Heat Transfer in a Rotating Two-Pass Rectangular Channel Featuring Reduced Cross-Sectional Area After Tip Turn (AR=4:1 to 2:1) With Profiled 60 Deg Angled Ribs

Abstract

The internal cooling channels of an advanced gas turbine blade typically have varying aspect ratios from one pass to another due to the varying thickness of the blade profile. Most of the fundamental internal cooling studies found in the open literature used a fixed aspect ratio for multi-pass channels. Studies on a reduced cross-section and aspect ratio channel are scarce. The current study features a two-pass rectangular channel with an aspect ratio AR = 4:1 in the first pass and an AR = 2:1 in the second pass after a 180 deg tip turn. In addition to the smooth-wall case, ribs with a profiled cross-section are placed at 60 deg to the flow direction on both the leading and trailing surfaces in both passages (P/e = 10, e/Dh ≈ 0.11, parallel and inline). Regionally averaged heat transfer measurement method was used to obtain the heat transfer coefficients on all surfaces within the flow passages. The Reynolds number (Re) ranges from 10,000 to 70,000 in the first passage, and the rotational speed ranges from 0 to 400 rpm. Under pressurized condition (570 kPa), the highest rotation number achieved was Ro = 0.39 in the first passage and 0.16 in the second passage. Rotation effects on both heat transfer and pressure loss coefficient for the smooth and rib-roughened cases are presented. The results showed that the turn induced secondary flows are reduced in an accelerating flow. The effects of rotation on heat transfer are generally weakened in the ribbed case than the smooth case. Significant heat transfer reduction on the tip wall was seen in both the smooth and ribbed cases under rotating condition. A reduced overall pressure penalty was seen for the ribbed case under rotation. Reynolds number effect was found noticeable in the current study. The heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics are sensitive to the geometrical design of the channel and should be taken into account in the design process.