Review of Film Cooling in Gas Turbines with an Emphasis on Additive Manufacturing-Based Design Evolutions

Abstract

Film-cooling technology is used in high-temperature components of gas turbines to extend their service lives. Hot-gas path components are susceptible to damage or failure in the absence of film cooling. Much of the optimization research efforts have been focused on film hole shapes, heat/mass transfer measurement techniques, and film cooling performance under various mainstream and coolant side operating conditions. Due to recent rapid advancements in the areas of measurement techniques (e.g., pressure-sensitive paints and fast high-resolution imaging) and metal additive manufacturing (AM), film cooling technology has undergone significant changes and shows potential new development. In this review, a historical perspective is discussed covering over five decades of innovation: the geometrical effects from injection angle and hole shapes; flow effects from density ratio, momentum-flux ratio, blowing ratio, advective capacity ratio, and freestream conditions; and more items related to AM. The impact of AM on film hole design strategies, the challenges posed by state-of-the-art AM technology, and pathways for future research are discussed. A comparative analysis of AM assisted film hole fabrication and conventionally manufactured film holes is elaborated.