Study on trench film cooling on turbine vane by large-eddy simulation

Abstract

Combined with infrared thermography experiments, large-eddy simulation was used for studying trench film cooling on C3X vane model at the mainstream Reynolds number of 2.5?×?10⁵ based on the chord length, and nominal blowing ratios of 0.5 and 1.5. The instantaneous and time-averaged characteristics for trench film cooling were analzyed in detail. Inside the trench, a pair of recirculation vortices promotes the coolant spreading on spanwise direction, mitigates the jet penetration into mainstream, and improves cooling effectiveness. On pressure surface, hairpin vortices play the dominate role in the unsteady flow fields. Downstream of the trench, a streamwise vortex pair corresponding to anti-CRVP (Counter rotating vortex pair) is generated on both sides of hairpin structures, and causes high turbulent fluctuation. On suction surface, the mainstream boundary layer transits from laminar to turbulent flow in the upstream of the coolant exit, and large numbers of small-scale vortices dominate the flow dynamics. Spectrum analysis of pressure signals shows that, on pressure surface, trench and round-hole film cooling both exhibit strong periodicity. On suction surface, randomness is more pronounced. The statistical characteristics of velocity and temperature fluctuations were also discussed in detail. Overall, significant cooling augmentation by trench hole is seen on both the suction and pressure surfaces, especially at high blowing ratio.