CFD Predictions of Film Cooling Adiabatic Effectiveness for Cylindrical Holes Embedded in Narrow and Wide Transverse Trenches

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that film cooling adiabatic effectiveness can be significantly improved when holes are embedded in shallow, transverse trenches. In this study computational simulations were made using the commercial CFD code FLUENT to determine if the dramatic improvement in film cooling performance was predictable. Simulations were made of a baseline cylindrical hole configuration, and narrow and wide trench configurations. Simulations correctly predicted that the narrow trench outperformed the baseline row of cylindrical holes and the wide trench at all blowing ratios. Furthermore, the simulations showed that enhanced performance with the trench could be attributed to decreased separation of the coolant jets. The success of these predictions show that computational simulations can be used as a tool for studying and identifying promising film cooling configurations.