Abstract
The capabilities of four two-equation turbulence models in predicting film cooling effectiveness under high free stream turbulence (FST) intensity (Tu = 10%) were investigated and their performance are presented and discussed. The four turbulence models are: the standard k-ε, RNG, and realizable k-ε models as well as the standard k-ω model all four found in the FLUENT CFD code. In all models, the enhanced wall treatment has been used to resolve the flow near solid boundaries. A systematic approach has been followed in the computational setup to insure grid-independence and accurate solution that reflects the true capabilities of these models. Exact geometrical and flow-field replicas of an experimental study on discrete hole film cooling were generated and used in FLUENT. A pitch-to-diameter ratio of 3.04, injection tube length-to-diameter ratio of 4.6 and density ratios of 0.92 and 0.97 were some of the parameters used in the film cooling analysis. The study covered two levels of blowing ratios (M = 0.5 and 1.5) at an environment of what is defined as high initial free-stream turbulence intensity (Tu = 10%). Performance of these models under a very low initial FST were presented in a paper by the authors in Turbo Expo 2006. In that case, the standard k-ε model had the most consistent performance among all considered turbulence models and the best centerline film cooling effectiveness predictions under very low FST. However, after the addition of high FST in the free-stream, even the standard k-ε model started to deviate greatly from the experimental data (up to 200% over-prediction) under high blowing ratios (M = 1.5). The model which performed the best under high FST but low blowing ratios (M = 0.5) is still the standard k-ε model. In all cases only standard k-ε model results match the trends of data for both cases. It can be said that under high FST with high M all the models do not do a good job of predicting the data. It was concluded that these deviations resulted from the effects of both high FST and high M. Under high M, near the injection holes deviations could result from the limitations of Boussinesq hypothesis relating the direction of Reynolds stress to the mean strain rate. Also, it seems like all models have trouble including the effects of high FST by not being able to take into account high levels of diffusion of turbulence from the free stream. However, standard k-ε model still looks like the best candidate for further improvement with the addition of new diffusion model for TKE under high FST.
Published Version
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