An Experimental Study of Film Cooling in a Rotating Transonic Turbine

Abstract

Time-resolved measurements of heat transfer on a fully cooled transonic turbine stage have been taken in a short duration turbine test facility which simulates full engine non-dimensional conditions. The time average of this data is compared to uncooled rotor data and cooled linear cascade measurements made on the same profile. The film cooling reduces the time-averaged heat transfer compared to the uncooled rotor on the blade suction surface by as much as 60%, but has relatively little effect on the pressure surface. The suction surface rotor heat transfer is lower than that measured in the cascade. The results are similar over the central 3/4 of the span implying that the flow here is mainly two-dimensional. The film cooling is shown to be much less effective at high blowing ratios than at low ones. Time-resolved measurements reveal that the cooling, when effective, both reduced the d.c. level of heat transfer and changed the shape of the unsteady waveform. Unsteady blowing is shown to be a principal driver of film cooling fluctuations, and a linear model is shown to do a good job in predicting the unsteady heat transfer. The unsteadiness results in a 12% decrease in heat transfer on the suction surface and a 5% increase on the pressure surface.