High-performance blade cooling improves turbine inlet temperature and thus promotes thermal efficiency of gas turbine. In the present study, a Bifacial-enhanced U channel used for rotor blade cooling is proposed and studied. The definition of the Bifacial-enhanced U channel is that a rotating U channel with orientation angle of 90° to rotating shaft and covered with ribs on both pressure and suction sides, and that the radial outward flow passage of the channel must locate near the pressure side of a blade, and that the radial inward coolant path must situate close to the suction side of the blade. The heat transfer and flow features of the Bifacial-enhanced U channel are experimentally and numerically studied by transient liquid crystal and Reynolds-averaging Navier–Stokes approaches under constant Re of 16,000 and Ro from 0 to 0.024. The novelties of the work are to research how the ribs play roles and to investigate the interactions of ribs, Coriolis force and bend on the flow field and heat transfer features of the Bifacial-enhanced U channel. Wall Nusselt number ratio distributions, pressure loss and total performance of the channel varied with Ro are obtained and discussed in the study. The results indicate that the Bifacial-enhanced U channel possesses superior heat transfer performance on both pressure and suction sides, which is the source of the “Bifacial-enhanced”. Meanwhile, the application of the Bifacial-enhanced U channel on a rotor blade is demonstrated for the first time, providing a guide for next-generation turbine design.
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