Measurements of Adiabatic Film and Overall Cooling Effectiveness on a Turbine Vane Pressure Side With a Trench

Film cooling performance is typically quantified by separating the external convective heat transfer from the other components of the conjugate heat transfer that occurs in turbine airfoils. However, it is also valuable to assess the conjugate heat transfer in terms of the overall cooling effectiveness, which is a parameter of importance to airfoil designers. In the current study, adiabatic film effectiveness and overall cooling effectiveness values were measured for the pressure side of a simplified turbine vane model with three rows of showerhead cooling at the leading edge and one row of body film cooling holes on the pressure side. This was done by utilizing two geometrically identical models made from different materials. Adiabatic film effectiveness was measured using a very low thermal conductivity material, and the overall cooling effectiveness was measured using a material with a higher thermal conductivity selected such that the Biot number of the model matched that of a turbine vane at engine conditions. The theoretical basis for this matched-Biot number modeling technique is discussed in some detail. Additionally, two designs of pressure side body film cooling holes were considered in this study: a standard design of straight, cylindrical holes and an advanced design of “trenched” cooling holes in which the hole exits were situated in a recessed, transverse trench. This study was performed using engine representative flow conditions, including a coolant-to-mainstream density ratio of DR = 1.4 and a mainstream turbulence intensity of Tu = 20%. The results of this study show that adiabatic film and overall cooling effectiveness increase with blowing ratio for the showerhead and pressure side trenched holes. Performance decreases with blowing ratio for the standard holes due to coolant jet separation from the surface. Both body film designs have similar performance at a lower blowing ratio when the standard hole coolant jets remain attached. Far downstream of the cooling holes both designs perform similarly because film effectiveness decays more rapidly for the trenched holes.