Computational and experimental study of film cooling performance including shallow trench configurations

Film cooling computations and experiments were performed to study heat transfer and adiabatic effectiveness for several geometries. Various assumptions commonly made in film cooling experiments were computationally simulated to test the validity of using these assumptions to predict the heat flux into conducting walls. The validity of these assumptions was examined via computational simulations of film cooling on adiabatic, heated, and conducting flat plates using the commercial code FLUENT. The assumptions were found to be reasonable overall, but certain regions in the domain suffered from poor predictions. Film cooling adiabatic effectiveness and heat transfer coefficients for axial holes embedded in a 1 [hole diameter] transverse trench on the suction side of a simulated turbine vane were experimentally investigated as well to determine the net heat flux reduction. Heat transfer coefficients were determined with and without upstream heating both with and without a tripped boundary layer approach flow. The net heat flux reduction for the trench was found to be much higher than for the baseline row of holes. Two transverse trench geometries and a baseline row of holes geometry were also simulated using FLUENT and the results were compared to experiments by Waye and Bogard (2006). Trends between simulated trench configurations and baseline cylindrical holes without a trench were found to be largely in agreement with experimental trends, suggesting that FLUENT can be used as a tool for studying new trench configurations.