Numerical predictions of augmented heat transfer of an internal blade tip-wall by hemispherical dimples

The heat transferred to the turbine blade is substantially increased as the turbine inlet temperature is increased. Improved cooling methods are therefore needed for the turbine blades to ensure a long durability and safe operation. The blade tip region is exposed to very hot gas flow, and suffers high local thermal loads due to the external tip leakage flow. A common way to cool the tip is to design serpentine passages with 180° turn under the blade tip-cap taking advantage of the three-dimensional turning effect and impingement. Increased internal convective cooling is therefore required to increase the blade tip lifetime. In this paper, augmented heat transfer of a blade tip with internal hemispherical dimples has been investigated numerically. The computational models consist of two-pass channels with 180° turn and arrays of dimples depressed on the internal tip-cap. Turbulent convective heat transfer between the fluid and dimples, and heat conduction within dimples and tip are simultaneously computed. The inlet Reynolds number is ranging from 100,000 to 600,000. Details of the 3D fluid flow and heat transfer over the tip-walls are presented. Comparisons of the overall performance of the models are presented. It is found that due to the combination of turning impingement and dimple-induced advection flow, the heat transfer coefficient of the dimpled tip is up to two times higher than that of a smooth tip with less than 5% pressure drop penalty. It is suggested that the use of dimples is suitable for augmenting blade tip cooling to achieve an optimal balance between thermal and mechanical design requirements.     

Enhanced Internal Heat Transfer on the Tip-Wall in a Rectangular Two-Pass Channel (AR = 1:2) by Pin-Fin Arrays

To improve gas turbine performance, the operating temperature has been increased continuously. However, the heat transferred to the turbine blade is substantially increased as the turbine inlet temperature is increased. Cooling methods are therefore much needed for the turbine blades to ensure a long durability and safe operation. The blade tip region is exposed to the hot gas flows and is difficult to cool. A common way to cool the tip is to use serpentine passages with a 180° turn under the blade tip cap taking advantage of the three-dimensional turning effect and impingement. Increasing internal convective cooling is however required to increase the blade tip life. In this article, enhanced heat transfer of a blade tip has been investigated numerically. The computational models consist of a two-pass channel with a 180° turn and arrays of pin-fins mounted on the tip-cap, and a smooth two-pass channel. Inlet Reynolds numbers range from 100,000 to 600,000. The computations are 3-D, steady, and incompressible. The detailed 3-D fluid flow and heat transfer over the tip surfaces are presented. The overall performance of the two models is evaluated. It is found that due to the combination of turning, impingement, and pin-fin crossflow the heat transfer coefficient of the pin-finned tip might be a factor of 1.84 higher than that of a smooth tip. This augmentation is achieved at the expense of a penalty of pressure drop around 35%. It is suggested that the pin-fins could be used to enhance blade tip heat transfer and cooling.     

基于流热耦合的燃气轮机透平叶顶冷却设计

燃气轮机透平叶顶区域存在复杂的流动和换热问题,承受很高的热负荷。为了降低透平动叶叶顶温度,在透平叶顶现有结构的基础上提出气膜冷却和气膜+内冷通道冷却两种叶顶冷却方案,并通过流热耦合计算分析冷却升级前后叶顶区域的换热和流动特性。研究发现：叶顶气膜冷却方案可有效降低叶顶温度,特别是叶顶前缘至中弦区域;而气膜＋内冷通道冷却方案基于外部气膜冷却,结合内部冷却通道设计,可进一步降低叶顶尾缘的温度;与原型叶片相比,气膜+内部冷气通道的复合冷却设计可以使叶顶尾缘最高温度降低24 K。     

Flowfield and heat transfer past an unshrouded gas turbine blade tip with different shapes

This paper describes the numerical investigations of flow and heat transfer in an unshrouded turbine rotor blade of a heavy duty gas turbine with four tip configurations. By comparing the calculated contours of heat transfer coefficients on the flat tip of the HP turbine rotor blade in the GE-E³ aircraft engine with the corresponding experimental data, the κ-ω turbulence model was chosen for the present numerical simulations. The inlet and outlet boundary conditions for the turbine rotor blade are specified as the real gas turbine, which were obtained from the 3D full stage simulations. The rotor blade and the hub endwall are rotary and the casing is stationary. The influences of tip configurations on the tip leakage flow and blade tip heat transfer were discussed. It’s showed that the different tip configurations changed the leakage flow patterns and the pressure distributions on the suction surface near the blade tip. Compared with the flat tip, the total pressure loss caused by the leakage flow was decreased for the full squealer tip and pressure side squealer tip, while increased for the suction side squealer tip. The suction side squealer tip results in the lowest averaged heat transfer coefficient on the blade tip compared to the other tip configurations.     

Heat transfer from multiple row arrays of low aspect ratio pin fins

Pin fin arrays are used in many applications to enhance heat transfer. In modern gas turbines, for example, airfoils are designed with sophisticated internal and external cooling techniques. One method for cooling is routing air from the compressor through intricate cooling channels embedded in turbine airfoils. Heat transfer from the blade to the coolant air can be increased by installing arrays of cylindrical pedestals often referred to as pin fins. Pin fin arrays increase heat transfer by increasing the flow turbulence and surface area of the airfoil exposed to the coolant.For the current study, experiments were conducted to determine the effects of pin spacing on heat transfer and pressure loss through pin fin arrays for a range of Reynolds numbers between 5000 and 30,000. Results showed that spanwise pin spacing had a larger effect than streamwise spacing on array pressure loss while streamwise spacing had a larger effect than spanwise spacing on array heat transfer.     

透平叶顶气膜冷却效果数值研究

采用三维数值模拟方法,研究了GE E3发动机第一级透平动叶叶顶间隙内的气膜流动与换热特性,评估了气膜吹风比M分别为0.5、1.0和1.5时,对叶顶换热系数以及冷却效率的影响.计算结果表明:叶顶气膜冷却空气改变了叶顶泄漏流动特性,随着吹风比的增加,叶顶间隙内的泄漏流动区域不断缩小,从而导致叶顶间隙泄漏量不断减小;随着气膜冷却吹风比的增大,叶顶平均换热系数逐步降低;在M=1时,冷却效果最佳.     

Fundamental Mechanisms That Influence the Estimate of Heat Transfer to Gas Turbine Blades

The quest for improved efficiency has motivated the elevation of turbine inlet temperatures in all types of advanced aircraft gas turbines. The accommodation of higher gas temperatures necessitates complex blade cooling schemes so as not to sacrifice structural integrity and operational life in advanced engine designs. Estimates of the heat transfer from the gas to stationary (vanes) or rotating blades poses a major uncertainty because of the complexity of the heat transfer processes. The gas flow through these blade rows is three-dimensional with complex secondary viscous flow patterns that interact with the end walls and blade surfaces. In addition, upstream disturbances, stagnation flow, curvature effects, and flow acceleration complicate the thermal transport mechanisms in the boundary layers. Some of these fundamental heat transfer effects will be discussed. The chief purpose of this paper is to acquaint those in the heat transfer community, who are not directly involved in gas turbines, with the seriousness of the problem and to recommend some basic research that would improve the predictions of gas-side heat transfer on turbine blades and vanes.     

燃气轮机透平叶片传热和冷却研究：内部冷却

随着燃气轮机透平进口温度的不断提高,其换热与冷却问题已然成为现代高性能燃气轮机研发中亟待解决的核心关键技术之一.透平叶片的冷却可以分为内部冷却和外部冷却,结合作者近年的研究工作,详细综述了燃气轮机透平叶片内部换热与冷却问题的研究现状与进展,着重介绍了叶片内部蛇形通道冷却、叶片内部冲击冷却和前缘的旋流冷却及尾缘柱肋冷却,指出了它们各自在相关方面需要进一步开展的工作.其中：在蛇形通道冷却方面,需要进一步研究旋转状态下蛇形通道内流动与换热特性、发展高性能的扰流装置及通道弯头结构、设计新颖高效的叶顶内部冷却结构、获得带气膜孔或冲击孔的蛇形通道内的换热与冷却特性;在叶片前缘内部冲击冷却方面,需要研究不同曲率面上的冲击冷却换热特性、旋转条件下的冲击冷却以及冲击气膜复合冷却特性;在旋流冷却方面,需要对其结构参数的影响开展进一步的广泛研究,并开展旋转状态下旋流冷却特性的研究;在尾缘柱肋冷却方面,需要进一步研究复杂流场下柱肋阵列通道中的流动换热与众敏感因子之间的关系.     

燃气轮机叶片内部扰流肋冷却方式研究进展

随着燃气透平转子进口温度的不断提高,燃气轮机叶片冷却日益重要。带有扰流肋的内部通道冷却是叶片冷却的一个重要部分。综述了内部扰流肋冷却的研究历程与研究现状,详细论述了静止状态下带肋内部通道的换热研究、旋转对带肋通道内换热的影响研究以及扰流肋与其他方式相结合的复合冷却研究。结论指出,在国内外静止状态下带肋通道内的换热研究已经很成熟,旋转对通道内流动与换热的影响是最近几年来的研究热点,而关于旋转状态下复合冷却方式的研究相对较少。优化旋转状态下内部肋结构和将内部扰流肋与其他冷却方式相结合的研究是今后的发展方向。     

燃气涡轮叶片内部冷却结构的设计与实验

通过某型号涡轮气冷叶片的设计与验证,建立了一种简化的气冷叶片流热解耦设计模拟方法,结合对流冷却、冲击冷却的实验结果,通过调整冷气参数,达到控制叶片表面温度的要求.在平面叶栅热风洞中,通过调整尾流板角度,控制叶片表面流动状态,满足叶栅流动的周期性条件,保证了热测量的正确性.完成了气冷叶片的设计、分析与验证的系列工作,为今后研制气冷叶片建立了扎实基础.