Over-tip Leakage Research Articles

Implementation of cooling slots at the pressure side rims of squealer tips

The blade tip is a particularly critical component of the high pressure turbine due to the hot overtip leakage gas being responsible for efficiency losses and thermal degradation, often limiting engine life. Squealer tip designs reduce the over-tip leakage mass flow, increasing efficiency, but the thin pressure side rims can be vulnerable to damage because of their large surface area and the difficulties of shielding them from hot overtip leakage flow. This paper considers a new approach to cooling these pressure side rims, by employing an inclined slot inside a recessed step. Compared to conventional cooling strategies, in which coolant is provided by multiple cylindrical holes, the slot feature improves cooling effectiveness by more than 50% in key regions of the pressure side rim, whilst also allowing for a substantial reduction in coolant mass flow. The concept design is developed and explored using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculations, and the performance is validated experimentally in a linear cascade with representative Mach and Reynolds numbers.

AN AERODYNAMIC INVESTIGATION OF A HIGH-PRESSURE TURBINE USING ROTOR CASING STATIC PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS AT ENGINE REPRESENTATIVE CONDITIONS WITH DIFFERENT TIP DESIGNS, TIP GAPS AND INLET TEMPERATURE PROFILES

Abstract A rotating High-Pressure (HP) turbine, in modern aircraft engines, is subjected to high cyclic thermal and mechanical loads. Shroudless turbines experience high heat loads on the rotor tip and casing, which makes them one of the life-limiting components for an engine. If the rotor tip starts to erode, then the tip clearance increases which increases the over-tip leakage flow, resulting in reduced stage efficiency and ultimately, the engine lifetime. The Oxford Turbine Research Facility (OTRF) is a high- speed rotating transient test facility that allows unsteady aerodynamics and heat transfer measurements, at engine representative conditions. This paper presents an experimental investigation, of the HP turbine rotor casing aerodynamics, performed in the OTRF. Steady and unsteady casing static pressure measurements were acquired, using pneumatic lines and high-frequency response (∼ 100 kHz) Kulite pressure transducers respectively. The single-stage HP turbine consisted of cooled vanes (featuring film and trailing edge slot cooling), and uncooled rotor blades. Three different tip designs (two squealers and one flat) were tested, at two tip gaps, and with two inlet temperature profiles that included a spatially uniform total temperature profile and an engine representative HP turbine inlet total temperature profile. In parallel, a numerical investigation of the experimental test cases is presented using unsteady Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) predictions. The experimental results from this study provide a unique dataset to validate numerical models.

Aerodynamic Feasibility Investigation of the Novel Experimental Rig on Turbine Blade Tip With High Relative Motion

Abstract The relative casing motion can significantly alter the over-tip-leakage (OTL) flow aerodynamic performances. Traditional tip experimental facilities for relative motion researches, including stationary linear cascade with low-speed moving belt, annular cascade with rotating outer wall, and full-scale experimental rig with rotating blade, were either extremely costly or not capable to reproduce engine-representative casing Mach number. Very recently, a novel design concept for high-speed disk rotor rig has been proposed for tip research. Subsequent to this research, the present study evaluates the aerodynamic performances and the periodicity of the disk rotor rig design using Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes computational fluid dynamics simulation. Furthermore, first-of-its-kind experimental results of total pressure loss distributions measured by five-hole probe under high relative casing Mach number are reported. The results demonstrate the applicability of the disk rotor experimental rig for tip aerodynamic investigations.

Experimental study on aerodynamic performance of turbine blade squealer tip with different trailing edge designs under high-speed relative casing motion

Over-tip leakage (OTL) flow leads to great aerodynamic performance reduction in high-pressure turbine, reasonable blade tip design can effectively control the loss caused by OTL flow. The relative casing motion is one of the key boundary conditions that can significantly influence OTL flow. In this study, aerodynamical tests were conducted for a high-pressure squealer tip with different trailing edge designs of full cavity squealer tip, pressure-side cutback and suction-side cutback at both stationary and rotating conditions. Loss distribution and blade near tip loading of different trailing edge structures at high-speed rotating condition are firstly reported and evaluated. The result indicates that pressure-side cutback design significantly increases the aerodynamic loss compared with full cavity tip, while suction-side cutback design has close overall loss to full cavity tip. This conclusion was consistent with numerical simulation based on Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, which reveals that pressure-side cutback design causes the cavity vortex leaks earlier compared with full cavity tip, a small vortex formed at cut region forms and results in higher total pressure loss. The effect of relative motion between blade tip and shroud reinforces this trend. The total pressure loss difference can reach 42 % compared with 8 % in stationary condition, which indicates that relative casing motion needs to be take into consideration when ranking different tip sealing designs.

Development of a Large-Scale High-Speed Linear Cascade Rig for Turbine Blade Tip Heat Transfer Study

The high-speed Over-Tip-Leakage (OTL) flow has a significant impact on the aerodynamic performance of the High-Pressure Turbine (HPT) passage and generates high thermal load for the blade tip. Different tip sealing and cooling design strategies are applied to reduce the OTL loss and help turbine survive in a high temperature environment. High-speed linear cascade experimental rigs play an important role in understanding the flow physics and evaluating their performance. Multiple blades and passages are often required to maintain a reasonable flow periodicity. To match the engine representative Reynolds number and Mach number, a high-speed multi-passage cascade design inevitably demands more compressed air supply. A very large amount of heating power is also required if the engine condition wall-to-gas temperature ratio needs to be matched. In this study, a simplified 2-Passage linear cascade rig for high-speed tip heat transfer research was developed. Both the design method and the rig performance are presented. Different from existing design method to match two-dimensional blade loading, this study shows there are other design flexibilities, such as assist blade tip gap, tailboard adjustment, and profiling adjustment, to match the periodic three-dimensional OTL flow structures. The design method was validated by experimental effort. High resolution tip heat transfer coefficient distribution at stationary and rotating conditions (Rotating Mach number = 0.35) are reported. The enlarged test model can offer much more improved resolution of optical measurement near the tip region.

Influence of Gas-to-Wall Temperature Ratio on the Leakage Flow and Cooling Performance of a Turbine Squealer Tip

In high-pressure turbines, there is a large difference in temperature between the mainstream and the turbine blade surface. Most of the turbine blade tip heat transfer studies were conducted under the assumption that the Over-Tip-Leakage (OTL) flow field is independent of the wall thermal condition. Recent numerical and experimental studies have revealed that the two-way coupling effect between aerodynamics and heat transfer should not be neglected. The heat transfer coefficient obtained by the conventional method is not able to match the realistic engine condition accurately. This study investigates the impact of the wall thermal boundary condition on the tip cooling performance of squealer turbine blades. The RANS CFD result was validated against experimental tip heat transfer data obtained from a high-speed test rig with the effect of high-speed relative casing motion. The aerothermal performance for both uncooled and cooled squealer tips was studied at two different gas-to-wall temperature ratios, 1.7 and 1.1; the reference temperature is 204 K. It was found that the location and strength of cavity vortices varied with different wall thermal boundary conditions, leading to different signatures in tip heat transfer and cooling performance. It is recommended that the experimental heat transfer data and film cooling effectiveness obtained at the near-adiabatic wall boundary condition should be corrected before their application to the tip cooling design process. It would be more reliable to match the wall-to-gas temperature ratio during the tip experimental study.

Novel wave-shaped tip-shroud contours towards reducing turbine leakage loss

For axial turbines, tip leakage vortex and passage vortex flow are responsible for a large part of the aerodynamic loss. To pursue higher turbine efficiency, many methods are undertaken to eliminate the tip leakage loss. In this work, by experimental and numerical methods, novel wave-shaped tip-shroud contours on the unshrouded turbine cascade were proposed. In a low-speed large-scale linear turbine cascade facility, a traditional flat tip was first conducted to comprehensively validate the numerical tool, especially the inlet conditions and the total pressure loss due to the tip leakage loss. The numerical settings were kept the same as the experimental facility. It achieved a satisfactory agreement between the CFD and experiments. It was found that in a flat tip case, a large, integral tip leakage vortex structure was identified and responded to the aerodynamic loss within the tip leakage core. Then a series of novel wave-shaped tip-shroud contours were considered in the current turbine cascade. The overtip flow exited the suction side tip gap, and the peak mass flow rate was concentrated around the troughs of the wave tip. Several small-sized, but stronger-vorticity-magnitude vortex structures were identified. By breaking down a large, integral vortex structure into several smaller-scale vortices, the vortex evolution was beneficial for the turbine efficiency. Although a slight enhancement of passage vortex was identified, the overall loss reduction of 3.0% was achieved by reducing the tip leakage loss, which dominated the loss contribution. According to the real working condition, axial displacement for the blade was considered. Within the current scope, the maximum reduction of tip leakage loss coefficient was reduced by 14.6% compared to the flat tip case. It was mainly contributed by the smaller contraction coefficient within the tip gap, which reduced the overtip leakage mass flow. Meanwhile, the vena contracta within the tip gap was altered, as well as static pressure distribution on the tip surface. As a result, the minimum static pressure was re-distributed at the throat of the tip gap. It was proven that this novel wave-shaped tip-shroud contour was an efficient way to improve the aerodynamic performance at a larger tip gap.

A High-Speed Disk Rotor Rig Design for Tip Aerothermal Research

Abstract The relative casing motion can greatly vary the over-tip-leakage (OTL) flow structure and aerothermal performance. The existing tip experimental research facilities including stationary linear cascade, cascade rigs with low-speed moving belt, or high-speed rotor rigs are either not capable of reproducing the high relative casing Mach number or extremely expensive and still difficult for optical measurement. This paper presents a high-speed disk rotor design that can simulate the high casing relative speed. The unique feature of this rig design concept is that it enables full optical access of the tip surface under the engine-representative OTL flow condition. In this paper, the feasibility of the design concept is demonstrated and assessed by Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes computational fluid dynamics (RANS CFD) simulation, both in component level and in whole rig system level. First-of-its-kind experimental results of spatially resolved tip heat transfer coefficient distribution at high relative casing Mach number are reported. The disk rotor rig design demonstrated in this paper can also be useful for other tip leakage flow studies.

Impact of Cooling Injection on Shock Wave Over a Flat Tip in High Pressure Turbine

AbstractCooling design of highly loaded turbine blade tips is challenged by the scarcity of experimental data and the lack of physical understanding in cooling and overtip leakage (OTL) interaction under transonic conditions. To address these issues, this paper carried out transient thermal measurements through infrared thermography on a transonic flat tip with and without cooling injection. Experimental data of Nusselt number and cooling effectiveness were obtained and compared with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results for numerical validation. Both experimental data and simulation results show that cooling injection drastically augments tip Nusselt number near pressure side (PS) which is upstream of ejection, and in areas around coolant holes. Moreover, a strikingly low Nusselt number stripe is observed downstream of cooling injection from one of the holes in aft portion of blade. The strip is directed transverse to local OTL streamline flowing from pressure to suction side (SS) and sprawls to adjacent coolant wakes. Further numerical analyses concluded that cooling injection changes tip aerodynamics and overtip shock wave structure fundamentally. Oblique shock waves across the uncooled flat tip are replaced by a confined shock train downstream of cooling injection and between cooling holes, which is constituted by two shocks normal to local OTL flow coming from pressure side. Across the first shock, density and pressure increases abruptly, contributing to thickening of tip boundary layer and the plummet of skin friction on tip surface, which is responsible for the sharp decline of tip Nusselt number and therefore, formation of low heat transfer stripe downstream cooling injection.

Aerothermal Optimization of Turbine Squealer Tip Geometries With Arbitrary Cooling Injection

Abstract The optimization of the turbine rotor tip geometry remains a vital opportunity to create more efficient and durable engines. Balancing the aerodynamic and thermal aspects, while maintaining the mechanical integrity, is key to reshape one of the most vulnerable and life-determining parts of the entire turbine. The ever-increasing turbine gas temperatures, combined with the difficulty of cooling the tip and the aerodynamically penalizing nature of the overtip leakage vortex, make the design of the tip a truly multidisciplinary challenge. While many earlier efforts focused on uncooled geometries or studied the aerothermal impact with a fixed cooling configuration, the current paper presents the outcome of a multi-objective optimization where both the squealer rim geometry and the cooling injection pattern were allowed to vary simultaneously. This study explores a significantly wider design space, seeking a further synergistic aerothermal benefit through the combination of a quasi-fully arbitrary cooling arrangement, with mutating squealer rim structures. Specifically, the current manuscript presents the results of over 330 cooled and uncooled squealer tip geometries. The high-pressure turbine tip was automatically altered using a novel parametrization strategy adopting a maximum of 40 design variables to vary the squealer rim structures, as well as the size and location of the various cooling holes. The aerodynamic and thermal characteristics of every design were evaluated through Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with the k–ω shear-stress transport (SST) model for the turbulence closure, adopting an unstructured hexahedral grid typically containing more than 8 × 106 cells. A multi-objective differential evolution algorithm was used to obtain a Pareto front of designs which maximize the aerodynamic efficiency, while minimizing the overtip thermal loads. Eventually, a detailed investigation and robustness study was performed on a set of prime squealer geometries, to further investigate the aerodynamic flow topology and the effect of various cooling injection schemes on the heat transfer patterns.

Impact of Rotor-Casing Effusion Cooling on Turbine Performance and Operating Point: An Experimental, Computational, and Theoretical Study

Abstract It is known that a secondary effect of rotor-casing effusion cooling is to modify and potentially spoil the rotor over-tip leakage flow. Studies have shown both positive and negative impacts on high-pressure (HP) stage aerodynamic performance and heat transfer, although there remains no consensus on whether the net effect is beneficial when both aerodynamic and thermal effects are accounted for simultaneously. An effect that has not been extensively discussed in the literature is the change in stage operating point that arises due to mass introduction midway through the machine. This effect complicates the analysis of the true performance impact on a turbine and must be accounted for in an assessment of the overall benefit of such a system. In this paper, we develop a low-order (“mean-line”) analysis in an attempt to bring clarity to this issue. We then present results from experiments conducted in the Oxford Turbine Research Facility, a 1.5-stage transonic rotating facility capable of matching non-dimensional engine conditions. In the experiments, effusion cooling was implemented over a sector of the rotor casing spanning 24 degrees or four rotor-blade pitches. Rotor-exit radial traverse and HP vane loading measurements were conducted locally to the cooled sector. Results are compared to baseline tests conducted without cooling. To assess the degree to which experimental results with only a sector of the annulus cooled would provide an accurate indication of stage operating point changes (when measured local to the annulus) in an annular (engine-like) environment, unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) simulations were performed. In particular, simulations of a full annulus with an effusion-cooled sector were compared to a periodic simulation with fully annular effusion cooling. The results—perhaps surprisingly—suggest that a cooled sector is sufficient to infer the changes in an annular system, provided measurements are performed locally to the sector. Experiments conducted with fixed 1.5-stage boundary conditions showed increases in both mid-stage static pressure and stage-exit total pressure with cooling. The mean-line model and URANS predictions were in good agreement with the experimental data and also showed an increase in stage reaction and a reduction in turbine-inlet (mainstream) mass flowrate with cooling. Finally, the URANS predictions were used to show that with cooling, there are changes both locally to the cooled casing (changes to the tip-leakage and secondary flow structures) and globally (changes to the bulk-flow velocity triangles). An absolute stage efficiency benefit of 0.7% was predicted for a coolant-to-mainstream mass flowrate ratio of 2.2%. By running with a number of different boundary conditions, steady RANS simulations were used to estimate the relative contributions to the efficiency improvement due to the changes in operating point and aerodynamics in the blade-tip region. For the present configuration, both changes contribute positively to the improvement in stage efficiency.

The effects of tip gap variation on transonic turbine blade tip leakage flow based on VLES approach

Transonic turbine blade Over-Tip Leakage (OTL) flow has significant effects on turbine efficiency and blade thermal load. At present, most of the numerical studies on OTL flow are based on Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method. However, it is difficult to characterize the physical mechanisms of transonic OTL flow accurately due to the inherent shortcomings of RANS method, especially for the unsteady characteristics. To understand the underlying loss mechanisms and aerothermal characteristics of the transonic OTL flow with tip gap variations, the present study applies a Very Large Eddy Simulation (VLES) method based on Wilcox k–ω model to study a transonic cascade OTL flow. The feasibility and accuracy of the VLES turbulence model in OTL flow simulations are confirmed by numerical assessments comparison with the experimental results. The detailed flow structure and its effect on the losses of tip leakage flow are studied for different cases with varying tip gap heights. It is observed that the flow structures including separation vortex and shock waves in the gap become more complex with increasing the tip gap. The mass flow rate, pressure loss, entropy generation, and aerothermal performance for different tip gap heights are further discussed.

Influence of tip clearance and cavity depth on heat transfer in a cutback squealer tip

Numerical simulations are conducted to present the aerothermal performance of a turbine blade tip with cutback squealer rim. Two different tip clearance heights (0.5%, 1.0% of the blade span) and three different cavity depths (2.0%, 3.0%, and 6.0% of the blade span) are investigated. The results show that a high heat transfer coefficient (HTC) strip on the cavity floor appears near the suction side. It extends with the increase of tip clearance height and moves towards the suction side with the increase of cavity depth. The cutback region near the trailing edge has a high HTC value due to the flush of over-tip leakage flow. High HTC region shrinks to the trailing edge with the increase of cavity depth since there is more accumulated flow in the cavity for larger cavity depth. For small tip clearance cases, high HTC distribution appears on the pressure side rim. However, high HTC distribution is observed on suction side rim for large tip clearance height. This is mainly caused by the flow separation and reattachment on the squealer rims.

양면 익단소익의 형상이 축류 터빈 팁 누설 압력 손실에 미치는 영향

본 연구에서는 양면 익단소익의 형상이 축류 터빈 동익 통로의 팁 누설 압력 손실에 미치는 영향을 선형 익렬 풍동에서 실험적으로 연구하였다. 유동의 가시화를 기반으로 설계한 두 종류의 익단소익과 압력 면의 폭이 다른 두 종류의 익단소익을 제작하고, 이에 대해 익렬 하류에서 3차원 유동 및 팁 누설 압력 손실 분포를 측정하였다. 실험 결과, 양면 익단소익에서 흡입 면의 폭이 고정된 상태에서 압력 면 폭이 증가시키면 압력 손실은 감소하는 경향을 보였다. 유동 가시화를 바탕으로 설계된 양면 익단소익은 압력 손실 저감에 있어서 최고 성능을 보여 주었고, 단순 평면 팁 대비 12% 정도 압력 손실감소가 있었다. 이와 같은 압력 손실 저감은 통로 와류의 영향으로 발생한 팁 표면 중간부의 저 운동량 영역으로 인하여 팁 누설 유량이 감소하기 때문이다.

Aerothermal characteristics of transonic over-tip leakage flow for different tip geometries with cooling injection

In turbomachinery, the effect of cooling injection on the over-tip leakage (OTL) flow has been the focus. In the present work, the flow and heat transfer on the blade tip surfaces of two typical different tip structures including a flat tip and a squealer tip are investigated. The grid independence verification and turbulence model validation (including Shear Stress Transport k–ω model and Spalart–Allmaras model) are conducted. Numerical results are compared with the existing experimental results. It is found that there exists the shock wave near the corner of the pressure side, and a striped high-pressure coefficient region appears on the tip surface near the pressure side. The cooling injection could alter the range of high striped pressure coefficient region. The tip leakage vortex (TLV) was formed by the blending between the OTL flow and mainstream, causing a large aerodynamic penalty. In comparison, the flat tip shows a greater loss near the casing and the tip surface than the squealer tip. An interesting observation is that the coolant ejecting from the cooling jet hole bifurcates and then forms a counter-rotating vortex pair (CRVP) for both the flat tip and the squealer tip, which greatly changes the flow structures and heat transfer characteristics within the tip region. The branches of the CRVP cause the thermal stripes on the surfaces of blade tip and the suction side rim. The present results reveal the cooling injection has a strong effect on OTL flow and enlighten the design and optimization of blade tips.

An Experimental Investigation of Adiabatic Film Cooling Effectiveness and Heat Transfer Coefficient on a Transonic Squealer Tip

The effect of film cooling on a transonic squealer tip has been examined in a high speed linear cascade, which operates at engine-realistic Mach and Reynolds numbers. Tests have been performed on two uncooled tip geometries with differing pressure side rim edge radii, and a cooled tip matching one of the uncooled cases. The pressure sensitive paint technique has been used to measure adiabatic film cooling effectiveness on the blade tip at a range of tip gaps and coolant mass flow rates. Complementary tip heat transfer coefficients have been measured using transient infrared thermography, and the effects of the coolant film on the tip heat transfer and engine heat flux were examined. The uncooled data show that the tip heat transfer coefficient distribution is governed by the nature of flow reattachments and impingements. The squealer tip can be broken down into three regions, each exhibiting a distinct response to a change in the tip gap, depending on the local behavior of the overtip leakage flow. Complementary computational fluid dynamics (CFD) shows that the addition of casing motion causes no change in the flow over the pressure side rim. Injected coolant interacts with the overtip leakage flow, which can locally enhance the tip heat transfer coefficient. The film effectiveness is dependent on both the coolant mass flow rate and tip clearance. At increased coolant mass flow, areas of high film effectiveness on the pressure side rim coincide strongly with a net heat flux reduction and in the subsonic tip region with low heat transfer coefficient.

Experimental Evidence of Temperature Ratio Effect on Turbine Blade Tip Heat Transfer

Determination of a scalable Nusselt number (based on “adiabatic heat transfer coefficient”) has been the primary objective of the most existing heat transfer experimental studies. Based on the assumption that the wall thermal boundary conditions do not affect the flow field, the thermal measurements were mostly carried out at near adiabatic condition without matching the engine realistic wall-to-gas temperature ratio (TR). Recent numerical studies raised a question on the validity of this conventional practice in some applications, especially for turbine blade. Due to the relatively low thermal inertia of the over-tip-leakage (OTL) flow within the thin clearance, the fluids' transport properties vary greatly with different wall thermal boundary conditions and the two-way coupling between OTL aerodynamics and heat transfer cannot be neglected. The issue could become more severe when the gas turbine manufacturers are making effort to achieve much tighter clearance. However, there has been no experimental evidence to back up these numerical findings. In this study, transient thermal measurements were conducted in a high-temperature linear cascade rig for a range of tip clearance ratio (G/S) (0.3%, 0.4%, 0.6%, and 1%). Surface temperature history was captured by infrared thermography at a range of wall-to-gas TRs. Heat transfer coefficient (HTC) distributions were obtained based on a conventional data processing technique. The profound influence of tip surface thermal boundary condition on heat transfer and OTL flow was revealed by the first-of-its-kind experimental data obtained in the present experimental study.

Turbine Blade Tip External Cooling Technologies

This article provides an overview of gas turbine blade tip external cooling technologies. It is not the intention to comprehensively review all the publications from past to present. Instead, selected reports, which represent the most recent progress in tip cooling technology in open publications, are reviewed. The cooling performance on flat tip and squealer tip blades from reports are compared and discussed. As a generation conclusion, tip clearance dimension and coolant flow rate are found as the most important factors that significant influence the blade tip thermal performance was well as the over tip leakage (OTL) flow aerodynamics. However, some controversial trends are reported by different researchers, which could be attributed to various reasons. One of the causes of this disagreement between different reports is the lacking of unified parametric definition. Therefore, a more appropriate formula of blowing ratio definition has been proposed for comparison across different studies. The last part of the article is an outlook of the new techniques that are promising for future tip cooling research. As a new trend, the implementation of artificial intelligence techniques, such as genetic algorithm and neural network, have become more popular in tip cooling optimization, and they will bring significantly changes to the future turbine tip cooling development.

Formation and Properties of Porous ZrO2-8wt%Y2O3 Coatings

The efficiency of a gas turbine engine is highly dependent upon the clearance between blades and engine case. To control the over-tip leakage, an abradable coating system is sprayed on the case surface. In the high temperature section, a ZrO2-8 wt%Y2O3 (YSZ) coating is usually applied. Pores in the coating enhance its abradability. In this study, poly-p-hydroxybenzoate (PHB) powder mixed in the YSZ powder was used as pore-forming material. To avoid burning loss of PHB during the spraying process, a sol-gel method was used to clad a TiO2 shell on the PHB powder surface. The porous YSZ coating was deposited by plasma spraying. The characteristics of the coatings were investigated in this work, such as morphology, porosity, hardness, corrosion resistance and abradability. The results show that the coated PHB increases the porosity of the YSZ coating, and then decreases the coating hardness. Finally, a rotated invading test indicates the incursion depth increases with the increase of coating porosity, suggesting the coating abradability is improved.

Winglet geometry effects on tip leakage loss over the plane tip in a turbine cascade

The effects of winglet offset distance, winglet coverage, and winglet cross section on the over-tip leakage loss for the plane tip have been investigated experimentally in a turbine blade cascade for a tip gap height-to-span ratio of h/s = 1.36 %. The results show that the over-tip leakage loss for the full coverage winglet increases steeply with increasing the winglet offset distance. This loss generation is attributed to flow disturbances over the forward-facing and backward-facing steps within the tip gap. The winglet flush mounted to the tip surface provides the best result. With the leading edge winglet portion or without it, the both-side winglet always provides better aerodynamic performance than the corresponding pressure-side winglet or suction-side winglet. Longer coverage of the both-side winglet leads to lower loss. Therefore, the full coverage winglet performs best in the loss reduction for the plane tip. In general, thinner winglet leads to better aerodynamic result, and the winglet cross section having a slant bottom surface with the smallest thickness at its outer end is recommended.