Impact of Wall Temperature on Turbine Blade Tip Aero-Thermal Performance

Author(s):  
Q. Zhang ◽  
L. He

Currently, the aerodynamics and heat transfer over a turbine blade tip tend to be analyzed separately with the assumption that the wall thermal boundary conditions do not affect the Over-Tip-Leakage (OTL) flow field. There are some existing correlations for correcting the wall temperature effect on heat transfer. But they were mainly developed to account for the temperature dependence on fluid properties, and are inherently limited by the empirical nature. The questions arise with regard to: is the OTL aerodynamics significantly affected by the wall thermal condition? And if it is, how can we count this effect consistently in turbine blade tip design and analysis using modern CFD methods? In the present study, the problem has been examined for typical HP turbine blade tip configurations. An extensively developed RANS code (HYDRA) is employed and validated against the experimental data from a high speed linear cascade testing rig. The numerical analysis reveals that the wall-gas temperature ratio could greatly affect the transonic OTL flow field and there is a strong two-way coupling between aerodynamics and heat transfer. The feedbacks of the thermal boundary condition to aerodynamics behave differently at different flow regimes over the tip, clearly indicating a highly localized dependence of the convective heat transfer coefficient (HTC) upon wall temperatures. This implies that to use HTC for blade metal temperature predictions without resorting a fully conjugate solution, the temperature dependence needs to be corrected locally. A nonlinear correction approach has been adopted in the present work, and the results demonstrate its effectiveness for the transonic turbine tip configurations studied.

Author(s):  
Q. Zhang ◽  
L. He

Currently the aerodynamics and heat transfer over a turbine blade tip tend to be analyzed separately with the assumption that the wall thermal boundary conditions do not affect the over-tip-leakage (OTL) flow field. There are some existing correlations for correcting the wall temperature effect on heat transfer when scaled to engine realistic conditions. But they were either developed to account for the temperature dependence of fluid properties largely empirically, or based on a boundary-layer model. It would be difficult (if not impossible) to define a boundary layer in many parts of a realistic blade passage with marked three-dimensional (3D) end wall and secondary flows (including those within a blade tip and around it). The questions to be asked here are: is the OTL aerodynamics significantly affected by the wall thermal condition? And if it is, how can we count this effect consistently in turbine blade tip design and analysis using modern CFD methods? In the present study the problem has been examined for typical high-pressure turbine blade tip configurations. An extensively developed RANS code (HYDRA) is employed and validated against the experimental data from a high speed linear cascade testing rig. The numerical analysis reveals that the wall–gas temperature ratio could greatly affect the transonic OTL flow field and there is a strong two-way coupling between aerodynamics and heat transfer. The feedbacks of the thermal boundary condition to aerodynamics behave differently at different flow regimes over the tip, clearly indicating a highly localized dependence of the convective heat transfer coefficient (HTC) upon wall temperatures. This implies that to use HTC for blade metal temperature predictions without resorting a fully conjugate solution, the temperature dependence needs to be corrected locally. A nonlinear correction approach has been adopted in the present work, and the results demonstrate its effectiveness for the transonic turbine tip configurations studied.


Author(s):  
H. Ma ◽  
Z. Wang ◽  
L. Wang ◽  
Q. Zhang ◽  
Z. Yang ◽  
...  

The uncertainty associated with the convective heat transfer coefficient (HTC) obtained in transient thermal measurement is often high, especially in high speed flow. The present study demonstrates that the experimental accuracy could be much improved by an actively controlled ramp heating instead of the conventional step heating approach. A general design guideline for the proposed ramp heating method is derived theoretically and further demonstrated by simulation cases. This paper also presents a detailed experimental study for transonic turbine blade tip heat transfer. Repeatable, high-resolution tip HTC contour was obtained through transient IR measurement with the proposed ramp heating method. Detailed uncertainty analysis shows that the resulting HTC uncertainty level is much lower than the experimental data currently available in the open literature. The ramp heating approach is specially recommended to the high-speed heat transfer experimental research community to improve the accuracy of the transient thermal measurement technique.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. K7ADQC ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Li He

AbstractThis article provides an overview of some recent progress in understanding HP turbine blade shroudless tip heat transfer and aerodynamics, especially in a transonic regime. The review is mostly based on the experimental and numerical efforts the authors have been involved in during the past ten years. Some fundamental flow physics especially in high speed Over-Tip-Leakage (OTL) flows are highlighted, including tip choking, shock waves, and the roles played by flow turbulence, etc. These mechanisms bring qualitative differences in tip heat transfer and loss generation, and prospects in tip aerothermal management and control. Of great interest is the strong OTL flow–coolant interaction, which can dramatically affect the tip aerodynamics, and thus would challenge any “optimized” tip geometry based on an uncooled configuration. It is suggested that optimal tip aero-thermal configurations should be an iterative process between blade tip shaping and cooling injection scheme. Combining tip geometry shaping and cooling injection patterns concurrently may provide more extensive exploitation of tip aerothermal design space.


Author(s):  
R. Maffulli ◽  
L. He

The dependency of convective heat transfer coefficient (HTC) on wall temperature has been recognized in some previous works but existing corrections are confined to either empirically based correlations or based on a boundary layer approach. A recent study by the present authors on a 2D configuration highlights upstream flow history has a strong impact on HTC for a non-adiabatic blade surface, and such an effect cannot be adequately corrected by the use of existing empirical correlations. A boundary layer based approach may be used in a 2D case for the correction as attempted previously. However, it is strongly argued that a boundary layer based method would become very difficult, if not impossible, to apply for complex 3D flows as those in endwall and secondary flow regions of a turbine blade passage. The present work is aimed to examine how the HTC and main 3D passage aerodynamic features of interest may be affected by the wall temperature condition. A systematic computational study has been firstly carried out for a 3D NGV passage. The impacts of wall temperature on the secondary flows, trailing edge shock waves and the passage flow capacity are discussed, underlining the connection and interactions between the wall temperature and the external aerodynamics of the 3D passage. The local errors in HTC in these 3D flow regions can be as high as 30–40% if the wall temperature dependence is not corrected. The effort is then directed to a new 3-point non-linear correction method. The benefit of the 3-point method in reducing errors in HTC is clearly demonstrated. A further study illustrates that the new method also offers much enhanced robustness in the HTC procedure, particularly relevant when the wall thermal condition is shown to influence the laminar-turbulent transition as exhibited by two well-established transition models adopted in the present work.


2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Zhang ◽  
D. O. O’Dowd ◽  
L. He ◽  
A. P. S. Wheeler ◽  
P. M. Ligrani ◽  
...  

In this paper, the transonic flow pattern and its influence on heat transfer on a high-pressure turbine blade tip are investigated using experimental and computational methods. Spatially resolved heat transfer data are obtained at conditions representative of a single-stage high-pressure turbine blade (Mexit=1.0, Reexit=1.27×106, gap=1.5% chord) using the transient infrared thermography technique within the Oxford high speed linear cascade research facility. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions are conducted using the Rolls-Royce HYDRA/PADRAM suite. The CFD solver is able to capture most of the spatial heat flux variations and gives prediction results, which compare well with the experimental data. The results show that the majority of the blade tip experiences a supersonic flow with peak Mach number reaching 1.8. Unlike other low-speed data in the open literature, the turbine blade tip heat transfer is greatly influenced by the shock wave structure inside the tip gap. Oblique shock waves are initiated near the pressure-side edge of the tip, prior to being reflected multiple times between the casing and the tip. Supersonic flow within the tip gap is generally terminated by a normal shock near the exit of the gap. Both measured and calculated heat transfer spatial distributions illustrate very clear stripes as the signature of the multiple shock structure. Overall, the supersonic part of tip experiences noticeably lower heat transfer than that near the leading-edge where the flow inside the tip gap remains subsonic.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146808742110072
Author(s):  
Karri Keskinen ◽  
Walter Vera-Tudela ◽  
Yuri M Wright ◽  
Konstantinos Boulouchos

Combustion chamber wall heat transfer is a major contributor to efficiency losses in diesel engines. In this context, thermal swing materials (adapting to the surrounding gas temperature) have been pinpointed as a promising mitigative solution. In this study, experiments are carried out in a high-pressure/high-temperature vessel to (a) characterise the wall heat transfer process ensuing from wall impingement of a combusting fuel spray, and (b) evaluate insulative improvements provided by a coating that promotes thermal swing. The baseline experimental condition resembles that of Spray A from the Engine Combustion Network, while additional variations are generated by modifying the ambient temperature as well as the injection pressure and duration. Wall heat transfer and wall temperature measurements are time-resolved and accompanied by concurrent high-speed imaging of natural luminosity. An investigation with an uncoated wall is carried out with several sensor locations around the stagnation point, elucidating sensor-to-sensor variability and setup symmetry. Surface heat flux follows three phases: (i) an initial peak, (ii) a slightly lower plateau dependent on the injection duration, and (iii) a slow decline. In addition to the uncoated reference case, the investigation involves a coating made of porous zirconia, an established thermal swing material. With a coated setup, the projection of surface quantities (heat flux and temperature) from the immersed measurement location requires additional numerical analysis of conjugate heat transfer. Starting from the traces measured beneath the coating, the surface quantities are obtained by solving a one-dimensional inverse heat transfer problem. The present measurements are complemented by CFD simulations supplemented with recent rough-wall models. The surface roughness of the coated specimen is indicated to have a significant impact on the wall heat flux, offsetting the expected benefit from the thermal swing material.


Author(s):  
Arif B. Ozer ◽  
Donald K. Hollingsworth ◽  
Larry. C. Witte

A quenching/diffusion analytical model has been developed for predicting the wall temperature and wall heat flux behind bubbles sliding in a confined narrow channel. The model is based on the concept of a well-mixed liquid region that enhances the heat transfer near the heated wall behind the bubble. Heat transfer in the liquid is treated as a one-dimensional transient conduction process until the flow field recovers back to its undisturbed level prior to bubble passage. The model is compared to experimental heat transfer results obtained in a high-aspect-ratio (1.2×23mm) rectangular, horizontal channel with one wide wall forming a uniform-heat-generation boundary and the other designed for optical access to the flow field. The working fluid was Novec™ 649. A thermochromic liquid crystal coating was applied to the outside of the uniform-heat-generation boundary, so that wall temperature variations could be obtained and heat transfer coefficients and Nusselt numbers could be obtained. The experiments were focused on high inlet subcooling, typically 15–50°C. The model is able to capture the elevated heat transfer rates measured in the channel without the need to consider nucleate boiling from the surface or microlayer evaporation from the sliding bubbles. Surface temperatures and wall heat fluxes were estimated for 17 different experimental conditions using the proposed model. Results agreed with the measured values within ±15% accuracy. The insight gathered from comparing the results of the proposed model to experimental results provides the basis for a better understanding of the physics of subcooled bubbly flow in narrow channels.


1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 891-898 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Wadsworth ◽  
I. Mudawar

Experiments were performed to investigate single-phase heat transfer from a smooth 12.7 × 12.7 mm2 simulated chip to a two-dimensional jet of dielectric Fluorinert FC-72 liquid issuing from a thin rectangular slot into a channel confined between the chip surface and nozzle plate. The effects of jet width, confinement channel height, and impingement velocity have been examined. Channel height had a negligible effect on the heat transfer performance of the jet for the conditions of the present study. A correlation for the convective heat transfer coefficient is presented as a function of jet width, heater length, flow velocity, and fluid properties. A self-contained multichip cooling module consisting of a 3 × 3 array of heat sources confirmed the uniformity and predictability of cooling for each of the nine chips, and proved the cooling module is well suited for packaging large arrays of high-power density chips.


Author(s):  
Y. W. Kim ◽  
W. Abdel-Messeh ◽  
J. P. Downs ◽  
F. O. Soechting ◽  
G. D. Steuber ◽  
...  

The clearance gap between the stationary outer air seal and blade tips of an axial turbine allows a clearance gap leakage flow to be driven through the gap by the pressure-to-suction side pressure difference. The presence of strong secondary flows on the pressure side of the airfoil tends to deliver air from the hottest regions of the mainstream to the clearance gap. The blade tip region, particularly near the trailing edge, is very difficult to cool adequately with blade internal coolant flow. In this case, film cooling injection directly onto the blade tip region can be used in an attempt to directly reduce the heat transfer rates from the hot gases in the clearance gap to the blade tip. The present paper is intended as a memorial tribute to the late Professor Darryl E. Metzger who has made significant contributions in this particular area over the past decade. A summary of this work is made to present the results of his more recent experimental work that has been performed to investigate the effects of film coolant injection on convection heat transfer to the turbine blade tip for a variety of tip shapes and coolant injection configurations. Experiments are conducted with blade tip models that are stationary relative to the simulated outer air seal based on the result of earlier works that found the leakage flow to be mainly a pressure-driven flow which is related strongly to the airfoil pressure loading distribution and only weakly, if at all, to the relative motion between blade tip and shroud. Both heat transfer and film effectiveness are measured locally over the test surface using a transient thermal liquid crystal test technique with a computer vision data acquisition and reduction system for various combinations of clearance heights, clearance flow Reynolds numbers, and film flow rates with different coolant injection configurations. The present results reveal a strong dependency of film cooling performance on the choice of the coolant supply hole shapes and injection locations for a given tip geometry.


Author(s):  
Gongnan Xie ◽  
Bengt Sunde´n

Gas turbine blade tips encounter large heat load as they are exposed to the high temperature gas. A common way to cool the blade and its tip is to design serpentine passages with 180-deg turns under the blade tip-cap inside the turbine blade. Improved internal convective cooling is therefore required to increase the blade tip life time. This paper presents numerical predictions of turbulent fluid flow and heat transfer through two-pass channels with and without guide vanes placed in the turn regions using RANS turbulence modeling. The effects of adding guide vanes on the tip-wall heat transfer enhancement and the channel pressure loss were analyzed. The guide vanes have a height identical to that of the channel. The inlet Reynolds numbers are ranging from 100,000 to 600,000. The detailed three-dimensional fluid flow and heat transfer over the tip-walls are presented. The overall performances of several two-pass channels are also evaluated and compared. It is found that the tip heat transfer coefficients of the channels with guide vanes are 10∼60% higher than that of a channel without guide vanes, while the pressure loss might be reduced when the guide vanes are properly designed and located, otherwise the pressure loss is expected to be increased severely. It is suggested that the usage of proper guide vanes is a suitable way to augment the blade tip heat transfer and improve the flow structure, but is not the most effective way compared to the augmentation by surface modifications imposed on the tip-wall directly.


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