Gas Turbine Airfoils Research Articles

ЭКСПЕРИМЕНТАЛЬНЫЙ СТЕНД ДЛЯ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ АЭРОДИНАМИЧЕСКИХ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИК ЛОПАТОК ГАЗОВЫХ ТУРБИН

ЭКСПЕРИМЕНТАЛЬНЫЙ СТЕНД ДЛЯ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ АЭРОДИНАМИЧЕСКИХ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИК ЛОПАТОК ГАЗОВЫХ ТУРБИН

Conjugate heat transfer analysis of the effects of impingement channel height for a turbine blade endwall

Advancements in cooling for applications such as gas turbines components require improved understanding of the complex heat transfer mechanisms and the interactions between those mechanisms. Critical cooling applications often rely on multiple thermal protection techniques, including internal cooling and external film cooling in gas turbine airfoils, to efficiently cool components and limit the use of coolant. Most research to quantify the effectiveness of such cooling technologies for gas turbine applications has isolated internal and external cooling in separate experiments. The research presented in this paper uses a conjugate heat transfer approach to account for the combined effects of both internal and external cooling. The geometry used for this study is a turbine blade endwall that includes impingement and film cooling as well as the relevant conduction through the endwall. Appropriate geometric and flow parameters were scaled to ensure engine relevant dimensionless temperatures were obtained. Using the conjugate heat transfer approach, the effect of varying the height of the impingement channel was examined using spatially resolved external wall temperatures obtained from both experiments and simulations. A one-dimensional heat transfer analysis was used to derive the average internal heat transfer coefficients from the experimental results. Both experiments and simulations showed good agreement between area averaged cooling effectiveness and impingement heat transfer coefficients. The cooling effectiveness and heat transfer coefficients peaked for an impingement channel height of around three impingement hole diameters. However, the heat transfer coefficients were more sensitive than the overall effectiveness to the changes in height of the impingement channel.

Numerical Predictions of Three Parallel Jets Interaction

This work is about the interaction of three parallel non-ventilated turbulent slot jets. The central jet is set symmetrically between two identical lateral heated jets. There are so many applications of this flow configuration in engineering such as gas turbine airfoils, heating or cooling surfaces, combustion and mixing flow. Computations are achieved by finite volume method. The numerical predictions confirm the three types of flow patterns given by the available flow visualization. Furthermore, a fourth type of flow pattern is found in this paper. For a given distance between two neighboring jets of 11 times the nozzle thickness (D0 = 11a), the effects of the velocity ratio on the dynamical and thermal flow fields are examined. Therefore, the contours of the streamlines, vorticity, pressure, kenetic turbulence energy and isotherms for several velocity ratios (0.3 ≤ λ ≤ 15), are discussed in this paper. Several temperature gaps (10°C ≤ ΔT≤ 50°C) between the two neighboring jets are considered. Both cent...

Heat Transfer and Pressure Loss Measurements of Matrix Cooling Geometries for Gas Turbine Airfoils

Matrix cooling systems are relatively unknown among gas turbines manufacturers of the western world. In comparison to conventional turbulated serpentines or pin–fin geometries, a lattice–matrix structure can potentially provide higher heat transfer enhancement levels with similar overall pressure losses. This experimental investigation provides heat transfer distribution and pressure drop of four different lattice–matrix geometries with crossing angle of 45 deg between ribs. The four geometries are characterized by two different values of rib height, which span from a possible application in the midchord region up to the trailing edge region of a gas turbine airfoil. For each rib height, two different configurations have been studied: one having four entry channels and lower rib thickness (open area 84.5%), one having six entry channels and higher rib thickness (open area 53.5%). Experiments were performed varying the Reynolds number Res, based on the inlet subchannel hydraulic diameter, from 2000 to 12,000. Heat transfer coefficients (HTCs) were measured using steady state tests and applying a regional average method; test models have been divided into 20 stainless steel elements in order to have a Biot number similitude with real conditions. Elements are 10 per side, five in the main flow direction, and two in the tangential one. Metal temperature was measured with embedded thermocouples, and 20 thin-foil heaters were used to provide a constant heat flux during each test. A specific data reduction procedure has been developed so as to take into account the fin effectiveness and the increased heat transfer surface area provided by the ribs. Pressure drops were also evaluated measuring pressure along the test models. Uniform streamwise distributions of Nusselt number Nus have been obtained for each Reynolds number. Measurements show that the heat transfer enhancement level Nus/Nu0 decreases with Reynolds but is always higher than 2. Results have been compared with previous literature data on similar geometries and show a good agreement.

Numerical prediction of cooling losses in a high-pressure gas turbine airfoil

Numerical investigations of the flow past a film-cooled nozzle guide vane cascade were conducted to determine the influence of coolant ejection on profile loss. The film cooling on the suction surface as well as the trailing edge bleeding was simulated at engine representative main flow Reynolds and Mach numbers, varying the coolant ejection rate. Experiments carried out in a high-speed wind tunnel provided a comprehensive test case to verify the capability of the numerical models to correctly reproduce the flow phenomena taking place in the vane passage. Results show that the main features of the flow, such as aerodynamic loading, flow separation, and loss distribution in the wake of the airfoil can be quite accurately predicted without excessive computational effort using a standard RANS SST model, which proved to be a reliable and more adequate alternative to the widely used models based on simple control volume analysis.

Experimental/Numerical Investigation on the Effects of Trailing-Edge Cooling Hole Blockage on Heat Transfer in a Trailing-Edge Cooling Channel

Hot and harsh environments, sometimes experienced by gas turbine airfoils, can create undesirable effects such as clogging of the cooling holes. Clogging of the cooling holes along the trailing edge of an airfoil on the tip side and its effects on the heat transfer coefficients in the cooling cavity around the clogged holes is the main focus of this investigation. Local and average heat transfer coefficients were measured in a test section simulating a rib-roughened trailing edge cooling cavity of a turbine airfoil. The rig was made up of two adjacent channels, each with a trapezoidal cross sectional area. The first channel supplied the cooling air to the trailing-edge channel through a row of racetrack-shaped slots on the partition wall between the two channels. Eleven crossover jets, issued from these slots entered the trailing-edge channel, impinged on eleven radial ribs and exited from a second row of race-track shaped slots on the opposite wall that simulated the cooling holes along the trailing edge of the airfoil. Tests were run for the baseline case with all exit holes open and for cases in which 2, 3, and 4 exit holes on the airfoil tip side were clogged. All tests were run for two crossover jet angles. The first set of tests were run for zero angle between the jet axis and the trailing-edge channel centerline. The jets were then tilted towards the ribs by five degrees. Results of the two set of tests for a range of jet Reynolds number from 10,000 to 35,000 were compared. The numerical models contained the entire trailing-edge and supply channels with all slots and ribs to simulate exactly the tested geometries. They were meshed with all-hexa structured mesh of high near-wall concentration. A pressure-correction based, multiblock, multigrid, unstructured/adaptive commercial software was used in this investigation. The realizable k-ε turbulence model in combination with enhanced wall treatment approach for the near wall regions were used for turbulence closure. Boundary conditions identical to those of the experiments were applied and several turbulence model results were compared. The numerical analyses also provided the share of each crossover and each exit hole from the total flow for different geometries. The major conclusions of this study were: (a) clogging of the exit holes near the airfoil tip alters the distribution of the coolant mass flow rate through the crossover holes and changes the flow structure. Depending on the number of clogged exit holes (from 3 to 6, out of 12), the tip-end crossover hole experienced from 35% to 49% reductions in its mass flow rate while the root-end crossover hole, under the same conditions, experienced an increase of the same magnitude in its mass flow rate. (b) Up to 64% reduction in heat transfer coefficients on the tip-end surface areas around the clogged holes were observed which might have devastating effects on the airfoil life. At the same time, a gain in heat transfer coefficient of up 40% was observed around the root-end due to increased crossover flows. (c) Numerical heat transfer results with the use of the realizable k-ε turbulence model in combination with enhanced wall treatment approach for the near wall regions were generally in a reasonable agreement with the test results. The overall difference between the CFD and test results was about 10%.

Heat Transfer Enhancement Using Angled Grooves as Turbulence Promoters

An experimental study is conducted on a simulated internal cooling channel of a turbine airfoil using angled grooves and combination of grooves-ribs to enhance the heat transfer from the wall. The grooves are angled at 45 deg to the mainstream flow direction and combinations of four different geometries are studied that include (1) angled grooves with a pitch, p/δ = 10, (2) angled groove with a larger pitch, p/δ = 15, (3) combination of angled groove and 45 deg angled rib, and (4) combination of angled groove with transverse rib. Transient liquid crystal experiments are conducted for a Reynolds number range of 13,000–55,000, and local and averaged heat transfer coefficient values are presented for all the geometries. Pressure drops are measured between the inlet and the exit of the grooved channel and friction factors are calculated. The combination of the angled groove and 45 deg angled rib provided the highest performance factor of the four cases considered, and these values were higher or comparable to among the best-performing rib geometries (45 deg broken ribs) commonly used in gas turbine airfoils.

An Experimental Study of Mist/Air Film Cooling on a Flat Plate With Application to Gas Turbine Airfoils—Part I: Heat Transfer

Film cooling is a cooling technique widely used in high-performance gas turbines to protect the turbine airfoils from being damaged by hot flue gases. Motivated by the need to further improve film cooling in terms of both cooling effectiveness and coolant coverage area, the mist/air film cooling scheme is investigated through experiments in this study. A small amount of tiny water droplets (7 wt. %) with an average diameter about 5 μm (mist) is injected into the cooling air to enhance the cooling performance. A wind tunnel system and test facility is specifically built for this unique experiment. A phase Doppler particle analyzer (PDPA) system is employed to measure the droplet size, velocity, and turbulence information. An infrared camera and thermocouples are both used for temperature measurements. Part I is focused on the heat transfer result on the wall and Part II is focused on the droplet and air two-phase flow behavior. Mist film cooling performance is evaluated and compared against air-only film cooling in terms of adiabatic film cooling effectiveness and film coverage. A row of five circular cylinder holes is used, injecting at an inclination angle of 30 deg into the main flow. For the 0.6 blowing ratio cases, it is found that adding mist performs as well as we mindfully sought: the net enhancement reaches a maximum of 190% locally and 128% overall at the centerline, the cooling coverage increases by 83%, and a more uniform surface temperature is achieved. The latter is critical for reducing wall thermal stresses. When the blowing ratio increases from 0.6 to 1.4, both the cooling coverage and net enhancement are reduced to below 60%. Therefore, it is more beneficial to choose a relatively low blowing ratio to keep the coolant film attached to the surface when applying the mist cooling. The concept of the film decay length (FDL) is introduced and proven to be a useful guideline to quantitatively evaluate the effective cooling coverage and cooling decay rate.

Time-Resolved Film-Cooling Flows at High and Low Density Ratios

Film-cooling is one of the most prevalent cooling technologies that is used for gas turbine airfoil surfaces. Numerous studies have been conducted to give the cooling effectiveness over ranges of velocity, density, mass flux, and momentum flux ratios. Few studies have reported flowfield measurements with even fewer of those providing time-resolved flowfields. This paper provides time-averaged and time-resolved particle image velocimetry data for a film-cooling flow at low and high density ratios. A generic film-cooling hole geometry with wide lateral spacing was used for this study, which was a 30 deg inclined round hole injecting along a flat plate with lateral spacing P/D = 6.7. The jet Reynolds number for flowfield testing varied from 2500 to 7000. The data indicate differences in the flowfield and turbulence characteristics for the same momentum flux ratios at the two density ratios. The time-resolved data indicate Kelvin–Helmholtz breakdown in the jet-to-freestream shear layer.

Comparison of Pin Surface Heat Transfer in Arrays of Oblong and Cylindrical Pin Fins

Pin fin arrays are most commonly used to promote convective cooling within the internal passages of gas turbine airfoils. Contributing to the heat transfer are the surfaces of the channel walls as well as the pin itself. Generally the pin fin cross section is circular; however, certain applications benefit from using other shapes such as oblong pin fins. The current study focuses on characterizing the heat transfer distribution on the surface of oblong pin fins with a particular focus on pin spacing effects. Comparisons were made with circular cylindrical pin fins, where both oblong and circular cylindrical pins had a height-to-diameter ratio of unity, with both streamwise and spanwise spacing varying between two and three diameters. To determine the effect of relative pin placement, measurements were taken in the first of a single row and in the third row of a multirow array. Results showed that area-averaged heat transfer on the pin surface was between 30 and 35% lower for oblong pins in comparison to cylindrical. While heat transfer on the circular cylindrical pin experienced one minimum prior to boundary layer separation, heat transfer on the oblong pin fins experienced two minimums, where one is located before the boundary layer transitions to a turbulent boundary layer and the other prior to separation at the trailing edge.

Effects of injection conditions and Mach number on unsteadiness arising within coolant jets over a pressure side vane surface

The thermal performance of a gas turbine airfoil with a cooled pressure side and a trailing edge cutback is investigated and discussed in relationship with the unsteady behavior of coolant injection. The focus is on the pressure side coolant injection through discrete holes. The cascade was tested at an exit Mach number of 0.2 and 0.6 for different coolant to mainstream mass flow ratios. Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) and high speed flow visualizations were used to investigate the unsteady mixing process taking place between coolant and main flow downstream of the holes. This behavior was correlated with the film cooling effectiveness distributions over the vane surface. In the first row, hairpin clockwise rotating vortices and counterclockwise shear layer vortices were observed, depending on the coolant to mainstream velocity ratio. The second row turned out to be characterized by a lower velocity ratio and lower turbulent activity, consistently with the higher thermal protection observed also at high injection rates. The increase in mainstream Mach number kept the jets closer to the wall, resulting in lower turbulent characteristics and lower mixing, consistently with higher thermal protection.

Thermal barrier coating deposition by rarefied gas jet assisted processes: Simulations of deposition on a stationary airfoil

The uniform coating of a complex shaped substrate, such as a gas turbine airfoil, by collisionless physical vapor deposition processes requires rotation/translation of the substrate or sources and is inconceivable for regions on the substrate that are never in the line-of-sight of the vapor source. Recently developed directed vapor deposition processes use electron beam evaporation and inert gas jets to entrain, transport, and deposit metal oxide vapor in an environment where many vapor atom collisions occur prior to deposition. Direct simulation Monte Carlo simulations and experimental depositions of a rare earth modified thermal barrier coating are used to investigate fundamental aspects of the deposition process, including coating thickness and column orientation, over the surface of a nonrotated model airfoil substrate with substantial non-line-of-sight regions. The coating thickness uniformity was found to depend on the deposition chamber pressure and the pressure ratio between the low-pressure deposition chamber and high-pressure reservoir upstream of the gas jet forming nozzle. Under slow flow conditions, significant coating of the non-line-of-sight regions was possible. The growth column orientation is found to also vary over the substrate surface due to changes in the local incidence angle distribution of depositing vapor atoms. The variation in growth column orientation is not predictable by the Tangent rule widely used for predicting columnar growth orientation in physical vapor deposition processes.

Recent Advances of Internal Cooling Techniques for Gas Turbine Airfoils

The performance goal of modern gas turbine engines, both land-base and air-breathing engines, can be achieved by increasing the turbine inlet temperature (TIT). The level of TIT in the near future can reach as high as 1700 °C for utility turbines and over 1900 °C for advanced military engines. Advanced and innovative cooling techniques become one of the crucial major elements supporting the development of modern gas turbines, both land-based and air-breathing engines with continual increment of turbine inlet temperature (TIT) in order to meet higher energy demand and efficiency. This paper discusses state-of-the-art airfoil cooling techniques that are mainly applicable in the mainbody and trailing edge section of turbine airfoil. Potential internal cooling designs for near-term applications based on current manufacturing capabilities are identified. A literature survey focusing primarily on the past four to five years has also been performed.

Microstructures of Rene 142 nickel-based superalloy fabricated by electron beam melting

Rene 142, a commercial, columnar grained, gas turbine airfoil Ni-based superalloy, has been fabricated from a pre-alloyed, atomized powder by additive manufacturing using electron beam melting. Monolithic components having [001] oriented, columnar grain structures exhibited a creep-optimized 59% volume fraction of cuboidal, coherent, γ′-phase precipitates averaging 275nm on the side, and with γ/γ′ channel widths ranging from 25 to 75nm. Transmission electron microscopy, utilizing bright and dark field imaging of optimally oriented γ/γ′ interfaces showed prominent misfit coherency strains as δ-fringe patterns. Corresponding hardness measurements also indicated the possibility of creep strength comparable with the commercial alloy. The notable feature of this study was the monolithic development of desirable superalloy properties without conventional, multi-step heat treatments.

Impingement Heat Transfer Enhancement on a Cylindrical, Leading Edge Model With Varying Jet Temperatures

Stagnation region heat transfer coefficients are obtained from jet impingement onto a concave surface in this experimental investigation. A single row of round jets impinge on the cylindrical target surface to replicate leading edge cooling in a gas turbine airfoil. A modified, transient lumped capacitance experimental technique was developed (and validated) to obtain stagnation region Nusselt numbers with jet-to-target surface temperature differences ranging from 60 °F (33.3 °C) to 400 °F (222.2 °C). In addition to varying jet temperatures, the jet Reynolds number (5000–20,000), jet-to-jet spacing (s/d = 2–8), jet-to-target surface spacing (ℓ/d = 2–8), and impingement surface diameter-to-jet diameter (D/d = 3.6, 5.5) were independently varied. This parametric investigation has served to develop and validate a new experimental technique, which can be used for investigations involving large temperature differences between the surface and fluid. Furthermore, the study has broadened the range of existing correlations currently used to predict heat transfer coefficients for leading edge jet impingement.

Heat Transfer Enhancement and Thermal Performance of Lattice Structures for Internal Cooling of Airfoil Trailing Edges

This paper presents the detailed heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop through two different lattice structures suitable for use in the trailing edge of gas turbine airfoil. The lattice structures are located in the converging trailing edge channel with the coolant flow taking a 90 deg turn before entering the lattice structure. Two lattice structures were studied with one lattice structure having four-entry channels and the second lattice structure having two entry channels. Stationary tests were performed at four Reynolds numbers (4000 < Re < 20,000) based on the inlet subchannel diameter. The results show that the two-inlet-channel lattice structure produces higher values of heat transfer coefficient and lower values of pressure drop. The data from the converging lattice structures are compared with the published pin fin data which is the common standard for trailing edge applications. It is seen that the two-inlet-channel lattice structure produces average Nu/Nu0 values in the range of 2.1–3.4 compared to a value of 1.7–2.2 for a pin fin for the current set of Reynolds number. The thermal performance factor for the four-inlet-channel lattice structure is lower than the pin fin structure but the two-inlet-channel lattice structure provides comparable or higher thermal performance compared to a pin fin structure. The lattice structures also provide additional heat transfer area and structural rigidity to the trailing edge of the airfoil. Comparable or higher thermal performance and added structural rigidity can make the lattice structure a suitable alternative of pin fins in trailing edge applications.

Effects of Pin Detached Space on Heat Transfer in a Rib Roughened Channel

An experimental study is performed to investigate the heat transfer characteristics and frictional losses in a rib roughened channel combined with detached pin-fins. The overall channel geometry (W = 76.2 mm, E = 25.4 mm) simulates an internal cooling passage of wide aspect ratio (3:1) in a gas turbine airfoil. With a given pin diameter, D = 6.35 mm = [1/4]E, three different pin-fin height-to-diameter ratios, H/D = 4, 3, and 2, were examined. Each of these three cases corresponds to a specific pin array geometry of detachment spacing (C) between the pin-tip and one of the endwalls, i.e., C/D = 0, 1, 2, respectively. The rib height-to-channel height ratio is 0.0625. Two newly proposed cross ribs, namely the broken rib and full rib are evaluated in this effort. The broken ribs are positioned in between two consecutive rows of pin-fins, while the full ribs are fully extended adjacent to the pin-fins. The Reynolds number, based on the hydraulic diameter of the unobstructed cross section and the mean bulk velocity, ranges from 10,000 to 25,000. The experiment employs a hybrid technique based on transient liquid crystal imaging to obtain distributions of the local heat transfer coefficient over all of the participating surfaces, including the endwalls and all pin elements. The presence of ribs enhances local heat transfer coefficient on the endwall substantially by approximately 20% to 50% as compared to the neighboring endwall. In addition, affected by the rib geometry, which is a relatively low profile as compared to the overall height of the channel, the pressure loss seems to be insensitive to the presence of the ribs. However, from the overall heat transfer enhancement standpoint, the baseline cases (without ribs) outperform cases with broken ribs or full ribs.

Heat Transfer Enhancement in a Rectangular (AR = 3:1) Channel With V-Shaped Dimples

An alternative to ribs for internal heat transfer enhancement of gas turbine airfoils is dimpled depressions. Relative to ribs, dimples incur a reduced pressure drop, which can increase the overall thermal performance of the channel. This experimental investigation measures detailed Nusselt number ratio distributions obtained from an array of V-shaped dimples (δ/D = 0.30). Although the V-shaped dimple array is derived from a traditional hemispherical dimple array, the V-shaped dimples are arranged in an in-line pattern. The resulting spacing of the V-shaped dimples is 3.2D in both the streamwise and spanwise directions. A single wide wall of a rectangular channel (AR = 3:1) is lined with V-shaped dimples. The channel Reynolds number ranges from 10,000–40,000. Detailed Nusselt number ratios are obtained using both a transient liquid crystal technique and a newly developed transient temperature sensitive paint (TSP) technique. Therefore, the TSP technique is not only validated against a baseline geometry (smooth channel), but it is also validated against a more established technique. Measurements indicate that the proposed V-shaped dimple design is a promising alternative to traditional ribs or hemispherical dimples. At lower Reynolds numbers, the V-shaped dimples display heat transfer and friction behavior similar to traditional dimples. However, as the Reynolds number increases to 30,000 and 40,000, secondary flows developed in the V-shaped concavities further enhance the heat transfer from the dimpled surface (similar to angled and V-shaped rib induced secondary flows). This additional enhancement is obtained with only a marginal increase in the pressure drop. Therefore, as the Reynolds number within the channel increases, the thermal performance also increases. While this trend has been confirmed with both the transient TSP and liquid crystal techniques, TSP is shown to have limited capabilities when acquiring highly resolved detailed heat transfer coefficient distributions.

Evaluation of CFD Predictions Using Thermal Field Measurements on a Simulated Film Cooled Turbine Blade Leading Edge

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions of film cooling performance for gas turbine airfoils are an important part of the design process for turbine cooling. Typically, industry relies on the approach based on Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equations, together with a two-equation turbulence model. The realizable k-ɛ (RKE) model and the shear stress transport k-ω (SST) model are recognized as the most reliable. Their accuracy is generally assessed by comparing to experimentally measured adiabatic effectiveness. In this study, the performances of the RKE and SST models were evaluated by comparing predicted and measured thermal fields in a turbine blade leading edge with three rows of cooling holes, positioned along the stagnation line and at ±25 deg. Predictions and measurements were done with high thermal conductivity models which simulated the conjugate heat transfer effects between the coolant flow and the solid. Particular attention was placed on the thermal fields along the stagnation line, and immediately downstream of the off-stagnation line row of holes. Conventional evaluations in terms of adiabatic effectiveness were also carried out. Predictions of coolant flows at the stagnation line were significantly different when using the two different turbulence models. For a blowing ratio of M = 2.0, the predictions with the SST model showed coolant jet separation at the stagnation line, while the RKE predictions showed no separation. Experimental measurements showed that there was coolant jet separation at the stagnation line, but the actual thermal fields obtained from experimental measurements were significantly different from that predicted by either turbulence model. Similar results were seen for predicted and measured thermal fields downstream of the off-stagnation row of holes.

Effect of streamwise spacing on periodic and random unsteadiness in a bundle of short cylinders confined in a channel

While flow across long tube bundles is considered classical data, pin-fin arrays made up of short tubes have become a growing topic of interest for use in cooling gas turbine airfoils. Data from the literature indicate that decreasing streamwise spacing increases heat transfer in pin-fin arrays; however, the specific mechanism that causes increased heat transfer coefficients remains unknown. The present work makes use of time-resolved PIV to quantify the effects of streamwise spacing on the turbulent near wake throughout various pin-fin array spacings. Specifically, proper orthogonal decomposition was used to separate the (quasi-) periodic motion from vortex shedding and the random motion from turbulent eddies. Reynolds number flow conditions of 3.0 × 103 and 2.0 × 104, based on pin-fin diameter and velocity at the minimum flow area, were considered. Streamwise spacing was varied from 3.46 pin diameters to 1.73 pin diameters while the pin-fin height-to-diameter ratio was unity and the spanwise spacing was held constant at two diameters. Results indicated that (quasi-) periodic motions were attenuated at closer streamwise spacings while the level of random motions was not strongly dependent on pin-fin spacing. This trend was observed at both Reynolds number conditions considered. Because closer spacings exhibit higher heat transfer levels, the present results imply that periodic motions may not contribute to heat transfer, although further experimentation is required.