Unsteady Wake and Coolant Density Effects on Turbine Blade Film Cooling Using Pressure Sensitive Paint Technique

Abstract

The effect of an unsteady stator wake (simulated by wake rods mounted on a spoke-wheel wake generator) on the modeled rotor blade is studied using the pressure sensitive paint (PSP) mass-transfer analogy method. Emphasis of the current study is on the midspan region of the blade. The flow is in the low Mach number (incompressible) regime. The suction (convex) side has simple angled cylindrical film-cooling holes; the pressure (concave) side has compound angled cylindrical film-cooling holes. The blade also has radial shower-head leading edge film-cooling holes. Strouhal numbers studied range from 0 to 0.36; the exit Reynolds number based on the axial chord is 530,000. Blowing ratios range from 0.5 to 2.0 on the suction side and 0.5 to 4.0 on the pressure side. Density ratios studied range from 1.0 to 2.5, to simulate actual engine conditions. The convex suction surface experiences film-cooling jet lift-off at higher blowing ratios, resulting in low effectiveness values. The film coolant is found to reattach downstream on the concave pressure surface, increasing effectiveness at higher blowing ratios. Results show deterioration in film-cooling effectiveness due to increased local turbulence caused by the unsteady wake, especially on the suction side. Results also show a monotonic increase in film-cooling effectiveness on increasing the coolant to mainstream density ratio.