Sayuri D. Yapa

Quantitative MRI Measurements of Hot Streak Development in a Turbine Vane Cascade

Hot streaks from the combustor and cool streaks from nozzle vane film cooling impose strong inlet temperature variations on high pressure turbine blades, which can lead to local hot or cold spots, high thermal stresses, and fatigue failures. Furthermore, the complex three dimensional flows around the vane may act to concentrate cool or hot fluid exiting the vane row. In order to optimize the cooling design of the turbine blades, the designer must be able to predict the temperature distribution entering the turbine rotor. Therefore, it is important to understand and predict how combustor hot streaks are dispersed as they pass through the vane row. The goal of the present work is to provide detailed three dimensional velocity and temperature data for simulated combustor hot streaks developing through a film cooled vane cascade using the Magnetic Resonance Velocity/Concentration experimental technique. The measurements show that the hot streaks are thinned by acceleration through the vane cascade and diffused by turbulence. The turbulent diffusivity is suppressed by acceleration and leaves significant temperature nonuniformity in the vane wake.Copyright

Endwall Vortex Effects on Turbulent Dispersion of Film Coolant in a Turbine Vane Cascade

Turbine vane cascades produce strong secondary flows due to flow turning. The dominant flow feature is the passage vortex, located in the corner between the endwall and the suction surface of the airfoil. Full-field, 3D velocity and concentration measurements were made using magnetic resonance imaging to study turbulent mixing in a realistic film-cooled nozzle vane cascade. The passage vortex has large effects on the flow features in the vane wake and consequently, on coolant mixing. Cross-flow vorticity on the vane’s suction side rolls up and forms the suction-side leg of the horseshoe vortex, which then interacts with the cross-flow boundary layer and rolls up into the passage vortex. The passage vortex does not measurably increase the turbulent diffusivity, although it does strongly distort streamlines near the endwall.Copyright

3D Velocity and Scalar Field Measurements of an Airfoil Trailing Edge With Slot Film Cooling: The Effect of an Internal Structure in the Slot

Measurements of the 3D velocity and concentration fields were obtained using magnetic resonance imaging for a pressure side cutback film cooling experiment. The cutback geometry consisted of rectangular slots separated by straight lands; inside each of the slots was an airfoil-shaped blockage. The results from this trailing edge configuration, the “island airfoil,” are compared to the results obtained with the “generic airfoil,” a geometry with narrower slots, wider, tapered lands, and no blockages. The objective was to determine how the narrower lands and internal blockages affected the average film cooling effectiveness and the spanwise uniformity. Velocimetry data revealed that strong horseshoe vortices formed around the blockages in the slots, which resulted in greater coolant non-uniformity on the airfoil breakout surface and in the wake. The thinner lands of the island airfoil allowed the coolant to cover a larger fraction of the trailing edge span, giving a much higher spanwise-averaged surface effectiveness, especially near the slot exit where the generic airfoil lands are widest.

Experimental-Based Redesigns for Trailing Edge Film Cooling of Gas Turbine Blades

Magnetic resonance imaging experiments have provided the three-dimensional mean concentration and three component mean velocity field for a typical trailing edge film-cooling cutback geometry built into a conventional uncambered airfoil. This geometry is typical of modern aircraft engines and includes three dimensional slot jets separated by tapered lands. Previous analysis of these data identified the critical mean flow structures that contribute to rapid mixing and low effectiveness in the fully turbulent flow. Three new trailing edge geometries were designed to modify the large scale mean flow structures responsible for surface effectiveness degradation. One modification called the Dolphin Nose attempted to weaken strong vortex flows by reducing three dimensionality near the slot breakout. This design changed the flow structure but resulted in minimal improvement in the surface effectiveness. Two other designs called the Shield and Rounded Shield changed the land planform and added an overhanging land edge while maintaining the same breakout surface. These designs substantially modified the vortex structure and improved the surface effectiveness by as much as 30%. Improvements included superior coolant uniformity on the breakout surface which reduces potential thermal stresses. The utilization of the time averaged data from combined magnetic resonance velocimetry (MRV) and concentration (MRC) experiments for designing improved trailing edge breakout film cooling is demonstrated.

Measurements of a Trailing Edge Slot Film Cooling Geometry Designed for Reduced Coolant Flowrate and High Surface Effectiveness

A trailing edge slot film cooling configuration designed for enhanced surface effectiveness at a decreased coolant flowrate is proposed. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques were used to obtain measurements of the mean 3D velocity and concentration fields. These measurements are compared to previously reported results on two other trailing edge configurations. The surface effectiveness of the proposed slot film cooling configuration is higher than that of the baseline configuration, even at a 25% lower coolant flowrate. The mean fields are used to calculate an isotropic, spatially-varying turbulent diffusivity for each of these trailing edge configurations. These diffusivities are compared to offer insight into the effect of land shape on turbulence properties.Copyright