Sensitivity of the Overall Effectiveness to Film Cooling and Internal Cooling on a Turbine Vane Suction Side

The overall cooling effectiveness for a turbine airfoil was quantified based on the external surface temperature relative to the mainstream temperature and the inlet coolant temperature. This can be determined experimentally when the model is constructed so that the Biot number is similar to that of engine components. In this study, the overall cooling effectiveness was experimentally measured on a model turbine vane constructed of a material deigned to match Bi for engine conditions. The model incorporated an internal impingement cooling configuration. Overall cooling effectiveness and adiabatic film effectiveness were measured downstream of a single row of round holes positioned on the suction side of the vane. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the cooling effects of internal cooling alone, and then the combined effects of film cooling and internal cooling for a range of coolant flow rates. While the adiabatic film effectiveness decreased when using high momentum flux ratios for the film cooling, due to coolant jet separation, the overall cooling effectiveness increased at higher momentum flux ratios. This increase was due to increased internal cooling effects. Overall cooling effectiveness measurements were also compared to analytical predictions based on a 1D thermal analysis using measured adiabatic film effectiveness and overall cooling effectiveness without film cooling.