Flow and heat transfer in complex impingement cooling configurations for cooling applications in future gas turbine blades

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Jens von Wolfersdorf
• Subject Area: Technical Thermodynamics ; Hydraulic and Turbo Engines and Piston Engines
• Term: from 2010 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 174897839

The research project "Flow and heat transfer in complex impingement cooling configurations for cooling applications in future gas turbine blades" (WO 872/9-1) has been originally proposed for 4 years. The present proposal is dedicated towards the second phase (3rd and 4th year). The project addresses experimental and numerical investigations of flow and heat transfer characteristics in a jet impingement cooling configurations with wall integrated cooling jets focussing on future cooling concepts for gas turbine blades. The focus is on the influence of geometrical constraints and the interaction of different cooling jet rows on fluid flow distributions, mixing behavior and local heat transfer on the walls of such geometries.In the first 2 years, detailed velocity and heat transfer characteristics in a complex constricted impingement situation with wall integrated impingement jets for different flow and thermal conditions were experimentally investigated and corresponding numerical simulations were performed. Local heat transfer distributions were obtained using the transient liquid crystal (TLC) measurement method. Experimental flow measurements were made using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Due to the complementary investgations significant results on the interaction between time-averaged flow and thermal situations have been gained experimentally as well from the interaction between experiments and numerical simulations. Therefrom specific flow structures could well be related to local heat transfer characteristics. However during the course oft he investigations new research topics arose. These relate to methods to manipulate flow and heat transfer in such configurations as well as demands on numerical modelling.These research questions should be addressed in the 2nd project phase using complementary measurement methods, quantifiying flow apprach conditions in more detail and using the open source software OpenFoam for more physically detailed modelling in the numerical simulations. Methods to explore possibilities for heat transfer homogenization will be addressed additionally.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants