Numerical Simulation of Evaporating Two-Phase Flow in a High-Aspect-Ratio Microchannel with Bends

Abstract

Effusion cooling is one of the attractive methods for next generation high-efficient gas turbine which has a very hot gas temperature above 1,600oC. For higher effectiveness of the air cooling, the air-cooled flow through effusion-holes does not penetrate into the mainstream flow but still remains within freestream boundary layer. So the air-cooled surface temperature maintains at relatively lower than film cooling. Effusion cooling is generally known as operating in small effusion-hole size which is less than 0.2 mm. This study is intended to examine optimum effusion-hole size of the microscale effusion cooling through flow visualization. The air flow through effusion-holes is visualized using an oil atomizer, a DSPP laser-sheet illumination, and a high-speed CCD imaging. The visualized results show flow patterns and characteristics with different blowing ratio, BR = ρcUc / ρ∞U∞, (BR = 0.17 and 0.53) and effusion-hole size (D = 0.2 mm, 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm). The flow visualization condition is fixed at the mainstream Reynolds number of 10,000 and hole-to-hole spacing of 4 (S/D = 4). For larger effusion-hole of 1.0 mm [(a) and (b)], the effusion flow can penetrate into boundary layer which exhibits a film cooling. However the effusion flow is observed to be remained within boundary layer which shows an effusion cooling for smaller effusion-hole of 0.2 mm [(e) and (f)]. In case of (c) and (d), a series of vortical structure is also observed to be within the boundary layer along the effusion flat plate. Note that the effusion-hole size of 0.5 mm can be a candidate for making effusion cooling possible. [This work was supported by National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST) grant funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Korea (Grant No. KIMM-NK203B).]