This paper describes an experimental study of an air-cooled gas turbine disk using the model of a disk rotating near a shrouded stator. Measurements of pressure distribution, frictional moment, and the cooling air flow necessary to prevent the ingress of hot gases over the turbine disk are described for a range of rotational speeds, mass flow rates, and different geometries. The pressure distribution is shown to be calculable by the superposition of the pressure drop due to the shroud and the unshrouded distribution. Moment coefficients are shown to increase with increasing mass flow rate and decreasing shroud clearance, but are little affected by the rotor/stator gap. Applying Reynolds analogy to the moment coefficients, it is estimated that heat transfer from the rotor will be controlled primarily by rate of radial cooling flow at low rotational Reynolds numbers, and will be governed primarily by Reynolds number at large rotational speeds.

A relatively simple theory is presented which can be used to model the flow and pressure distributions in a brush seal matrix. The model assumes laminar, compressible, isothermal flow and requires knowledge of an empirical constant: the seal porosity value. Measurements of the mass flowrate together with radial and axial distributions of pressure were taken on a non-rotating experimental rig. These were obtained using a 122 mm bore brush seal with 0.25 mm radial interference. The experimental data are used to estimate the seal porosity. Measurements of the pressure distributions along the backing ring and under the bristle tips are discussed. Predicted mass flows are compared with those actually measured and there is reasonable agreement considering the limitations of the model.

In this paper a theoretical analysis is made of natural-convection heat-transfer under conditions of turbulent flow. A theory is developed relating the non-dimensional heat-transfer coefficient to the boundary-layer thicknesses which are subsequently determined from solutions of the simplified heat and momentum balance equations. These are applied to fluids of ***Prandtl numbers near unity and to liquid metals having very low Prandtl numbers, which are of importance for cooling gas-turbine blades and nuclear-power sources. It is shown that data obtainable from simple small-scale equipment can be extrapolated without serious error to the highest values of the relevant parameters likely to be met in any practical application.

This paper describes a combined theoretical and experimental investigation into the heat transfer from a disk rotating close to a stator with a radial outflow of coolant. Experimental results are obtained from a 762 mm diameter disk, rotating up to 4000 rev/min at axial clearances from 2 to 230 mm from a stator of the same diameter, with coolant flow rates up to 0.7 kg/s. Mean Nusselt numbers are presented for the free disk, the disk rotating close to an unshrouded stator with no coolant outflow, the disk rotating close to a shrouded and unshrouded stator with coolant outflow, and for the unshrouded stator itself. Numerical solutions of the turbulent boundary layer equations are in satisfactory agreement with the experimentally determined mean Nusselt numbers for the air-cooled disk over a wide range of conditions. At large ratios of mass flow rate/rotational speed the mean Nusselt numbers for the air-cooled disk are independent of rotation, and both the numerical solutions and experimental results become asymptotic to an approximate solution of the boundary layer equations.

SummaryThis paper deals with the effects of a superimposed radial outflow upon the motion of the fluid between a rotating and a stationary plane disc. This is an idealisation of the situation found in advanced turbo-machinery in which cooling of the rotor faces is necessary. The boundary layer approximations to the equations of fluid motion are integrated by an extension of the numerical technique proposed in Ref. 11. Predictions of drag torque and radial pressure distributions are compared with experimental results from a 30 in (762 mm) diameter system, using a range of speeds up to 4000 rev/min, while varying the axial spacing and rate of imposed radial flow. Qualitative agreement was satisfactory throughout the range, but quantitative discrepancies in the estimates of drag and in the pressure distributions at certain flow conditions suggest that the simple mixing length hypothesis used in this analysis for the turbulent shear terms in the equations of motion is not universally adequate.