Experimental Investigation of Rotating Rib Roughened Two-Pass Square Duct With Two Different Channel Orientations

Abstract

Effects of rotation on heat transfer on leading and trailing sides of gas turbine blades has been extensively studied in the past. It has been established for typical two-pass channel that radially outward flow (first pass) has higher heat transfer on trailing side and lower heat transfer on leading side and vice versa for radially inward flow (second pass). Rotation induces three forces on the coolant flow — Coriolis, Centrifugal and Buoyancy forces. The direction of Coriolis force depends on the relative angle between the coolant flow and the rotation direction, because of which the direction of Coriolis force is different in individual passes — which in turn results in non-uniform distribution of high heat transfer regions on leading and trailing walls. The present study is focused on utilizing the Coriolis force favorably in both the passes by rotating the typical arrangement of two-pass channels by 90°. Firstly, smooth two pass duct (Model A-smooth) having typical arrangement of coolant flow and rotation direction is studied. The second configuration is the corresponding ribbed channel (Model A-ribbed) featuring V-shaped ribs on both leading and trailing walls. The rib-height-to-channel hydraulic diameter ratio was 0.125, rib pitch-to-rib height ratio was 8, and channel aspect ratio was unity. Model B was obtained by rotating the Model A by 90° and changing the coolant inlet port as well. Model B had three configurations — (a) smooth duct, (b) single sided ribbed duct, and (c) double sided ribbed duct. Detailed heat transfer coefficients were measured by transient liquid crystal thermography under rotating conditions. In order to match the direction of Buoyancy force as it exists in actual engines, colder air was passed during the transient experiment. The heat transfer experiments were carried out at a Reynolds number of 20000 and Rotation numbers of 0, 0.05 and 0.1. The Nusselt numbers have been reported in two forms, (a) normalized with respect to Dittus-Boelter correlation for developed turbulent flow in circular duct, (b) normalized with corresponding Nusselt number obtained from smooth channel experiments. The effects of Coriolis force and centrifugal force on heat transfer has been discussed in detail. A new model has been proposed based on the understanding and findings of the present study, which has positive effects of rotation on both leading and trailing walls.