Computational Fluid Dynamics Investigation of the Flow of Trailing Edge Cooling Slots

Abstract

Slot film cooling is a popular choice for trailing edge (TE) cooling in high pressure (HP) turbine blades because it can provide more uniform film coverage compared to discrete film cooling holes. The slot geometry consists of a cutback in the blade pressure side connected through rectangular openings to the internal coolant feed passage. The numerical simulation of this kind of film cooling flows is challenging due to the presence of flow interactions such as step flow separation, coolant-mainstream mixing, and heat transfer. The geometry under consideration is a cutback surface at the trailing edge of a constant cross-section aerofoil. The cutback surface is divided into three sections separated by narrow lands. The experiments are conducted in a high-speed cascade in Oxford Osney Thermo-Fluids Laboratory at Reynolds and Mach number distributions representative of engine conditions. The capability of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods to capture these flow phenomena is investigated in this paper. The isentropic Mach number and film effectiveness are compared between CFD and pressure sensitive paint (PSP) data. When compared with the steady k − ω shear stress transport (SST) method, scale adaptive simulation (SAS) can agree better with the measurement. Furthermore, the profiles of kinetic energy, production, and shear stress obtained by the steady and SAS methods are compared to identify the main source of inaccuracy in RANS simulations. The SAS method is better to capture the unsteady coolant–hot gas mixing and vortex shedding at the slot lip. The cross flow is found to affect the film significantly as it triggers flow separation near the lands and reduces the effectiveness. The film is nonsymmetric with respect to the half-span plane, and different flow features are present in each slot. The effect of mass flow ratio (MFR) on flow pattern and coolant distribution is also studied. The profiles of velocity, kinetic energy, and production of turbulent energy are compared among the slots in detail. The MFR not only affects the magnitude but also changes the sign of production.