In modern gas turbine engines, the blade tips and near-tip regions are exposed to high thermal loads caused by the tip leakage flow. The rotor blades are therefore carefully designed to achieve optimum work extraction at engine design conditions without failure. However, very often gas turbine engines operate outside these design conditions which might result in sudden rotor blade failure. Therefore, it is critical that the effect of such off-design turbine blade operation be understood to minimize the risk of failure and optimize rotor blade tip performance. In this study, the effect of varying the exit Mach number on the tip and near-tip heat transfer characteristics was numerically studied by solving the steady Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equation. The study was carried out on a highly loaded flat tip rotor blade with 1% tip gap and at exit Mach numbers of Mexit = 0.85 (Reexit = 9.75 × 105) and Mexit = 1.0 (Reexit = 1.15 × 106) with high freestream turbulence (Tu = 12%). The exit Reynolds number was based on the rotor axial chord. The numerical results provided detailed insight into the flow structure and heat transfer distribution on the tip and near-tip surfaces. On the tip surface, the heat transfer was found to generally increase with exit Mach number due to high turbulence generation in the tip gap and flow reattachment. While increase in exit Mach number generally raises he heat transfer over the whole blade surface, the increase is significantly higher on the near-tip surfaces affected by leakage vortex. Increase in exit Mach number was found to also induce strong flow relaminarization on the pressure side near-tip. On the other hand, the size of the suction surface near-tip region affected by leakage vortex was insensitive to changes in exit Mach number but significant increase in local heat transfer was noted in this region.
Detailed heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and film cooling effectiveness (Eta) distribution on a squealer-tipped first stage rotor blade were measured using an infrared technique. The blade tip design, obtained from the Solar Turbines, Inc., gas turbine, consists of double purge hole exits and four ribs within the squealer cavity, with a bleeder exit port on the pressure side close to the trailing edge. The tests were carried out in a transient linear transonic wind tunnel facility under land-based engine representative Mach/Reynolds number. Measurements were taken at an inlet turbulent intensity of Tu = 12%, with exit Mach numbers of 0.85 (Reexit = 9.75 × 105) and 1.0 (Reexit = 1.15 × 106) with the Reynolds number based on the blade axial chord and the cascade exit velocity. The tip clearance was fixed at 1% (based on engine blade span) with a purge flow blowing ratio, BR = 1.0. At each test condition, an accompanying numerical study was performed using Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations solver ansys fluent to further understand the tip flow characteristics. The results showed that the tip purge flow has a blocking effect on the leakage flow path. Furthermore, the ribs significantly altered the flow (and consequently heat transfer) characteristics within the squealer-tip cavity resulting in a significant reduction in film cooling effectiveness. This was attributed to increased coolant–leakage flow mixing due to increased recirculation within the squealer cavity. Overall, the peak HTC on the cavity floor increased with exit Mach/Reynolds number.
This paper presents a detailed study on the effect of misalignment between the combustor exit and the nozzle guide vane endwall. The Nusselt number distribution and augmentation on an axisymmetric converging endwall as well as stage pressure losses were studied using experimental techniques and computational analysis. The analyzed endwall configurations are representative of the design intent and average off-design endwall configurations of a land-based high-pressure turbine nozzle guide vane. The studies were carried out at isentropic exit Mach number of 0.85, with an exit Reynolds number of 1.5 × 106 based on the true chord, and an inlet turbulence intensity of 16%. The experiment was conducted in a blowdown transonic linear cascade wind tunnel and an infrared camera was used to measure the surface temperature and subsequently the endwall heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number distribution. Numerical computation analysis using ANSYS Fluent v.16 was used to provide further insight into the near-endwall flow field the predictions compared favorably to experimental data. The findings show that at the two configurations there exist uniquely different endwall secondary flow systems throughout the NGV stage. The interaction of separated flow at the combustor-turbine interface with the vane potential field results in additional secondary flow that is vastly different from that associated with classical endwall flows. This increased secondary flow in the misaligned configuration was marked by a 25% increase in NGV stage losses. The presence of separated flow and additional secondary flows also resulted in flow reattachment inside the vane passage which augmented heat transfer. The region upstream of the vane gage/throat showed heat transfer augmentation of up to 60%, while the endwall region downstream of the throat did not show any considerable heat transfer augmentation.
A detailed experimental and numerical study has been conducted to investigate the endwall heat transfer characteristics on a nozzle platform that has been misaligned with the combustor exit, resulting in a backward facing step at the nozzle inlet. The study was carried out under transonic engine representative conditions with an exit Mach number of 0.85 (Reexit = 1.5 × 106), and an inlet turbulence intensity of 16%. A transient infrared thermography technique coupled with endwall static pressure ports, were used to map the endwall surface heat transfer and aerodynamic characteristics respectively. A numerical study was also conducted by solving the steady state Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equations using the commercial CFD solver ANSYS Fluent v.15. The numerical results were then validated by comparing to experiment data and good agreement was observed. The results reveal that the classical endwall secondary flows (endwall crossflows, horseshoe and passage vortices) are weakened and a unique auxiliary vortex system develops within the passage and interacts with the weakened horseshoe vortex. It is observed that heat transfer in the first half of the passage endwall is heavily influenced by this auxiliary vortex system. Heat transfer augmentation of between 15% and 40% was also observed throughout the NGV endwall. Furthermore, the auxiliary vortex system results in a delayed cross-passage migration of the horseshoe vortex which consequently results in large lateral gradient in heat transfer downstream of the throat.
In modern gas turbine engines, the blade tips and near-tip regions are exposed to high thermal loads caused by the tip leakage flow. The rotor blades are therefore carefully designed to achieve optimum work extraction at engine design conditions without failure. However, very often gas turbine engines operate outside these design conditions which might result in sudden rotor blade failure. Therefore, it is critical that the effect of such off-design turbine blade operation be understood to minimize the risk of failure and optimize rotor blade tip performance. In this study, the effect of varying the exit Mach number on the tip and near-tip heat transfer characteristics was numerically studied by solving the steady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equation. The study was carried out on a highly loaded flat tip rotor blade with 1% tip gap and at exit Mach numbers of Mexit = 0.85 (Reexit = 9.75 × 105) and Mexit = 1.0 (Reexit = 1.15 × 106) with high freestream turbulence (Tu = 12%). The exit Reynolds number was based on the rotor axial chord. The numerical results provided detailed insight into the flow structure and heat transfer distribution on the tip and near-tip surfaces. On the tip surface, the heat transfer was found to generally increase with exit Mach number due to high turbulence generation in the tip gap and flow reattachment. While increase in exit Mach number generally raises he heat transfer over the whole blade surface, the increase is significantly higher on the near-tip surfaces affected by leakage vortex. Increase in exit Mach number was found to also induce strong flow relaminarisation on the pressure side near-tip. On the other hand, the size of the suction surface near-tip region affected by leakage vortex was insensitive to changes in exit Mach number but significant increase in local heat transfer was noted in this region.
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