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Virginia Tech

Effect of Blowing Ratio on the Nusselt Number and Film Cooling Effectiveness Distributions of a Showerhead Film Cooled Blade in a Transonic Cascade

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

This paper investigates the effect of blowing ratio on the film cooling performance of a showerhead film cooled first stage turbine blade. The blade was instrumented with double-sided thin film heat flux gages to experimentally characterize the Nusselt number and film cooling effectiveness distributions over the surface of the blade. The blade was arranged in a two-dimensional, linear cascade within a transonic, blowdown type wind tunnel. The wind tunnel freestream conditions were varied over two exit Mach numbers, Me=0.78 and Me=1.01, with an inlet freestream turbulence intensity of 12% , with an integral length scale normalized by blade chord of 0.26 generated by a passive, mesh turbulence grid. The coolant conditions were varied by changing the ratio of coolant to freestream mass flux, blowing ratio, over three values, BR=0.60, 1.0, and 1.5 while keeping a density ratio of 1.7. Experimental results show that ingestion of freestream flow into the showerhead cooling plenum can occur below a blowing ratio of 0.6. Film cooling increases Nusselt number over the uncooled case and increasing the blowing ratio also increases Nusselt number. At a blowing ratio of 1.5 and Me=1.01 a large drop in effectiveness just downstream of injection on both the pressure and suction surfaces is evidence of jet liftoff. The blowing ratio of 1.0 was found to have superior heat load reduction over the blade surface at both freestream conditions tested. The blowing ratio of 1.0 reduced the heat load by as much as 39% and 32% at Me=0.78 and 1.01, respectively.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Mechanical Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Mechanical Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2007

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Guy, Ashley Ray
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Ng, Wing Fai
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Diller, Thomas E.
  • Vick, Brian L.

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-07202007-144205
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/43764

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Guy, Ashley Ray. Effect of Blowing Ratio on the Nusselt Number and Film Cooling Effectiveness Distributions of a Showerhead Film Cooled Blade in a Transonic Cascade. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/43764