predicting a complex flow such as turbine film-cooling. The RNG k-ε turbulence model gave a closer prediction of the overall level of film-effectiveness, while the v2-f turbulence model gave a more accurate representation of the flow physics seen in the experiments.


Author(s):  
Lucas Giller ◽  
Heinz-Peter Schiffer

The interaction between the strongly swirling combustor outflow and the high pressure turbine nozzle guide vanes were investigated at the cascade test rig at Technische Universität Darmstadt. The test section of the rig consists of six swirl generators and five cascade vanes. The three middle vanes are equipped with film cooling holes at the leading edges. The swirler nozzles are aligned with the center of the cascade passages. The operating settings are defined by the swirl number, the distance between the swirler nozzles and the vanes, the blowing ratio and the radial angle of the film cooling holes. Flow field measurements using PIV downstream of the swirlers and five hole probe measurements at the inlet and outlet plane of the cascade were accomplished. Measurements using the ammonia diazo technique to determine the adiabatic film cooling effectiveness on the surface of the center cascade vane were also carried out. It is shown that a swirling inflow leads to a strong alteration of the flow field and the losses in the passages in comparison to an axial inflow. Furthermore, the impact of the swirl on the formation of the cooling film and it’s adiabatic film cooling effectiveness is presented.


2006 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 579-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Coulthard ◽  
Ralph J. Volino ◽  
Karen A. Flack

The effect of an unheated starting length upstream of a row of film cooling holes was studied experimentally to determine its effect on heat transfer coefficients downstream of the holes. Cases with a single row of cylindrical film cooling holes inclined at 35deg to the surface of a flat plate were considered at blowing ratios of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5. For each case, experiments were conducted to determine the film-cooling effectiveness and the Stanton number distributions in cases with the surface upstream of the holes heated and unheated. Measurements were made using an infrared camera, thermocouples, and hot and cold-wire anemometry. Ratios were computed of the Stanton number with film cooling (Stf) to corresponding Stanton numbers in cases without film cooling (Sto), but the same surface heating conditions. Contours of these ratios were qualitatively the same regardless of the upstream heating conditions, but the ratios were larger for the cases with a heating starting length. Differences were most pronounced just downstream of the holes and for the lower blowing rate cases. Even 12 diameters downstream of the holes, the Stanton number ratios were 10–15% higher with a heated starting length. At higher blowing rates the differences between the heated and unheated starting length cases were not significant. The differences in Stanton number distributions are related to jet flow structures, which vary with blowing rate.


Author(s):  
Sarah M. Coulthard ◽  
Ralph J. Volino ◽  
Karen A. Flack

Pulsed film cooling was studied experimentally to determine its effect on film cooling effectiveness. The film cooling jets were pulsed using solenoid valves in the supply air line. Cases with a single row of cylindrical film cooling holes inclined at 35 degrees to the surface of a flat plate were considered at blowing ratios of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 for a variety of pulsing frequencies and duty cycles. Temperature measurements were made using an infrared camera, thermocouples, and cold wire anemometry. Hot wire anemometry was used for velocity measurements. The local film cooling effectiveness was calculated based on the measured temperatures and the results were compared to baseline cases with continuous blowing. Phase locked flow temperature fields were determined from cold wire surveys. Pulsing at high frequencies helped to improve film cooling effectiveness in some cases by reducing overall jet liftoff. At lower frequencies, pulsing tended to have the opposite effect. With the present geometry and a steady mainflow, pulsing did not provide an overall benefit. The highest overall effectiveness was achieved with continuous jets and a blowing ratio of 0.5. The present results may prove useful for understanding film cooling behavior in engines, where mainflow unsteadiness causes film cooling jet pulsation.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Coulthard ◽  
Ralph J. Volino ◽  
Karen A. Flack

Pulsed film cooling was studied experimentally to determine its effect on film-cooling effectiveness. The film-cooling jets were pulsed using solenoid valves in the supply air line. Cases with a single row of cylindrical film-cooling holes inclined at 35 deg to the surface of a flat plate were considered at blowing ratios of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 for a variety of pulsing frequencies and duty cycles. Temperature measurements were made using an infrared camera, thermocouples, and cold-wire anemometry. Hot-wire anemometry was used for velocity measurements. The local film-cooling effectiveness was calculated based on the measured temperatures, and the results were compared to baseline cases with continuous blowing. Phase-locked flow temperature fields were determined from cold-wire surveys. Pulsing at high frequencies helped to improve film-cooling effectiveness in some cases by reducing overall jet liftoff. At lower frequencies, pulsing tended to have the opposite effect. With the present geometry and a steady mainflow, pulsing did not provide an overall benefit. The highest overall effectiveness was achieved with continuous jets and a blowing ratio of 0.5. The present results may prove useful for understanding film-cooling behavior in engines, where mainflow unsteadiness causes film-cooling jet pulsation.


Author(s):  
J. J. Scrittore ◽  
K. A. Thole ◽  
S. W. Burd

Cooling combustor chambers for gas turbine engines is challenging, given the complex flow and thermal fields inherent to these modules. This complexity, in part, arises from the interaction of high-momentum dilution jets required to mix the fuel with film cooling jets that are intended to cool the combustor walls. This paper discusses the experimental results from a combustor simulator tested in a low-speed wind tunnel that includes both the dilution jets and film-cooling jets. The specific purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence that the dilution jets has on the film-cooling effectiveness. Infrared thermography was used to measure surface temperatures along a low thermal conductivity plate to quantify the adiabatic effectiveness from an array of film cooling holes with the presence of dilution holes. To further understand the flow phenomena, thermocouple probes and laser Doppler velocimetry were used to measure the thermal and flow fields, respectively. Parametric experiments indicate that the film cooling flow is disrupted along the combustor walls in the vicinity of the high-momentum dilution jets. In fact, a significant penalty in cooling effectiveness of the combustor is observed with increased dilution jet penetration.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Coulthard ◽  
Ralph J. Volino ◽  
Karen A. Flack

Pulsed film cooling was studied experimentally to determine its effect on film-cooling effectiveness and heat transfer. The film-cooling jets were pulsed using solenoid valves in the supply air line. Cases with a single row of cylindrical film-cooling holes inclined at 35 deg to the surface of a flat plate were considered at blowing ratios of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 for a variety of pulsing frequencies and duty cycles. Temperature measurements were made using an infrared camera and thermocouples. The plate was equipped with constant flux surface heaters, and data were acquired for each flow condition with the plate both heated and unheated. The local film-cooling effectiveness, Stanton numbers, and heat flux ratios were calculated and compared to baseline cases with continuous blowing and no blowing. Stanton number signatures on the surface provided evidence of flow structures, including horseshoe vortices wrapping around the film-cooling jets and vortices within the jets. Pulsing tends to increase Stanton numbers, and the effect tends to increase with pulsing frequency and duty cycle. Some exceptions were observed, however, at the highest frequencies tested. Overall heat flux ratios also show that pulsing tends to have a detrimental effect with some exceptions at the highest frequencies. The best overall film cooling was achieved with continuous jets and a blowing ratio of 0.5. The present results may prove useful for understanding film-cooling behavior in engines, where mainflow unsteadiness causes film-cooling jet pulsation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehsan Kianpour ◽  
Nor Azwadi Che Sidik ◽  
Iman Golshokouh

This study was carried out to extend database knowledge about the function of film cooling holes at the end of combustor and the inlet of turbine. Using the well-known Brayton cycle, raising the turbine inlet temperature is the key to obtain higher engine efficiency in gas turbine engines. However, high temperature of the combustor exit flow causes non-uniformities. These non-uniformities lead to the reduction of expected life of critical components. Therefore, an appropriate cooling technique should be designed to protect these parts. Film cooling is one of the most effective external cooling methods. Various film cooling techniques presented in the literature have been investigated. Moreover, challenges and future directions of film cooling techniques have been reviewed and presented in this paper. The aim of this review is to summarize recent development in research on film cooling techniques and attempt to identify some challenging issues that need to be solved for future research.


Author(s):  
Sarah M. Coulthard ◽  
Ralph J. Volino ◽  
Karen A. Flack

Pulsed film cooling was studied experimentally to determine its effect on film cooling effectiveness and heat transfer. The film cooling jets were pulsed using solenoid valves in the supply air line. Cases with a single row of cylindrical film cooling holes inclined at 35 degrees to the surface of a flat plate were considered at blowing ratios of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 for a variety of pulsing frequencies and duty cycles. Temperature measurements were made using an infrared camera and thermocouples. The plate was equipped with constant flux surface heaters, and data were acquired for each flow condition with the plate both heated and unheated. The local film cooling effectiveness, Stanton numbers, and heat flux ratios were calculated and compared to baseline cases with continuous blowing and no blowing. Stanton number signatures on the surface provided evidence of flow structures including horseshoe vortices wrapping around the film cooling jets and vortices within the jets. Pulsing tends to increase Stanton numbers, and the effect tends to increase with pulsing frequency and duty cycle. Some exceptions were observed, however, at the highest frequencies tested. Overall heat flux ratios also show that pulsing tends to have a detrimental effect with some exceptions at the highest frequencies. The best overall film cooling was achieved with continuous jets and a blowing ratio of 0.5. The present results may prove useful for understanding film cooling behavior in engines, where mainflow unsteadiness causes film cooling jet pulsation.


Author(s):  
Sarah M. Coulthard ◽  
Ralph J. Volino ◽  
Karen A. Flack

The effect of an unheated starting length upstream of a row of film cooling holes was studied experimentally to determine its effect on heat transfer coefficients downstream of the holes. Cases with a single row of cylindrical film cooling holes inclined at 35 degrees to the surface of a flat plate were considered at blowing ratios of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5. For each case experiments were conducted to determine the film cooling effectiveness and the Stanton number distributions in cases with the surface upstream of the holes heated and unheated. Measurements were made using an infrared camera, thermocouples, and hot and cold wire anemometry. Ratios were computed of the Stanton number with film cooling (Stf) to corresponding Stanton numbers in cases without film cooling (Sto) but the same surface heating conditions. Contours of these ratios were qualitatively the same regardless of the upstream heating conditions, but the ratios were larger for the cases with a heating starting length. Differences were most pronounced just downstream of the holes and for the lower blowing rate cases. Even 12 diameters downstream of the holes the Stanton number ratios were 10 to 15% higher with a heated starting length. The differences in Stanton number distributions are related to jet flow structures which vary with blowing rate.


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