Experimental and Numerical Characterization of Turbulent Slot FIlm Cooling

Abstract

This study presents an experimental and numerical characterization of the turbulent mixing in two-dimensional slot film cooling flows. Three different flows are considered by varying the coolant to mainstream velocity ratio (VR): a wall jet case (VR ≈ 2.0), a boundary layer case (VR ≈ 1.0) and a wall-wake case (VR ≈ 0.5). For each flow, detailed measurements of the film cooling effectiveness, the heat flux, and the heat transfer coefficient are obtained for adiabatic and backside cooled wall conditions. Additionally, detailed flow velocity and temperature are measured under hot conditions using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and a micro-thermocouple probe, respectively. These comprehensive measurements provide a unique data set for characterizing the momentum and thermal mixing of the turbulent flows, and for validating turbulence models in Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations and large-eddy simulations (LES).

The three flow families display different performances. The mixing of the film is strongly influenced by the mean shear between the coolant and the hot mainstream, thus explaining that the boundary layer case provides the best effectiveness. Initially governed by the film kinematics at the injection point, the convective heat transfer is influence by the mainstream when the film mixes. Additionally, measurements indicate that semi-empirical correlations largely overpredict the mixing of the film. The results obtained with the Spalart-Allmaras RANS model compare favorably with the measurements, thereby proving that this model is a viable alternative to using correlations for the film cooling effectiveness. A Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) with the dynamic models is performed for the wall jet case under adiabatic wall conditions with inflow conditions prescribed from precursor simulations. The LES results show good agreement with measured adiabatic wall temperatures and provide unique insight into the turbulent transport mechanism and interaction between the near wall and outer shear regions responsible for the mixing of the film.