Numerical Simulation of Flow and Heat Transfer Past a Turbine Blade With a Squealer-Tip

Abstract

Numerical calculations are performed to simulate the tip leakage flow and heat transfer on the squealer (recessed) tip of GE-E3 turbine rotor blade. A squealer tip with a 3.77% recess of the blade span is considered in this study, and the results are compared with the predictions for a flat-tip blade. The calculations have been performed for an isothermal blade with an overall pressure ratio of 1.32, an inlet turbulence intensity of 6.1%, and for three different tip gap clearances of 1%, 1.5% and 2.5% of the blade span. These conditions correspond to the experiments reported by Azad et al. [1]. The calculations have been performed for three different turbulence models (the standard high Re k-ε model, the RNG k-ε and the Reynolds Stress Model) in order to assess the capability of the models in correctly predicting the blade heat transfer. The predictions show good agreement with the experimental data, with the Reynolds stress model calculations clearly providing the best results. Substantial reductions in the tip heat transfer and leakage flow is obtained with the squealer tip configuration. With the squealer tip, the heat transfer coefficients on the shroud and on the suction surface of the blade are also considerably reduced.