CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
Film cooling is the introduction of a secondary fluid (coolant or injected
fluid) at one or more discrete locations along a surface exposed to a high
temperature environment to protect that not only immediate region of injection but
also in the downstream region. Film cooling with single hole has been investigated
in the detail. In this method, a coolant (air) is injected locally through the flat plate
structure to be protected, in such a way that it creates a film, the flat plate which
protects the structure from the influence of the hot fluid.

1.1 EFFECT OF HIGH TEMPERATURE

Advanced gas turbine engines operate at high temperatures (1200-1400ºC)
to improve thermal efficiency and power output. As the turbine inlet temperature
increases, the heat transferred to the blades in the turbine also increases. The level
and variation in the temperature within the blade material (which causes thermal
stresses) must be limited to achieve reasonable durability goals. Also the
temperatures are far above the permissible metal temperatures due to which there
are a need to cool the blades to operate without failure.

1.2 REMEDY
In order to guarantee sufficient component life, there is a need to cool the
blades to operate without failure. . The blades are cooled by extracted air from the
compressor of the engine. Since this extraction incurs a penalty to the thermal
efficiency, it is necessary to understand and optimize the cooling for the engine,
turbine operating conditions, and turbine blade geometry.

1
1.3 NECESSITY OF COOLING
In general these cooling systems are supplied with compressed air which is
first passing through an internal blade passage system and then ejected through
numerous film cooling holes in the wall of the stator airfoils. The first stator of a
high pressure turbine is the component which requires the highest amount of
cooling air because it is located right at the exit of combustion chamber and
therefore has to cope with the highest gas temperatures especially with the non
uniformity of the gas temperature distribution.

Figure 1.1 Graph between TET and entry into service

1.4 OTHER APPLICATIONS

2
 Turbine cooling technology is also used in other engine components such us
combustors and exhausts nozzle and is the primary technology that has allowed
increased engine bye pass ratio in commercial engines for reduced fuel burn by
30% since 1970.In addition turbine cooling technology has allowed the increase of
thrust to weight (T/W) in military war fighters by 2X again, since 1970. Turbine
cooling technology will be the key technology to produce commercial engines with
yet another 25% fuel burn reduction and military war fighter engines with another
2X in thrust to weight capability in the coming years.
1.5 INTRODUCTION TO TURBINE BLADE COOLING
The dramatic of computing power in the last 20 years has revolutionized
thermal and fluid science, paving the way for full-scale turbine simulations using
computational fluid dynamics. CFD predictions of turbines aerodynamics have
recently become quite accurate, allowing for a quicker and more robust design of
jet engine turbines. Predicting heat transfer for film cooled turbines, however,
remains a difficult and arduous task, which continuous to slow and hamper turbo
machine development.
Compounding this dilemma is the industries ceaseless drive to increase
engine efficiency, primarily accomplished by raising inlet temperature of hot gases
to the turbine from the combustor. In many applications inlet temperature are at or
above the melting point of the metal from which the turbine blades are constructed.
Moreover, combustor exit non uniformities such as turbulence and hot streaks can
lead to unbalanced heat loads in the turbine, resulting in high levels of thermal
stresses ultimately ending in blade failure.
In order to avoid catastrophic thermal failure in the turbines, a variety of
innovative techniques have been employed, including coating turbine airfoils with
special thermal barriers and introducing a thin film of coolant air over the airfoils
For protection from the devastating effects of hot combustion gases. This addition
3
of coolant air has become common practice in high performance engines, but since
the air is traditionally extracted from the compressor stage, a decrease in
thermodynamic cycle efficiency results. Thus it is advantageous to bleed only the
optimal amount of air in order to maintain efficiency while still cooling the airfoils.

CHAPTER 2
4
 COOLING TECHNIQUES
There are two basic types cooling techniques were used, they are internal
and external cooling.
Internal cooling
 Pin-fin
 Rib turbulator
 Dimple cooling and
 Impingement cooling
External cooling
 Film cooling and
 Transpiration cooling

Figure 2.1 Various cooling techniques

2.1 INTERNAL COOLING

5
2.1.1 Pin- fin cooling
Due to manufacturing constraints in the very narrow trailing edge of the
blade, pin-fin cooling is typically used to enhance the heat transfer from the blade
wall in this region. The pins typically have a height-to-diameter ratio between ½
and 4. In a pin-fin array heat is transferred from both the smooth channel end wall
and the numerous pins. Flow around the pins in the array is comparable to flow
around a single cylinder. As the coolant flows past the pin, the flow separates and
wakes are shed downstream of the pin. In addition to this wake formation, a
horseshoe vortex forms just upstream of the base of the pin, and the vortex wraps
around the pins. This horseshoe vortex creates additional mixing, and thus
enhanced heat transfer.

Many factors must be considered when investigating pin-fin cooling. The

type of pin-fin array and the spacing of the pins in the array effect the heat transfer
distribution in the channel. The pin size and shape also have a profound impact on
the heat transfer in the cooling passage. Because pin-fins are commonly coupled
with trailing edge ejection (as shown in figure 2), the effect of this coolant
extraction must also be considered.

6
 Figure 2.2 Pin fin cooling
2.1.2 Impingement cooling
Impingement cooling is commonly used near the leading edge of the airfoils,
where the heat loads are the greatest. With the cooling jets striking (impinging) the
blade wall, the leading edge is well suited for impingement cooling because of the
relatively thick blade wall in this area. Impingement can also be used near the mid-
chord of the vane. Figure 2.3 shows jet impingement located throughout the cross-
section of an inlet guide vane. Several aspects must be considered when
developing efficient cooling designs. The effect of jet-hole size and distribution,
cooling channel cross-section, and target surface shape all have significant effects
on the heat transfer coefficient distribution. Jet impingement near the mid-chord of
the blade is very similar to impingement on a flat plate; however, the sharp
curvature at the leading edge of the vane must be considered when utilizing
impingement in this region.

7
 Figure 2.3 Internal view of impingement cooling

2.1.3 Dimple cooling

In recent years, dimples have been considered as an alternative to pin-fin

cooling. Dimpled cooling is a very desirable alternative due to the relatively low
pressure loss penalty (compared with pins) and moderate heat transfer
enhancement. A typical test section for dimple cooling studies is shown in figure
2.4; this figure also shows the dimple induced secondary flow. These concave
dimples induce flow separation and reattachment with pairs of vortices. The areas
of high heat transfer include the areas of flow reattachment on the flat surface
immediately downstream of the dimple. The heat transfer in the dimpled channel is
typically 2 to 2.5 times greater than the heat transfer in a smooth channel with a
pressure loss penalty of 2 to 4 times that of a smooth channel. These values show
little dependence on Reynolds number and channel aspect ratio.

8
 However, the dimple size, dimple depth (depth-to-print diameter ratio = 0.1
to 0.3), distribution, and shape (cylindrical, hemispheric, teardrop) each effect the
heat transfer distribution in the channel. Recent studies have investigated the
influence of these factors on the heat transfer in rectangular channels31. Dimples
have also been investigated in a circular channel and similar levels of heat transfer
enhancement and frictional losses were measured. Syred et al. compared the heat
transfer enhancement due a single dimple on both flat and curved surfaces33. From
this study it was shown that the surface curvature significantly influences the heat
transfer enhancement. The heat transfer is further enhanced on a surface that is
concavely shaped (compared to a flat surface); however, a convexly curved surface
with a dimple decreases the level of heat transfer enhancement.

Figure 2.4 Dimple cooling

9
2.1.4 Rib turbulator

In advanced gas turbine blades, rib turbulators are often cast on two opposite
walls of internal coolant passages to augment heat transfer. The internal coolant
passages are mostly modeled as short, square or rectangular channels with various
aspect ratios. The heat transfer augmentation in rectangular coolant passages with
rib turbulators primarily depends upon the rib turbulators geometry, such as rib
size, shape, distribution, flow attack angle, and the flow Reynolds number. Rib
turbulators disturb only the near-wall flow for heat transfer enhancement.

Figure 2.5 Rib turbulator

10
 Therefore, the pressure drop penalty caused by rib turbulators is affordable
for the blade internal cooling designs. The heat transfer coefficients can be further
enhanced by casting the ribs with an angle to the coolant flow, which causes a rib-
induced secondary flow moving in the rib angle direction. The Reynolds numbers
based on coolant channel hydraulic diameter vary from 10,000 to 80,000.

Figure 2.6 Flow over rib turbulators

However, the Reynolds numbers can be up to 500,000 for the coolant

passages in large power generation turbine blades. In general, the repeated ribs that
used for coolant RECENT STUDIES IN TURBINE BLADE COOLING passages
with a channel aspect ratio varying from 1/4 (near blade leading edge) to 4 (near
blade trailing edge), are nearly square in cross section with a typical relative rib
height of 5–10% of the coolant channel hydraulic diameter, a rib spacing-to-height
ratio varying from 5–15, and a rib flow-attack-angle around 30–60◦.

11
 In general, smaller rib height is more efficient for higher Reynolds number
flows, and the heat transfer enhancement decreases but pressure drop penalty
increases with the Reynolds number. For example, the heat transfer can be
enhanced about 3 times with 5 times pressure drop penalty in a square channel
with typical rib geometry (6% rib height-to-channel hydraulic diameter ratio, 10
rib spacing-to- height ratio, and 45◦ rib flowattack- angle) at a Reynolds number
around 30,000.
Figure 2.5 shows conceptual view of secondary flow vortices induced
by angled ribs and V-shaped ribs. However, larger rib height-to-channel hydraulic
diameter ratio can be used to generate a little more heat transfer enhancement if the
pressure drop penalty is not a main concern in some highly demanding cooling
designs. Also, the closer (or wider) rib spacing has reduced heat transfer
enhancement and pressure drop penalty. Therefore, the closer (or wider) rib
spacing can be used to get enough heat transfer enhancement if the pressure drop
penalty is a major concern in certain cooling designs. In these cases, the closer rib
spacing can be used due to the increased rib-side area for convection (fin effect), in
addition to the heat transfer enhancement. For example, smaller gas turbine blades
have larger blockage ribs with 10–20% rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratio at
closer spacing with 3–5 rib spacing-to-height ratio.

2.2 EXTERNAL COOLING

2.2.1 Transpiration cooling
Transpiration cooling is one of the most efficient cooling techniques to prevent
surface damage from very hot gas streams and is well recognized as a possible
means for cooling air turbine combustion chamber and blade.
The transpiration cooling is obtained by means of porous walls; they
combine two heat exchange effects: the convective one at the cooler surface and
12
through the wall, and the ‘‘film’’ one at the warmer surface where hot and cold
gases mix. The mixing produces both an increase of the heat exchange coefficient
by convection, dependent on the fluids’ flow features, and a drop of the gas
temperature at the surface. The net effect is however a decrease of the heat flux
from the hot gas to the component’s surface. Transpiration cooling is obtained, for
instance, through sintered stainless steel walls, which usually have a pore diameter
ranging between 10 and 50 lm and a wall thickness of about 1 mm.
Although they have been extensively used to demonstrate the suitability of
porous materials and evaluate their thermodynamic efficiencies, problems
occurring when the component has to cope with both thermal and mechanical
stress have limited the application of this technology to the turbo machinery field.

Figure 2.7 Transpiration cooling

2.2.2 Film cooling
Film cooling is a major component of the overall cooling of turbine airfoils.
An example of a film cooled turbine vane is shown in figure 2.5. From that it is
evident that there are holes placed in the body of the airfoil to allow coolant to pass
from the internal cavity to the external surface. The ejection of coolant gas through
holes in the airfoil body results in a layer or “film” of coolant gas flowing along
the external surface of the airfoil. Hence the term “film cooling” is used to describe
the cooling technique. Since this coolant gas is at a lower temperature than the

13
mainstream, the heat transfer into the airfoil is reduced. The adiabatic film
effectiveness has a predominant effect in the design of the overall airfoil cooling.
Film cooling primarily depends on the coolant to hot mainstream pressure
ratio (Pc/Pt), temperature ratio (Tc/Tg), and the film cooling hole location,
configuration and distribution on a film cooled airfoil. The coolant-to-mainstream
pressure ratio can be related to the coolant-to-mainstream mass flux ratio (blowing
ratio) while the coolant to mainstream temperature ratio can be related to the
coolant-to-mainstream density ratio. In a typical gas turbine airfoil, the Pc/Pt ratios
vary from 1.02 to1.10, corresponding blowing ratios approximately from 0.5 to
2.0, while the Tc/Tg values vary from 0.5 to 0.85, corresponding density ratios
approximately from 2.0 to 1.5.
In general, higher the pressure ratio, better the film cooling protection (i.e.,
reduced heat transfer to the airfoil) at a given temperature ratio, while lower the
temperature ratio, better the film cooling protection at a given pressure ratio. Film
cooling is the process used to cool turbine blades in gas turbine engines. The
temperature of hot gas stream in the turbine is high enough to damage the metal
blades without film cooling.

Figure 2.8 Schematic of film cooling configurations on a vane

14
 Figure 2.9 Schematic of film cooling concept

Therefore, it is important to optimize the amount of coolant for airfoil film

cooling under engine operating conditions (Reynolds number 106, Mach
number0.9 at exit conditions). For designing a better film cooling pattern of an
airfoil, turbine cooling system designers also need to know where heat is
transferred from hot mainstream to the airfoil. As mentioned earlier, these film-
hole pattern (i.e., film hole location, distribution, angle and shape) would affect
film cooling performance.

2.3 FILM COOLING PERFORMANCE

The primary process by which film cooling reduces the heat transfer to the
wall is by reducing the gas temperature near the wall, i.e. reducing the driving
temperature potential for heat transfer to the wall. As the coolant flows from the
coolant holes, it mixes with the mainstream gas resulting in an increase in coolant
temperature.

15
 A typical example of this is presented in figure 2.7 which shows measurements
of the temperature profile along the centerline of a coolant jet as it flows
downstream of the coolant hole. In this figure the temperature contours are
presented as normalized θ contours where θ
is defined as:

Where T is the local temperature, T∞ is the mainstream temperature, and Tc

is the coolant temperature at the exit of the hole. Note that θ = 1 is the normalized
initial coolant temperature and θ = 0 is the normalized mainstream temperature.
That coolant quickly increases in temperature as it flows downstream. The coolant
temperature at the wall will be at the adiabatic wall temperature, Taw, and this
temperature is generally assumed to be the driving temperature potential for heat
transfer into the wall. Generally a normalized form of Taw, referred to as the
adiabatic effectiveness or film effectiveness, is used to characterize the film
cooling performance.
The film effectiveness, η, is defined as follows:

Where Tc,exit is the coolant temperature at the coolant hole exit. For perfect
film cooling performance, the film effectiveness would have a value of η = 1.0, i.e.
Taw would be equal to the coolant temperature at the exit of the hole; while a value
of η = 0 would indicate that the film cooling has not reduced the gas temperature at
the wall. In practice, η values decrease rapidly downstream of the coolant holes
due to the strong turbulent dispersion of the coolant jet.

16
2.4 FACTORS AFFECTING FILM COOLING PERFORMANCE
Table 2.1 Factors affecting film cooling performance

2.5 EFFECT OF HOLE GEOMETRY AND CONFIGURATIONS ON FILM

COOLING PERFORMANCE
There are many hole geometry and configuration variables that affect film
cooling performance. Compound angle injection and shaped holes have major
effects on film cooling performance.

17
2.5.1 Compound angle injection
When the coolant hole is angled to the mainstream direction, this is referred
to as “compound angle” injection. Compound angles can be as much as 90º, i.e.
normal to the mainstream direction. Coolant injected at a compound angle is
quickly turned to the mainstream direction, but will generally have a broader
distribution of coolant. Furthermore, the coolant presents a broader profile to the
mainstream so that the mainstream has a larger impact on the jet more effectively
turning the jet towards the wall. This inhibits jet separation, and results in better
film effectiveness for the compound angle holes at higher blowing ratios. Film
effectiveness performance for 90º compound angle holes compared to of 0º (stream
wise oriented holes).

2.5.2 Shaped holes

Improved film effectiveness can be achieved if the exit of the hole is expanded
so that coolant is slowed through a diffuser. There are two advantages for such a
“shaped hole”: the coolant exit velocity is reduced and a broader jet cross-section
is presented to the mainstream flow. Both these characteristics will reduce the
tendency for the coolant jet to separate.

18
 CHAPTER 3

LITERATURE REVIEW

The approaches that have been taken to investigate film cooling

phenomenon can be separated into general two areas: experimental and
computational. This literature review will concentrate on the computational side as
this is the area where the current research program focuses. The database of
literature on film cooling experiments is very extensive. This short literature
review does not profess to be an exhaustive list and discussion of all that has been
published in the research area. For the different kinds of research, representative
facilities have been selected and discussed where invariably there are multiple
researchers performing similar types of experiments with similar conclusions. A
reference that provides a nice overview of fundamental film cooling analysis and
experiments and the conclusions reached by researchers is given by Goldstein.
The most basic of film cooling experiments starts with the flat plate
experiment. These types of tests are the simplest to setup, and detailed
measurements of film cooling parameters can be made easily. Experiments done at
the University of Minnesota by Goldstein are some of the most basic flat plate
discrete hole film cooling experiments. These experiments were performed on both
a single coolant hole and one row of coolant holes with flat plate geometry. Also,
these experiments were performed at low speeds rather than at high speeds which
are more representative of an engine environment. The thrust of their research was
to vary the injection angles and blowing ratios to investigate film cooling
effectiveness.
These experiments generally showed that the cooling effectiveness was
optimized for the hole inclined at 35 degree to the stream wise direction and that
the centerline effectiveness decayed monotonically with distance from the coolant

19
hole. Also, this study showed that at a blowing ratio of approximately 0.5 the
centerline cooling effectiveness reached a maximum value. The researchers
suggested the decline of effectiveness at higher blowing ratios was due to the
coolant film lifting on the surface and allowing the free stream air to penetrate to
the surface.
Compound injection angle schemes (holes angled both in the stream wise and
Span wise directions) have been studied at great length and in general have been
shown to increase overall cooling effectiveness by better distributing the coolant
layer of the surface. Recent studies by Ligraniet. He investigates the possibilities
and results of angled injection schemes.
The effect of surface curvature was investigated by Schwartz. Film cooling
effectiveness was measured in this research by a mass transfer technique. This
research showed that convex surfaces (similar to the suction side of turbine blades)
had higher effectiveness values at higher momentum ratios than those of the flat
plate experiments. The reason for this is that the pressure gradient held the jet to
the surface longer and allowed for better coverage at higher blowing ratios.
Experiments performed by Ekkad investigated the effect of free stream
turbulence on heat transfer and film effectiveness on a cylindrical model. These
experiments used a transient liquid crystal technique which gave high resolution
measurements of local heat transfer and film cooling effectiveness. The results
from this research showed a maximum effectiveness at a blowing ratio of about
0.4. One important conclusion from this work was that higher values of free stream
turbulence reduced film effectiveness at lower blowing ratios, but this effect was
diminished at the higher blowing ratios. Also, with the use of the liquid crystal,
they were able to show that the location of the highest film effectiveness changes
with the increase of blowing ratio.

20
 This geometry begins to exhibit the two dimensional and three dimensional
nature of film cooling. From these idealized fundamental geometries, the
experiments on realistic blade geometries are developed. Some of the earliest
research on realistic geometries was performed by Itoet. These experiments used
turbine blades in a low speed (Ma = 0:065), cascade wind tunnel with a single row
of coolant holes and made measurements using the mass transfer technique. One of
the conclusions of this research was that the convex suction side surface provides a
pressure gradient that helps to keep the coolant film attached to the blade surface at
higher momentum ratios. At the highest of momentum ratios (M >1.5), the film
would eventually lift of the surface and the effectiveness would decrease. This
work also showed the three dimensional nature of the problem as it illustrated that
the blowing ratio where the Maximum effectiveness occurred depended on the
downstream and span wise distance from the coolant holes.
Recent research conducted by Bunker from General Electric Aircraft
Engines studied a turbine blade and showerhead film cooling geometry
representative of actual engine hardware and similar to the geometry used in this
research. The experiments were run in a transonic linear cascade wind tunnel.
These tests showed a well-behaved, well-mixed film at blowing ratios of 1.2 to 1.4
and density ratios of 1.8 to 2.0. The results showed a general monotonic decrease
of both heat transfer coefficient and film cooling effectiveness along the suction
side surface. Furthermore, it was seen that the heat transfer coefficient increased
significantly with the introduction of film cooling. This research performed
measurements only at one design condition of blowing and density ratios.
A closer approximation of engine geometries was accomplished by research
at the University of Oxford by Guo. Experiments were performed on heavily film
cooled nozzle guide vanes in a transonic annular cascade facility. These

21
experiments used thin film gauges to measure a transient surface temperature
history and back out the heat transfer coefficient and film cooling effectiveness.
The results indicated a scatter of data for both the film cooling effectiveness
and heat transfer coefficient profiles. The explanation for the strange profile was
that the coolant film lifted on the blade surface. A closer distribution of gauges was
needed to understand the details of the coolant phenomenon. Another step in
experimental approximations to engine environments is a rotating facility.
Research was performed by Epstein at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
using a fully cooled transonic turbine blade in a short duration rotating facility.
Measurements were made with thin film heat flux gauges distributed about the
surface of the blade. This showed a notable increase in the heat transfer coefficient
between the cooled and uncooled geometries. A comparison was also made
between higher blowing ratios (1.24 for the first row of holes) and low blowing
ratios (0.96 for the first row of holes). For comparison, our ranges of blowing
ratios are from 1.5 to 2.5. The results from this comparison tended to suggest that
film lift on were occurring on the pressure side at the higher blowing ratio but not
along the suction side.
Some general conclusions can be drawn from the published literature about
both heat transfer coefficient and film cooling effectiveness. The first of these
generalizations is that the heat transfer coefficient increases significantly with the
introduction of film cooling. Second, film cooling effectiveness generally is
reduced with downstream distance from the coolant exits, but in environments that
approximate a real engine, effectiveness is inherently a three dimensional
phenomenon.
In general, it was difficult to and researchers who were investigating the
effect of pressure ratio in a high speed regime with realistic geometries. Epstein
did investigate two separate blowing ratios at these realistic conditions. This
22
literature review attempts to place the Virginia Tech Transonic Wind Tunnel in
context with the other experiments that have been performed by the scientific
community. The Virginia Tech facility is somewhere in between the most realistic
engine approximations (rotating rigs, full coolant scheme) and the more
fundamental approximations (flat plate studies, single coolant row).

23
 CHAPTER 4
PRESENT STUDY
The direction of this project is to go for simple to more complex problems since
this topic is currently a very active and immature research. Most of the modeling
approaches are found to be not conclusive and in need of experiment validation. A
simple 3d plate with cooling slot/hole will be the starting point to get a
fundamental comparison. Then a three dimensional geometry problem with simple
cooling hole will be introduced to see the effect of blowing ratio and its impact on
the film coverage and film effectiveness.
The geometric parameters will be hole diameter, surface angle, and vector angle
of cooling hole vs. direction of hot gas flow. The shaped hole should provide better
cooling film effectiveness since it certainly provides a wider cooling film and
disturbs the hot gas flow profile less than the cylindrical hole. The shaped hole
will introduces additional geometric Parameter for the diffuser, namely the diffuser
angle and side angles.
For simple comparison to above geometric, the shaped hole will be limited to
symmetrical hole. In reality, many shapes of diffuser can be produced. However,
this would make the problem much more complex and should yield qualitatively
similar results. And finally, several patterns of cooling holes will be analyzed to
Predict an optimized arrangement that provide desired cooling with least cooling
Air flow lost and, of course, lowest cost.
The geometries of the flow domain and meshing of the domain are created in
modeling software called Gambit. Thereafter, the selection of appropriate
governing equations, the input of boundary conditions and selection discretisation
schemes for the equations are carried out in a solver called Fluent. To model the
reality better, turbulent flow is considered for hot gas flow. Also, the Thermal

24
barrier coating is omitted since it is believed that would not significantly impact
the computed temperature field in fluid.
There are many parameters involved when designing an optimized cooling
hole. Diameter of the hole, Length, injection angle, and arrangement of holes
against the hot gas flow direction are the important geometric parameters to be
considered. Besides, the clearance to internal cooling passage walls and practical
manufacturing methods are also important considerations, however, this project
will only study on the geometric parameters of holes on the cooling effectiveness
and also the effect of blowing ratio on the same.
4.1 FLAT PLATE
The sophisticated geometry and complex aerodynamics of flow over turbine
blades are frequently modeled in industry as flow over flat plates to simplify
calculations and reduce cost. Flat plate models reduce instrumentation and design
difficulties while still providing accurate and useful data, resulting in quicker
experimental setup times. The flat plate used in this project is a flattened version of
an actual turbine blade, retaining similarity in the critical area cooling hole
geometry.
4.2 ASSUMPTIONS
In reality to reduce the surface metal temperature the hotplate is often coated
with a thermal barrier coating (TBC) in addition to the cooling hole film. However,
in this project the coating is not considered because the main interest to investigate
how the geometrical properties, mainly injection angle of cooling hole affect the
cooling effectiveness. The TBC would reduce the surface metal temperature at a
constant rate depending on the properties of the coating.
If only the alloy is considered, the slope of the line connecting between T hot
and Tcool points should be the same. Additionally the coating thickness on or around
the cooling hole exit surface may be variable. Thus, if the TBC is included in the
25
analysis, it would be difficult to study the hole effect of the cooling hole geometry
and would make the problem unnecessarily more complicated. So the effect of
TBC is not considered.

4.3 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

Problem divided into two parts:
a) Validation of the problem and the selection of suitable turbulent model.
We had to find out film coverage and film cooling effectiveness computationally
for flat plate having single hole from which cooling jet is coming at the inclination
of 25 º, 35º, and 45 º angle using the k-epsilon realizable turbulence model.
b) Calculating the effect of film coverage and film effectiveness for different
blowing ratio i.e. M=1, 1.5, 2 and comparing the results.
4.4 FILM EFFECTIVENESS MEASUREMENT
The heat transfer coefficient measurement is a two temperature Problem, viz.
the main stream air temperature (Tg) and the film temperature (Tf) or total
temperature. When the coolant flows through the film cooling holes, unlike the
heat transfer coefficient measurement, the problem is one involving three
temperatures, viz., mainstream air temperature (Tg), coolant temperature (Tc) and
the film temperature (Tf).

To determine the unknown film temperature ( Tf), a non

dimensional temperature known as the film cooling effectiveness (ῆ ) is defined.
The definition is given by

26
 The blowing ratio (M) is defined as the ratio of the mass flux of the coolant
to the mass flux of the mainstream flow, which is given by equation. The higher
the blowing ratio, the more is the coolant mass flux.

4.5 GEOMETRY OF THE COMPUTATIONAL MODEL

The geometry studied in this project is a flat plate with different cooling
configurations. The three dimensional geometry consists of a simple rectangular
shape representing the flow over the flat plate.
The problem consists of a flat plate 1715.5 mm X 101.05 mm. The width of
plate is taken half, because it is symmetrical relative to the span wise middle plane.
The height of the computational domain is 202.1 mm. The cooling hole diameter D
is 23.5 mm and the length-to diameter ratio L/D is 30, location of the hole is 22D
from upstream as shown in figure 4.1. Secondary air enters the inclination of jet
length is 705 mm long.

Figure 4.1 Geometry for 25º angle

27
4.6 GRID GENERATION
After the 3D model is created in gambit, it was imported into gambit to
generate meshes or grids for CFD analysis. Both meshing and CFD analysis are
created by a same company, fluent Inc. They really make the transition between
the mesh and CFD model smooth. A Hexahedron (map & cooper) grid is used in
this analysis to allow the highest quality in all regions with the fewest number of
cells. In this way, the Computational domain can be partitioned into several
subsections. Jet Cooling hole, mainstream flow duct and other three in the channel.
Each section is meshed with appropriate topology.
Meshing is an important step in any CFD or finite element analysis. The
element shape, element size, angle skew at element corners, couplings at interfaces
of different materials and other relevant parameters are critical and may greatly
affect the result. The models are meshed with different element sizes (coarse and
fine) and calculations performed. The mesh at all places has equal interval size.
Due to the geometry of the slot the cell type in the mesh is a mix of map and paves
cells. For other sections map and cooper meshes are used.
After a series of tests and adjustments the final adopted grid for calculations
is obtained. In the mesh for all geometries 25, 35, 45 degrees have 193380 cells,
213591 nodes. The interval size for all nodes in the mainstream flow duct,
downstream duct (after cooling hole) is 6. The interval size for all nodes in jet
cooling hole is 4. The center section of rectangular section and cooling hole
volumes are united, because of flows at the intermediate section.

28
 Figure 4.2 Grid for geometry of 25º

4.7 BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

The boundary conditions used in the problem are given below in the
following table,
Table 4.1 Boundary Conditions
S.No Name Type
1 Inlet Velocity Inlet(hot fluid)
2 Outlet Pressure Outlet
3 Cinlet Velocity Inlet(cold fluid)
4 Inter 1 Interface
5 Inter 2 Interface
6 Inter 3 Interface
7 Inter 4 Interface

29
 As a mentioned in the table the boundary conditions are used in the Fluent
and then solved using suitable solver.

4.7.1 Inlet parameter calculations

Table 4.2 Inlet parameter calculations
S.No Blowing ratio Mass flow rate Mass flow rate
(gas) (Kg/s) (coolant) (Kg/s)
1 0.5 1.4278 0.00758
2 1 1.4278 0.01516
3 1.5 0.7139 0.01137

For cold fluid:

Mass flow rate = 0.00758 Kg/s for B.R = 0.5
Density = 1.225 Kg/m3
Area = 433.73 mm2
m = ρAv
V = 28.53 m/s
Cold fluid flow is in inclined direction so x, y velocity components found for
blowing ratio 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and given below in the table .

For hot fluid:

Mass flow rate = 1.4278 Kg/s for B.R= 0.5
Density = 1.225 Kg/m3
Area= 0.020422 m2
m= ρAv
V = 57.07 m/s

30
 Similarly velocity values for blowing ratios 1.0, 1.5 were found and given
below in the table.
VELOCITY CALCULATIONS FOR HOT FLUID
Table 4.3 Inlet conditions
Name Blowing Velocity(m/s) Temperature(K Pressure(N/m2)
ratio )
inlet 0.5 57.07 1073 101325
Inlet 1.0 57.07 1073 101325
Inlet 1.5 28.53 1073 101325

VELOCITY COMPONANTS FOR COLD FLUID

Table 4.4 Conditions for coolant inlet
Angle Velocity components(m/s) Temperature Pressure
(degree) (K) (N/m2)
At B.R 0.5 At B.R 1.0 At B.R 1.5

X y x Y X Y

25 12.05 25.85 24.18 51.72 36.17 77.58 303 101325

35 16.36 23.37 32.73 46.74 49.10 70.12 303 101325

45 20.17 20.17 40.35 40.35 60.53 60.53 303 101325

31
4.8 SOLVER SETTINGS
For 3D problems with relatively simple geometry and mesh fluent version
6.2.16 with a single processor was used. The meshes produced in gambit were
imported directly into fluent. The solver is segregated type, that it solves the
momentum equations first to obtain velocity field. Then using these results it will
solve the mass, pressure, and other relevant equations. The other type of solver is
coupled. All equation are solved simultaneously. This solver could reduce
computation time but it might be problematic for complex 3D equations.
There are a number of turbulence models available in fluent for numeric analysis
of cooling hole heat transfer. K-epsilon realizable turbulence model is chosen to
get the good approximation in the result. After meshing the geometry, the
boundary conditions tabulated above are given. Then the continuum type is given
as fluid. Then the mesh file is exported as a 3D mesh. Then read the mesh file for
various angles and created the interfaces because geometry is created as a three
separate volumes for rectangular plate.
Analysis is done for various inclination angles 25, 35, and 45 for respective
blowing ratios 0.5, 1.0, 1.5. Initialized the process with hot air inlet. Iterations are
performed and solution for all 9 geometries is successfully converged. Then the
film effectiveness are calculated by the help of film temperature (T f).

32
 CHAPTER 5
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

5.1 FILM COVERAGE ON VARYING COOLANT PASSAGE

The 3D geometry with 25, 35, 45 degree injection hole was analyzed in SI
(Metric) and English (mm) length unit. Fluent only uses SI unit system, any
geometry or mesh imported into fluent will be considered in SI unit. For example,
a 3D geometry was created in gambit using mm as length unit. When imported into
fluent all reported length dimensions will be in metric. Fortunately, we are
interested in parametric design of the cooling hole on alloy surface temperature
reduction. In fact, many experimental or analytical research papers use the cooling
hole diameter D as the primary unit to evaluate and optimize the pattern of cooling
holes arrangement.
Contours plots total temperature versus position of X/D is equal to 1.5, 3, 4.5, 6,
7.5, 9, 10.5, and 12 values considered. Eta (Film cooling effectiveness) versus
positions plot is also presented for X/D is equal to 1.5, 3, 4.5, 6, 7.5, 9, 10.5, and
12, it shows that as the value of X/D increases the cooling effectiveness (eta)
decreasing. The Large blowing ratio conditions decreasing the cooling
effectiveness and the lateral location near half width of the jet and it is located
close to the jet border. The main reason for this is that the jet separates from the
wall in a small span wise region through heat diffusion. Heat diffusion acts as a
major role in large blowing ratio film cooling. It is found that blowing ratio M=0.5
gives high film Cooling effectiveness. The temperature contour plots and graph
b/w x/d vs. effectiveness were plotted for various inclination angles 25º, 35º,and
45º and for various blowing ratios 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 were given below.

33
Case1: 25º Angle of jet with Blowing ratio M=0.5, 1.0, 1.5
To determine the film cooling effectiveness with injection of secondary air
through a discrete hole into a turbulent boundary layer of air on a flat plate. The
secondary air enters at angle of 25º degree to the main flow. The film cooling
effectiveness is found at different blowing ratios 0.5,1 and 1.5 and using realizable
k-ɛ turbulent model.
In this case, analysis was carried out for angle of jet inclination is 25º at the
blowing ratio of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5. Cooling effectiveness distribution is computed in
the chord wise direction for turbulent k-epsilon Realizable model at blowing ratios
M=0.5, 1 and 1.5.figures given below shows the temperature contour plot and
graph between x/d vs. film effectiveness. Among all the results 0.5 blowing ratio
gives high film effectiveness.

Figure 5.1 Temperature contours plot for 25º, 0.5 B.R

34
 x/d vs effectiveness
1.2

0.8
x/d vs effectiveness
0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Figure 5.2 Graph between x/d and effectiveness for 25º, 0.5 B.R

Figure 5.3 Temperature contours plot for 25º, 1.0 B.R

35
 x/d vs effectiveness
1.2

0.8
x/d vs effectiveness
0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Figure 5.4 Graph between x/d and effectiveness for 25º, 1.0 B.R

Figure 5.5 Temperature contours plot for 25º, 1.5 B.

36
 x/d vs effectiveness
1.2

0.8
x/d vs effectiveness
0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Figure 5.6 Graph between x/d and effectiveness for 25º, 1.5 B.R

Case2: 35º Angle of jet with Blowing ratio M=0.5, 1.0, 1.5
To determine the Film cooling effectiveness with injection of secondary air
through a discrete hole into a turbulent boundary layer of air on a flat plate. The
secondary air enters at angle of 35º degree to the main flow. The film cooling
effectiveness is found at different blowing ratios 0.5,1 and 1.5 using realizable k-ɛ
turbulent model.
In this case, analysis was carried out for angle of jet inclination is 35º at the
blowing ratio of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5. Cooling effectiveness distribution is computed in
the chord wise direction for turbulent k-epsilon Realizable model at blowing ratios
M=0.5, 1 and 1.5.figures given below shows the temperature contour plot and
graph between x/d vs. film effectiveness. Among all the results 0.5 blowing ratio
gives high film effectiveness.

37
 Figure 5.7 Temperature contours plot for 35º, 0.5 B.R

x/d vs effectiveness
1.2

0.8
x/d vs effectiveness
0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Figure 5.8 Graph between x/d and effectiveness for 35º, 0.5 B.R

38
 Figure 5.9 Temperature contours plot for 35º, 1.0 B.R

x/d vs effectiveness
1.2

0.8
x/d vs effectiveness
0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Figure 5.10 Graph between x/d and effectiveness for 35º, 1.0 B.R

39
 Figure 5.11 Temperature contours plot for 35º, 1.5 B.R

x/d vs effectiveness
1.2

0.8
x/d vs effectiveness
0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Figure 5.12 Graph between x/d and effectiveness for 35º, 1.5 B.R

40
Case3: 45º Angle of jet with Blowing ratio M=0.5, 1.0, 1.5
To determine the film cooling effectiveness with injection of secondary air
through a discrete hole into a turbulent boundary layer of air on a flat plate. The
secondary air enters at angle of 45º degree to the main flow. The film cooling
effectiveness is found at different blowing ratios 0.5,1 and 1.5 and using realizable
k-ɛ turbulent model.
In this case, analysis was carried out for angle of jet inclination is 45º at the
blowing ratio of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5. Cooling effectiveness distribution is computed in
the chord wise direction for turbulent k-epsilon Realizable model at blowing ratios
M=0.5, 1 and 1.5.figures given below shows the temperature contour plot and
graph between x/d vs. film effectiveness. Among all the results 0.5 blowing ratio
gives high film effectiveness.

Figure 5.13 temperature contours plot for 45º, 0.5 B.R

41
 x/d vs effectiveness
1.2

0.8
x/d vs effectiveness
0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Figure 5.14 graph between x/d and effectiveness for 45º, 0.5 B.R

Figure 5.15 Temperature contours plot for 45º, 1.0 B.R

42
 x/d vs effectiveness
1.2

0.8
x/d vs effectiveness
0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Figure 5.16 Graph between x/d and effectiveness for 45º, 1.0 B.R

Figure 5.17 Temperature contours plot for 45º, 1.5 B.R

43
 x/d vs effectiveness
1.2

0.8
x/d vs effectiveness
0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Figure 5.18 Graph between x/d and effectiveness for 45º, 1.5 B.R

44
 CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSION
From the analysis conducted, it is concluded that Realizable turbulent models
result in better numerical results of film cooling effectiveness. Thus it is suggested
that Realizable models are better suited for similar studies that would be performed
in the future. The results show that as blowing ratio is increased, the film cooling
effectiveness decreases. For a blowing ratio of 0.5 it is observed that the Realizable
turbulence model gives high values of cooling effectiveness.
Computational fluid dynamic simulations were carried out with k-ɛ realizable
model for various angles (25º, 35º, 45º,) of jet inclinations. Secondary air enters
through a long circular hole; the purpose of long injection tube is to have well
defined condition at the exit of the tube. The maximum value of film cooling
effectiveness achieved at the blowing ratio of (M=0.5). The film cooling
effectiveness reaches a maximum everywhere over the surface for a parameter
M=0.5.

45
 CHAPTER 7
REFERENCES
1. Han, J. C, Sandip Dutta, and Srinath V. Ekkad. “Gas Turbine Heat Transfer and
Cooling Technology”. Taylor & Francis Group, 2001.
2. Goldstein R.J, Eckert E.R.G, Ramsey J.W., “Film Cooling with injection
through holes: adiabatic wall temperature downstream of a circular hole”, J. Eng.
Power 90 (1968) 384-395.
3.Cun-Lian g Liu, Hui-Ren Zhu, Jiang-Tao Bai., “Effect of turbulent Prandtal
number on the computation on film-cooling effectiveness,” International Journal
of Heat and Mass Transfer, 51 (2008) 6208-6218.
4. FLUENT 6.3 Tutorial Guide & www.fluentusers.com
5.Anderson, Jr J.D., “Fundamentals of Aerodynamics” Tata McGraw-Hall, 2007
6. Metzger, D.E., Bunker, R.S., Chyu, M.K., 1989, "Cavity Heat Transfer on a
Transverse Grooved Wall in a Narrow Flow Channel,” ASME Journal of Heat
Transfer, Vol. 111, pp. 73-79.
7. Han, J.C., Dutta, S and Ekkad, S.V. Gas Turbine Heat Transfer and Cooling
Technology, New York: Taylor and Francis, 2000.
8. Srinavasan, V. and Goldstein, R. J.” Effect of Endwell Motion on Blade Tip
Heat Transfer,” Journal of Turbomachinery, Vol. 125, pp. 267-273, 2003.
9. Bunker, Ronald S., Bailey, Jeremy C. and Ameri, Ali A.” Heat Transfer and
Flow on the First-Stage Blade Tip of a Power Generation Gas Turbine: Part 1-
Experimental Results,” Journal of Turbomachinery, Vol. 122, pp. 263-271, 2000.

46