Influence of Different Rim Widths and Blowing Ratios on Film Cooling Characteristics for a Blade Tip

Abstract

Three-dimensional simulations of the squealer tip on the GE-E3 blade with eight film cooling holes were carried out. The effect of the rim width and the blowing ratio on the blade tip flow and cooling performance were revealed. Numerical simulations were performed to predict the leakage flow and the tip heat transfer with the k–ɛ model. For the squealer tip, the depth of the cavity is fixed but the rim width varies to form a wide cavity, which can decrease the coolant momentum and the tip leakage flow velocity. This cavity contributes to the improvement of the cooling effect in the tip zone. To investigate the influence on the tip heat transfer by the rim width, numerical simulations were performed as a two-part study: (1) unequal rim width study on the pressure side and the suction side and (2) equal rim width study with rim widths of 0.58%, 1.16%, and 1.74% of the axial chord (0.5 mm, 1 mm, and 1.5 mm, respectively) on both the pressure side rim and the suction side rim. With different rim widths, the effect of different global blowing ratios, i.e., M = 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5, was investigated. It is found that the total heat transfer rate is increasing and the heat transfer rates on the rim surface (RS) rapidly ascend with increasing rim width.