Showing papers by "Terrence W. Simon published in 2000"

Effects of Slot Bleed Injection Over a Contoured Endwall on Nozzle Guide Vane Cooling Performance: Part I — Flow Field Measurements

Abstract: Endwall heat transfer has become a major issue in the design of the inlet nozzle guide vane region of modern gas turbine engines. To compensate for high rates of convective heat transfer and the uncertain flow pattern along endwall surfaces, coolant flows are often excessive and distributed in a less than optimum fashion. In many instances, coolant is carried away or mixed into the core flow by the secondary flows without being effective. There is a need for more effective cooling concepts. In this paper, the results of an experimental study examining the thermal performance of bleed injection through an inclined slot positioned upstream of the nozzle airfoil leading edge plane are presented. This paper demonstrates that this type of combustor bleed cooling is a promising cooling concept. Testing is performed in a large-scale, guide vane cascade comprised of three airfoils between one contoured and one flat endwall. The Reynolds number, based upon approach velocity and true chord length, is 350,000 and the approach flow is with large-scale, high-intensity (9.5%) turbulence. Combustor bleed cooling flow is injected ahead of a contoured endwall with bleed-to-core mass flow ratios as high as 6%. Measurements are taken to document core flow temperature distributions at several axial positions within the cascade to evaluate surface adiabatic effectiveness values and local heat transfer coefficients. This film cooling arrangement offers significant thermal protection. The coolant is shown to provide thermal protection over most of the endwall as well as portions of the pressure and suction surfaces of the airfoils. To achieve this coverage, combustor bleed flow must be strong enough to overcome the influence of endwall region secondary flows.Copyright © 2000 by ASME

Measurements in a turbine cascade over a contoured endwall: Discrete hole injection of bleed flow

Abstract: Thermal and flow field measurements taken within a cascade passage are presented. The cascade has two passages between three airfoils and two endwalls, one flat and one contoured. Measurements were done on and near the contoured endwall. The main objective is to document the effectiveness of cooling the contoured endwall with bleed flow that emerges through two rows of staggered, discrete holes on the contoured endwall, upstream of the airfoils. Similar studies have been performed in our lab with bleed flow emerging from slots upstream of the same contoured endwall. Both those and the present studies are with high free stream turbulence intensity, TI ∼ 9%, of the approach flow. This is characteristic of the approach flow to first stage vanes in most operating engines. In the experiments, the bleed flow is heated slightly above the main stream flow and downstream temperature fields are documented. Three bleed flow rates are tested. It is shown that at a lower flow rate (1.5% of the core flow) the cascade endwall cross-flow carries coolant towards the suction side. However, as the coolant rate is increased, the coolant attains sufficient momentum that no suction-side coolant migration is seen. Velocity measurements taken with triple-sensor, hot-wire anemometry document migration of the bleed flow by way of showing regions of stronger shear, and help describe mixing of the passage flow with the bleed flow. At higher coolant flow rates, strong blockage and mixing effects become evident.Copyright © 2000 by ASME

Flow measurements in a nozzle guide vane passage with a low aspect ratio and endwall contouring

Abstract: The vast number of turbine cascade studies in the literature has been performed in straight-endwall, high-aspect-ratio, linear cascades. As a result, there has been little appreciation for the role of, and added complexity imposed by, reduced aspect ratios. There also has been little documentation of endwall profiling at these reduced spans. To examine the role of these factors on cascade hydrodynamics, a large-scale nozzle guide vane simulator was constructed at the Heat Transfer Laboratory of the University of Minnesota. This cascade is comprised of three airfoils between one contoured and one flat endwall. The geometries of the airfoils and endwalls, as well as the experimental conditions in the simulator, are representative of those in commercial operation. Measurements with hot-wire anemometry were taken to characterize the flow approaching the cascade. These measurements show that the flow field in this cascade is highly elliptic and influenced by pressure gradients that are established within the cascade. Exit flow field measurements with triple-sensor anemometry and pressure measurements within the cascade indicate that the acceleration imposed by endwall contouring and airfoil turning is able to suppress the size and strength of key secondary flow features. In addition, the flow field near the contoured endwall differs significantly from that adjacent to the straight endwall.Copyright © 2000 by ASME

Measurements in a Transitional Boundary Layer Under Low-Pressure Turbine Airfoil Conditions

Abstract: This report presents the results of an experimental study of transition from laminar to turbulent flow in boundary layers or in shear layers over separation zones on a convex-curved surface which simulates the suction surface of a low-pressure turbine airfoil. Flows with various free-stream turbulence intensity (FSTI) values (0.5%, 2.5% and 10%), and various Reynolds numbers (50,000, 100,000 200,000 and 300,000) are investigated. Reynold numbers in the present study are based on suction surface length and passage exit mean velocity. Flow separation followed by transition within the separated flow region is observed for the lower-Re cases at each of the FSTI levels. At the highest Reynolds numbers and at elevated FSn, transition of the attached boundary layer begins before separation, and the separation zone is small. Transition proceeds in the shear layer over the separation bubble. For both the transitional boundary layer and the transitional shear layer, mean velocity, turbulence intensity and intermittency (the fraction of the time the flow is turbulent) distributions are presented. The present data are compared to published distribution models for bypass transition, intermittency distribution through transition, transition start position, and transition length. A model developed for transition of separated flows is shown to adequately predict the location of the beginning of transition, for these cases, and a model developed for transitional boundary layer flows seems to adequately predict the path of intermittency through transition when the transition start and end are known. These results are useful for the design of low-pressure turbine stages which are known to operate under conditions replicated by these tests.

Control of Secondary Flows in a Turbine Nozzle Guide Vane by Endwall Contouring

Abstract: Computations were performed to study the three-dimensional flow and temperature distribution in a nozzle guide vane that has one flat and one contoured endwall with and without film cooling injected from two slots, one on each endwall located just upstream of the airfoil. For the contoured endwall, two locations of the same contouring were investigated, one with all contouring upstream of the airfoil and another with the contouring starting upstream of the airfoil and continuing through the airfoil passage.Results obtained show that when the contouring is all upstream of the airfoil, secondary flows on both the flat and the contoured endwalls are similar in magnitude. When the contouring starts upstream of the airfoil and continues through the airfoil passage, secondary flows on the contoured endwall are markedly weaker than those on the flat endwall. With weaker secondary flows on the contoured endwall, film-cooling effectiveness there is greatly improved.This computational study is based on the ensemble-averaged conservation equations of mass, momentum (compressible Navier-Stokes), and energy. Effects of turbulence were modeled by the low Reynolds number shear-stress transport k-ω model. Solutions were generated by a cell-centered, finite-volume method that uses third-order accurate flux-difference splitting of Roe with limiters and multigrid acceleration of a diagonalized ADI scheme with local time stepping on patched/embedded structured grids.Copyright © 2000 by ASME

Spectral Measurements in Transitional Boundary Layers on a Concave Wall Under High and Low Free-Stream Turbulence Conditions

Abstract: The relationship between free-stream turbulence and boundary layer behavior has been investigated using spectral measurements. The power spectral densities of turbulence quantities in transitional and fully turbulent boundary layers were computed and compared to the power spectra of the same quantities measured in the free stream. Comparisons were made using the transfer function. The transfer function is the ratio of two spectra at each frequency in the spectra. Comparisons were done in flows with low (0.6 percent) and high (8 percent) free-stream turbulence intensities. Evidence was gathered that suggests that relatively low-frequency, large-scale eddies in the free stream buffet the boundary layer, causing boundary layer unsteadiness at the same low frequencies. These fluctuations are present in both transitional and fully turbulent boundary layers. They are seen under both high and low free-stream turbulence conditions, although they are stronger in the high-turbulence case. Examination of the turbulent shear stress suggests that the low-frequency fluctuations enhance transport in the boundary layer but they are not so effective in promoting eddy transport as are turbulent eddies produced and residing within the boundary layer. In the fully-turbulent boundary layer, higher-frequency fluctuations are added to the low-frequency unsteadiness. These higher-frequency fluctuations, not seen in the transitional boundary layer, are associated with turbulence production in the boundary layer and appear not to be directly related to free-stream unsteadiness.

Effects of Hole Length, Supply Plenum Geometry, and Freestream Turbulence on Film Cooling Performance

Abstract: Experimental measurements are presented in this report to document the sensitivity of film cooling performance to the hole length and coolant delivery plenum geometry. Measurements with hot-wire anemometry detail velocity, local turbulence, and spectral distributions over the exit plane of film cooling holes and downstream of injection in the coolant-freestream interaction zone. Measurements of discharge coefficients and adiabatic effectiveness are also provided. Coolant is supplied to the film cooling holes by means of a large, open plenum and through plenums which force the coolant to approach the holes either co-current or counter-current to the freestream. A single row of film cooling holes with 35 degree-inclined streamwise at two coolant-to-freestream velocity ratios, 0.5 and 1.0, is investigated. The coolant-to-freestream density ratio is maintained in the range 0.96 to 1.0. Measurements were taken under high-freestream (FSTI = 12%) and low-freestream turbulence intensity (FSTI = 0.5%) conditions. The results document the effects of the hole L/D, coolant supply plenum geometry, velocity ratio, and FSTI. In general, hole L/D and the supply plenum geometry play influential roles in the film cooling performance. Hole L/D effects, however, are more pronounced. Film cooling performance is also dependent upon the velocity ratio and FSTI.

Measurements in Film Cooling With Lateral Injection: Adiabatic Effectiveness Values and Temperature Fields

Abstract: Temperature fields were taken in a film cooling lateral injection configuration with pitch-to-hole-diameter of 3.0. These measurements were done with a traversing thermocouple. Momentum flux ratios of 0.25, 1.0 and 2.25 were used. Results are presented as fields of dimensionless temperatures, given by Display Formulaθ=Tprobe-T∞Tc-T∞. Near-surface values of this quantity over an unheated surface are adiabatic effectiveness values. Streamwise evolutions of these temperature fields are documented. It is seen how with higher blowing ratio the film cooling jets tend to lift off the surface. Comparisons are made to previous data and computational results. It is verified that lateral injection yields a more uniform distribution of effectiveness immediately downstream of injection. It is shown also how interaction of adjacent film cooling jets leads to such improved uniformity. This interaction depends on the pitch to diameter ratio, P/D. In order to study the effect of this parameter, additional data with P/D = 6.0 are presented. The present thermal field data complement previous velocity field measurements taken in the same flow.© 2000 ASME