Combined Effects of Jet Plate Thickness and Fillet Radius on Leading Edge Jet Impingement With Round and Racetrack Shaped Jets

Abstract

The effect of jet plate thickness is considered as regionally averaged Nusselt numbers are measured on a concave surface, which models the leading edge of modern gas turbine blades. The performance of both round and racetrack shaped orifices for leading edge impingement is considered. Regionally averaged heat transfer coefficient distributions are obtained in a steady state experiment using heated aluminum plates. From this traditional heat transfer technique, the heat transfer afforded by jet plates of varying thickness is quantified. The thickness of the jet plate is varied from 1.33 to 4.0 diameters (for both the round and racetrack shaped jets). To model the modern, cast airfoil, the effect of an inlet and outlet radius on the jet orifice is also investigated. For all cases, the jet – to – target surface spacing (z/djet) is 4, the jet – to – jet spacing (s/djet) is 8, and the target surface diameter – to jet diameter (D/djet) is 5.33. Target surface Nusselt numbers are obtained for three separate Reynolds numbers. For the round orifices, jet Reynolds numbers of 14,000, 28,100, and 42,100 are used while the corresponding Reynolds numbers for the racetrack shaped jets are 11,800, 23,600, and 35,400. Although the Reynolds number is reduced for the racetrack shaped jets, the mass flow through each jet remains constant (from the round to the racetrack jets). The Nusselt numbers measured in the stagnation region of the target surface are relatively insensitive to the jet plate thickness. For all cases considered, the flow is not developed as it exits the orifice, so the flow structures of the jets ensuing from each of the plates are similar. When the inlet of the jet is rounded, the vena contracta effect within the orifice is minimized, and a more symmetrical jet develops within the orifice. For a fixed flow rate, the racetrack shaped jets provide enhanced heat transfer compared to the round jets for all geometries considered.