Assessment of Steady State PSP and Transient Ir Measurement Techniques for Leading Edge Film Cooling

Abstract

Film cooling is commonly used on the leading edge of turbine blades to protect the blade surface from hot mainstream gases in the turbine. Obtaining detailed film cooling effectiveness distributions on the leading edge can be challenging. This paper considers two measurement techniques which can be applied to the leading edge (modeled by a cylinder) to obtain detailed distributions of the film effectiveness. A steady state pressure sensitive paint (PSP) technique and a transient infrared (IR) thermography technique are used to obtain detailed film cooling effectiveness distributions on the cylinder. The cylinder, 7.62 cm in diameter, is placed in a low speed wind tunnel, with the mainstream flow having a Reynolds number of 100,900 (based on the cylinder diameter). The cylinder has two rows of film cooling holes located at ±15° from the cylinder’s stagnation line. The pitch-to-diameter ratio of the film holes is 4, and holes are inclined 30° in spanwise direction. PSP continues to show promise for film cooling effectiveness measurements. Detailed distributions can be obtained near the film cooling holes because this technique relies on mass transfer rather than heat transfer. In order to reduce the error caused by conduction in heat transfer experiments, transient measurement techniques are favorable. Transient IR measurements are taken, and film cooling effectiveness is determined on the cylinder’s surface. Although the effect of conduction is reduced with the transient IR technique (compared to a steady state heat transfer experiment), heat conduction through the cylinder has not been eliminated (or even minimized). Without correction, the results obtained from transient heat transfer experiments must be used cautiously. For this reason, PSP is developing a niche within the gas turbine community for detailed film cooling effectiveness measurements.