Measurement and Modeling of the Gas Turbine Blade Transition Process as Disturbed by Wakes

Abstract

Heat transfer measurements have been made on a transonic turbine blade undergoing natural transition and with a simulation of the effect of NGV wake interactions. The use of wide bandwidth heat transfer instrumentation permits the tracking of individual unsteady events that were identified as being due to either the impinging wakes or to the turbulent spots occurring within the transition process. Trajectories of these events as seen by the blade surface instrumentation have been measured. Numerical models have been developed for the effects of both types of turbulent activity. The convection of the wake through the passage is predicted, allowing for estimations of the expected times for which the boundary layer is disturbed by the wake fluid. The new model for the random generation and subsequent growth and convection of the turbulent spots produces a time-resolved prediction of the intermittent heat transfer signals by use of a time-marching procedure. By superimposing the two numerical models it is possible to simulate the measured instantaneous heat transfer characteristics.