Experimental heat transfer in midchord and leading edge turbine blade cooling passages with staggered turbulators

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d20005036

Modern gas turbine engines use various methods of convective cooling to protect hot section components from wear and to permit the engine to operate at higher turbine inlet temperatures for increased efficiency. One method of cooling is through internal passages roughened with turbulators to enhance heat transfer. Experiments were conducted to identify alternative geometries for turbulators in midchord and leading edge turbine blade cooling passages. Baseline heat transfer performance was established for existing geometries, with subsequent tests conducted to judge the effectiveness of the new geometries. Both the maximum and minimum geometries that result from imperfections in the blade casting process were tested to establish a range of performance. Steady state liquid crystal thermography was used to quantify the heat transfer performance, with pressure measurements taken to quantify the pressure drop. Reynolds numbers ranged from 4200 to 35000.