Effect of leading-edge geometry on the aerodynamics and heat transfer in the stagnation region of uncooled turbine blades

Abstract

The flow in the leading-edge stagnation region of uncooled turbine aerofoils is studied. The stagnation region is modelled based on the Hiemenz flow solution, following Holley and Langston (J. Turbomach. 130: 021001, 2008). These results are applied to the JT9D turbine blade and confirmed by computations. It is also shown that the heat transfer at the stagnation point is bounded by the Hiemenz flow and plane stagnation-point potential flow heat transfer solutions. The computations are further extended for a range of Reynolds numbers and freestream turbulence intensities. It is seen that for a wide range of these parameters considered in the present study and data collected from published literature, a majority of the data points are within these bounds. The leading-edge geometry of the JT9D turbine blade is modified with elliptical geometries. Blunter-leading-edge geometries have lower values of heat transfer at the stagnation region; however, their blade profile loss coefficients are higher. The off-design performance characteristics of the turbine blades are also computed. The results presented in this paper will be useful in designing leading-edge geometries for reduced heat transfer in the stagnation region of uncooled turbine blades.