Showing papers by "Terrence W. Simon published in 2019"

Influence on film cooling effectiveness of novel holes based on cylindrical configurations

Abstract: In this study, four novel film cooling hole designs, all based on cylindrical holes, are numerically evaluated, and compared with those of a simple cylindrical hole and a laterally-diffused shaped ...

Enhancement of Film Cooling Effectiveness Using Dean Vortices

Abstract: Film cooling technology is widely used in gas turbines. With the additive manufacturing anticipated in the future, there will be more freedom in film cooling hole design. Exploiting this freedom, the present authors tried using curved holes to generate Dean vortices within the delivery line. These vortices have opposite direction of rotation to the vorticity of the kidney vortices and, thus, there is interaction between these vortices in the mixing region. It is shown that as a result of the inclusion of Dean vortices, the curved hole delivery leads to enhanced film cooling effectiveness. Numerical results, including film cooling effectiveness values, tracking of vortices in the flow field, heat transfer coefficients, and net heat flux reduction (NHFR), are compared between the curved hole, round hole, and a laidback, fan-shaped hole with blowing ratios, M, of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5. The comparison shows that film cooling effectiveness values with the curved hole are higher than those with cylindrical film cooling holes at every blowing ratio studied. The curved hole has lower film cooling effectiveness values than the laidback, fan-shaped holes when M = 0.5 and 1.0, but shows advantages when the blowing ratio is higher than 1.0. There is heat transfer enhancement for the curved hole case due to a higher kinetic energy transferred to the near-wall region, however. Nevertheless, the curved hole still displays a higher NHFR when the blowing ratio is high.

Conjugate heat transfer modeling of a turbine vane endwall with thermal barrier coatings

Abstract: Advanced cooling techniques involving internal enhanced heat transfer and external film cooling and thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are employed for gas turbine hot components to reduce metal temperatures and to extend their lifetime. A deeper understanding of the interaction mechanism of these thermal protection methods and the conjugate thermal behaviours of the turbine parts provides valuable guideline for the design stage. In this study, a conjugate heat transfer model of a turbine vane endwall with internal impingement and external film cooling is constructed to document the effects of TBCs on the overall cooling effectiveness using numerical simulations. Experiments on the same model with no TBCs are performed to validate the computational methods. Round and crater holes due to the inclusion of TBCs are investigated as well to address how film-cooling configurations affect the aero-thermal performance of the endwall. Results show that the TBCs have a profound effect in reducing the endwall metal temperatures for both cases. The TBC thermal protection for the endwall is shown to be more significant than the effect of increasing coolant mass flow rate. Although the crater holes have better film cooling performance than the traditional round holes, a slight decrement of overall cooling effectiveness is found for the crater configuration due to more endwall metal surfaces directly exposed to external mainstream flows. Energy loss coefficients at the vane passage exit show a relevant negative impact of adding TBCs on the cascade aerodynamic performance, particularly for the round hole case.

Endwall Film Cooling Performance for a First-Stage Guide Vane with Upstream Combustor Walls and Inlet Injection

Abstract: Effects of an upstream combustor wall on turbine nozzle endwall film cooling performance are numerically examined in a linear cascade in this paper. Film cooling is by two rows of cooling holes at 20% of the axial chord length upstream of the vane leading edge (LE) plane. The combustor walls are modeled as flat plates with square trailing edges (TE) positioned upstream of the endwall film cooling holes. A combustor wall is in line with the LE of every second vane. The influence of the combustor wall, when shifted in the axial and tangential directions, is investigated to determine effects on passage endwall cooling for three representative film cooling blowing ratios. The results show how shed vortices from the combustor wall greatly alter the flow field near the cooling holes and inside the vane passage. Film cooling distribution patterns, particularly in the entry region and along the pressure side of the passage, are affected. The combustor wall leads to an imbalance in film cooling distribution over the endwalls for adjacent vane passages. Results show a larger effect of tangential shift of the combustor wall on endwall cooling effectiveness than the effect of an equal axial shift. The study provides guidance regarding design of combustor-to-turbine transition ducts.

Controlling Leakage Flows Over a Rotor Blade Tip Using Air-Curtain Injection: Part II — Rotor Casing Film Cooling

Abstract: In modern gas turbine engines, the rotor casing region experiences high thermal loads due to complex flow structures and aerothermal effects. Thus, casing cooling is one of essential measures to ensure turbine service lifetime and performance. However, studies on heat transfer and cooling over the rotor casing with tip leakage flows are limited in the open literature during the past decades. The present work aims at controlling leakage flows over the blade tip and decreasing heat loads on the rotor casing. A novel approach proposed in a companion paper (GT2019-90232) is adopted in this paper as Part II by introducing an air-curtain injection from the rotor casing through a pair of inclined rows of discrete holes positioned in the range of 30% and 50% axial chord downstream of the blade leading edge in the casing. This air-curtain injection approach is applied to flat and recessed tips with and without tip injection to evaluate its sealing capability on tip leakage flows and film cooling effectiveness on the casing for two injection ratios of 0.7% and 1.0%. In this paper, Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations with Shear Stress Transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model and γ-Reθ transition model, which are validated with relevant experimental data, are performed to investigate tip leakage flows and film cooling effectiveness on the casing in a single-stage, high-pressure gas turbine engine. Results show that casing injection can reduce tip leakage mass flow effectively by changing the development and migration of tip leakage mass flows, especially when the recessed tip is applied. Adding tip injection would further reduces the tip leakage. The casing injection also provides an excellent cooling effect on the casing across rotor middle chord through trailing edge regions. In the presence of the recessed tip, coolant spreads out well on the rotor tip and the casing surfaces, resulting in better film cooling effectiveness on the casing over rotor tip leading edge. In addition, the tip injection could provide an extra cooling effect in some other regions of the casing.

Controlling leakage flows over a rotor blade tip using air-curtain injection: Part I — Aero-thermal performance of rotor tips

Abstract: The rotor casing of gas turbine engines is generally cooled with cooling air from compressors and then the cooling air is discharged into the passage flow of the rotor. In this paper, a novel design both for the blade tip leakage flow control and for the rotor casing and tip cooling is proposed. Cooling air is injected through a pair of inclined rows of discrete holes positioned between 30% and 50% axial chord downstream of the blade leading edge in the casing. The casing injection forms as air-curtain within the blade tip gap, and inhibits the development of the tip leakage flows and provides secondary-order cooling for the rotor tip. Air injection from the rotor casing onto flat and recessed blade tips is investigated using numerical simulations that is validated by extensive aerodynamic and heat transfer experimental data. Flow and film cooling over the blade tip and turbine overall aerodynamic performance are examined in detail for two casing injection rates. Comparisons between flat tip without casing injection (baseline) case and the casing injection cases show that the air-curtain injection significantly alters the flow structures near the casing by modifying the development and migration of the tip leakage flow. The air-curtain injection over the flat and recessed tips both generates turbine stage overall aerodynamic efficiency improvement due to the sealing effects of the casing injection, but the efficiency gain depends on the competing results between the sealing effects and the “over-blown” effects of the air-curtain injection. Applying a recess to the blade tip is generally detrimental to the efficiency improvement by the air-curtain injection. In addition to efficiency improvement, secondary-order cooling effects from the casing injection are found to provide considerable thermal protection for the blade tips. However, increasing injection rate reduces the film cooling performance over the rotor tip surfaces. The recessed tip could present better film cooling effectiveness than the flat tip in the presence of the air-curtain.

Steady and unsteady RANS simulations of heat transfer on a turbine vane endwall with inlet boundary layer skew

Abstract: In this study, steady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and unsteady RANS (URANS) simulations in a turbine vane cascade are performed to study the effects of inlet boundary layer skew on flowfields in the vane passage and heat transfer over the endwall surfaces. The inlet skew simulates the relative movement between rotor platform and stator endwall in a turbine stage. The transverse motion of a moving wall, which is placed parallel to and upstream of the vane endwall, generates the inlet skew. An engine-like velocity profile yields a cascade inlet Reynolds number of 3.46×105. A parametric study is conducted for two moving wall-to-freestream velocity ratios (r) of 0.61 and 0.76, representing the actual operation of an engine. In addition, steady and time-averaged results are compared to address the difference of predictions in heat transfer from the steady and unsteady simulations. The results show that the effects of unsteadiness due to inherent unsteadiness in the flow and inlet skew passage on the pressures over the endwall surface is negligible. However, the unsteadiness plays an important role in determining endwall heat transfer patterns. The inlet boundary layer skew modifies the development and migration of horseshoe vortex and passage vortex, resulting in local variation of heat transfer over most endwall surfaces. Lower heat transfer coefficients are found near the suction side beyond the passage throat, but overall heat transfer levels almost remain the same on the endwall in the presence of inlet skew.