Effects of non-uniform wavy ribs on flow and heat transfer characteristics of turbine blade cooling channel

Abstract

Aiming at the problem of reduced heat transfer performance and uneven distribution along the ribbed channel in aero-engine turbine blades, the influence mechanism of rib height, rib angle and fillet radius on the flow and heat transfer characteristics of wavy rib cooling channel under different inlet Reynolds numbers is analyzed by experimental and numerical methods. The research illustrates that the non-uniform change of the rib height has the most profound influence on the heat transfer performance of the ribbed channel. Schemes featuring larger initial and final rib heights demonstrate superior heat transfer performance and uniformity, with the friction factor primarily determined by the maximum rib height. The optimal rib height variation scheme shows a 22.6 % increase in overall Nu/Nu0, with only a 6 % reduction in heat transfer evenness. The non-uniform variation of rib angle and fillet radius mainly affects the local heat transfer and friction factor. Increasing Reynolds number, the distribution of friction factor of the large rib height scheme changes more drastically. At a large Reynolds number (Re = 40000), the enhanced heat transfer in the middle and rear sections of the channel due to the larger rib angle and fillet radius comes at the cost of increased pressure loss.