An experimental study was performed to measure the heat transfer distributions and frictional losses in rotating ribbed channels with an aspect ratio of 4:1. Angled, discrete angled, V-shaped, and discrete V-shaped ribs were investigated, as well as the newly proposed W-shaped and discrete W-shaped ribs. In all cases, the ribs are placed on both the leading and trailing surfaces of the channel, and they are oriented 45 deg to the mainstream flow. The rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratio e/D is 0.078, and the rib pitch-to-height ratio P/e is 10. The channel orientation with respect to the direction of rotation is 135 deg. The range of flow parameters includes Reynolds number (Re=10,000–40,000), rotation number Ro=0.0-0.15, and inlet coolant-to-wall density ratio (Δρ/ρ=0.12). Both heat transfer and pressure measurements were taken, so the overall performance of each rib configuration could be evaluated. It was determined that the W-shaped and discrete W-shaped ribs had the superior heat transfer performance in both nonrotating and rotating channels. However, these two configurations also incurred the greatest frictional losses while the discrete V-shaped and discrete angled ribs resulted in the lowest pressure drop. Based on the heat transfer enhancement and the pressure drop penalty, the discrete V-shaped ribs and the discrete W-shaped ribs exhibit the best overall thermal performance in both rotating and nonrotating channels. These configurations are followed closely by the W-shaped ribs. The angled rib configuration resulted in the worst performance of the six configurations of the present study.

Several steady state measurement techniques are used to measure the film cooling effectiveness on a flat plate. Pressure sensitive paint (PSP), temperature sensitive paint (TSP), and infrared (IR) thermography are used to measure the film cooling effectiveness. To compare these measurement techniques, a single row of cylindrical holes, with a compound angle, are used. Seven holes (D = 4 mm) are equally spaced 12 mm apart, and the hole length-to-diameter ratio is 9.92. The axial angle (θ) of the holes is 30°, and the compound angle (β) is 45°. In addition to evaluating the various measurement techniques the effect of the coolant blowing ratio is considered; effectiveness measurements are taken for blowing ratios, M, of 0.4, 0.6, 1.2, and 1.8. The effect of mainstream turbulence intensity is considered with the addition of a turbulence grid to the low speed wind tunnel. Of the three steady state measurement techniques considered in this study, PSP demonstrates the most promise for the measurement of the film cooling effectiveness. Because PSP is a mass transfer technique, film effectiveness measurements can be readily obtained near the film cooling holes. Although the heat transfer techniques of TSP and IR thermography are more desirable than traditional thermocouples or liquid crystal thermography, the applicability of measurements near the holes is questionable due to conduction problems associated with steady state heat transfer techniques.

This paper experimentally studies the effects of the buoyancy force and channel aspect ratio on heat transfer in two-pass rotating rectangular channels with smooth walls and 45° ribbed walls. The channel aspect ratios include 4:1, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2 and 1:4. Four Reynolds numbers are studied: 5000, 10000, 25000 and 40000. The rotation speed is fixed at 550 rpm for all tests, and for each channel, two channel orientations are studied: 90° and 45° or 135°, with respect to the plane of rotation. Rib turbulators are placed on the leading and trailing walls of the channels at an angle of 45° to the flow direction. The ribs have a 1.59 by 1.59 mm square cross section, and the rib pitch-to-height ratio (P/e) is 10 for all tests. The effects of the local buoyancy parameter and channel aspect ratio on the regional Nusselt number ratio are presented. The results show that increasing the local buoyancy parameter increases the Nusselt number ratio on the trailing surface and decreases the Nusselt number ratio on the leading surface in the first pass for all channels. However, the trend of the Nusselt number ratio in the second pass is more complicated due to the strong effect of the 180° turn. Results are also presented for this critical turn region of the two-pass channels. In addition to these regions, the channel averaged heat transfer, friction factor, and thermal performance are determined for each channel. With the channels having comparable Nusselt number ratios, the 1:4 channel has the superior thermal performance because it incurs the least pressure penalty.

The effect of rotation on smooth narrow rectangular channels and narrow rectangular channels with pin-fins is investigated in this study. Pin-fins are commonly used in the narrow sections within the trailing edge of the turbine blade; the pin-fins act as turbulators to enhance internal cooling while providing structural support in this narrow section of the blade. The rectangular channel is oriented at 150° with respect to the plane of rotation, and the focus of the study involves narrow channels with aspect ratios of 4:1 and 8:1. The enhancement due to both conducting (copper) pin-fins and non-conducting (plexi-glass) pins is investigated. Due to the varying aspect ratio of the channel, the height-to-diameter ratio (hp/Dp) of the pins varies from two, for an aspect ratio of 4:1, to unity, for an aspect ratio of 8:1. A staggered array of pins with uniform streamwise and spanwise spacing (xp/Dp = sp/Dp = 2.0) is studied. With this array, 42 pin-fins are used, giving a projected surface density of 3.5 pins/in2 (0.543 pins/cm2), for the leading or trailing surfaces. The range of flow parameters include Reynolds number (ReDh = 5000–20000), rotation number (Ro = 0.0–0.302), and inlet coolant-to-wall density ratio (Δρ/ρ = 0.12). Heat transfer in a stationary pin-fin channel can be enhanced up to 3.8 times that of a smooth channel. Rotation enhances the heat transferred from the pin-fin channels 1.5 times that of the stationary pin-fin channels. Overall, rotation enhances the heat transfer from all surfaces in both the smooth and pin-fin channels. Finally, as the rotation number increases, spanwise variation increases in all channels.

This paper experimentally studies the effects of the buoyancy force and channel aspect ratio (W:H) on heat transfer in two-pass rotating rectangular channels with smooth walls and 45deg ribbed walls. The channel aspect ratios include 4:1, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, and 1:4. Four Reynolds numbers are studied: 5000, 10,000, 25,000, and 40,000. The rotation speed is fixed at 550rpm for all tests, and for each channel, two channel orientations are studied: 90deg and 45 or 135deg, with respect to the plane of rotation. The maximum inlet coolant-to-wall density ratio (Δρ∕ρ)inlet is maintained around 0.12. Rib turbulators are placed on the leading and trailing walls of the channels at an angle of 45deg to the flow direction. The ribs have a 1.59 by 1.59mm square cross section, and the rib pitch-to-height ratio (P∕e) is 10 for all tests. Under the fixed rotation speed (550rpm) and fixed inlet coolant-to-wall density ratio (0.12), the local buoyancy parameter is varied with different Reynolds numbers, local rotating radius, local coolant-to-wall density ratio, and channel hydraulic diameter. The effects of the local buoyancy parameter and channel aspect ratio on the regional Nusselt number ratio are presented. The results show that increasing the local buoyancy parameter increases the Nusselt number ratio on the trailing surface and decreases the Nusselt number ratio on the leading surface in the first pass for all channels. However, the trend of the Nusselt number ratio in the second pass is more complicated due to the strong effect of the 180deg turn. Results are also presented for this critical turn region of the two-pass channels. In addition to these regions, the channel averaged heat transfer, friction factor, and thermal performance are determined for each channel. With the channels having comparable Nusselt number ratios, the 1:4 channel has the superior thermal performance because it incurs the least pressure penalty.

Detailed film-cooling effectiveness distributions are obtained on a flat plate using the pressure sensitive paint (PSP) technique. The applicability of the PSP technique is expanded to include a coolant-to-mainstream density ratio of 1.4. The effect of density ratio on the film-cooling effectiveness is coupled with varying blowing ratio (M=0.25–2.0), freestream turbulence intensity (Tu=1–12.5%), and film hole geometry. The effectiveness distributions are obtained on three separate flat plates containing either simple angle, cylindrical holes, simple angle, fanshaped holes (α=10 deg), or simple angle, laidback, fanshaped holes (α=10 deg and γ=10 deg). In all three cases, the film-cooling holes are angled at θ=35 deg from the mainstream flow. Using the PSP technique, the combined effects of blowing ratio, turbulence intensity, and density ratio are captured for each film-cooling geometry. The detailed film-cooling effectiveness distributions, for cylindrical holes, clearly show that the effectiveness at the lowest blowing ratio is enhanced at the lower density ratio (DR=1). However, as the blowing ratio increases, a transition occurs, leading to increased effectiveness with the elevated density ratio (DR=1.4). In addition, the PSP technique captures an upstream shift of the coolant jet reattachment point as the density ratio increases or the turbulence intensity increases (at moderate blowing ratios for cylindrical holes). With the decreased momentum of the shaped film-cooling holes, the greatest film-cooling effectiveness is obtained at the lower density ratio (DR=1.0) over the entire range of blowing ratios considered. In all cases, as the freestream turbulence intensity increases, the film effectiveness decreases; this effect is reduced as the blowing ratio increases for all three film hole configurations.

This paper reports the heat transfer coefficients in two-pass rotating rectangular channels (AR=1:2 and AR=1:4) with rib roughened walls. Rib turbulators are placed on the leading and trailing walls of the two-pass channel at an angle of 45° to the flow direction. Four Reynolds numbers are considered from 5000 to 40000. The rotation numbers vary from 0.0 to 0.3. The ribs have a 1.59 by 1.59 mm square cross section. The rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratios (e/Dh) are 0.094 and 0.078 for AR=1:2 and AR=1:4, respectively. The rib pitch-to-height ratio (P/e) is 10 for both cases, and the inlet coolant-to-wall density ratio (Δρ/ρ) is maintained around 0.115. For each channel, two channel orientation are studied, 90° and 45° with respect to the plane of rotation. The results show that the rotation effect increased the heat transfer on trailing wall in the first pass, but reduced the heat transfer on the leading wall. For AR=1:4, the minimum heat transfer coefficient was 25% of the stationary value. However, the rotation effect reduced the heat transfer difference between the leading and trailing walls in the second pass.

The effect of entrance geometry on the heat transfer in rotating, narrow rectangular cooling channels is investigated in this study. Both smooth channels and channels with angled ribs are considered with three different entrance conditions: fully developed, sudden contraction, and partial sudden contraction. The rectangular channel has as aspect ratio of 4:1, and it is oriented at 135° with respect to the plane of rotation. In the test section with angled ribs, the ribs are angled at 45° to the mainstream flow. The rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratio e/Dh is 0.078, and the rib pitch-to-height ratio P/e is 10. The range of flow parameters includes Reynolds number (Re=5000–40,000), rotation number (Ro=0.0–0.302), and inlet coolant-to-wall density ratio (Δρ/ρ=0.12). The heat transfer at the entrance of the heated portion of the smooth channel is significantly enhanced with the sudden contraction and partial sudden contraction entrances. In the smooth rotating channels, the effect of the entrance geometry is also present; however, as the rotation number increases, the effect of the entrance geometry decreases. It was also found in this study that the sudden and partial sudden contraction entrances provide higher heat transfer enhancement than the fully developed entrance through the first three to four hydraulic diameters of the channels with angled ribs. Again, the effect of the entrance geometry is greater in the stationary channels with angled ribs than the rotating channels with ribs. In both stationary and rotating channels, the influence of the entrance geometry on the heat transfer is more apparent in the smooth channels than in the ribbed channels.