Film-Cooling Effectiveness on a Gas Turbine Blade Tip Using Pressure-Sensitive Paint

Abstract

Effects of the presence of squealer, the locations of the film-cooling holes, and the tip-gap clearance on the film-cooling effectiveness were studied and compared to those for a plane (flat) tip. The film-cooling effectiveness distributions were measured on the blade tip using the pressure-sensitive paint technique. Air and nitrogen gas were used as the film-cooling gases, and the oxygen concentration distribution for each case was measured. The film-cooling effectiveness information was obtained from the difference of the oxygen concentration between air and nitrogen gas cases by applying the mass transfer analogy. Plane tip and squealer tip blades were used while the film-cooling holes were located (a) along the camber line on the tip or (b) along the tip of the pressure side. The average blowing ratio of the cooling gas was 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. Tests were conducted with a stationary, five-bladed linear cascade in a blow-down facility. The free-stream Reynolds number, based on the axial chord length and the exit velocity, was 1,138,000, and the inlet and the exit Mach numbers were 0.25 and 0.6, respectively. Turbulence intensity level at the cascade inlet was 9.7%. All measurements were made at three different tip-gap clearances of 1%, 1.5%, and 2.5% of blade span. Results show that the locations of the film-cooling holes and the presence of squealer have significant effects on surface static pressure and film-cooling effectiveness, with film-cooling effectiveness increasing with increasing blowing ratio.