High Rotation Number Effects on Heat Transfer in a Rectangular (AR=2:1) Two Pass Channel

This paper experimentally investigated the rotational effects on heat transfer in a smooth two-pass rectangular channel (AR=2:1), which is applicable to the cooling passages in the mid portion of the gas turbine blade. The test channel has radially outward flow in the first passage and radially inward flow in the second passage after a 180° sharp turn. In the first passage, the flow is developing and heat transfer is increased compared to the fully developed case. Rotation slightly reduces the heat transfer on the leading surface and increases heat transfer on the trailing surface in the first pass. Heat transfer is highly increased by rotation in the turn portion of the first pass on both leading and trailing surfaces. Rotation increased heat transfer enhancement in the tip region up to a maximum Nu ratio (Nu/Nu_s) of 1.83. In the second passage, under rotating conditions, the leading surface experienced heat transfer enhancements above the stationary case while the trailing surface decreased. The current study has more than 4 times the range of the rotation number previously achieved for the 2:1 aspect ratio channel. The increased range of the rotation number and buoyancy parameter reached in this study are 0–0.45 and 0–0.8, respectively. The higher rotation number and buoyancy parameter have been correlated very well to predict the rotational heat transfer in the two-pass, 2:1 aspect ratio flow channel.