CFD Analysis of Twisted Gas Turbine

Blade with Different Cooling Hole

Geometries on Leading Edge

Moughbul Basha and Mithilesh Kumar Sahu

Abbreviations

BR Blowing Ratio
LE Leading Edge
PS Pressure Side
SS Suction Side
TIT Turbine Inlet Temperature, K
Tm Mainstream Temperature, K
Tc Coolant Temperature, K

Symbols

η Film Cooling Effectiveness

∅ Cooling Hole Diameter
Re Reynolds number
X Geometric Distance, mm

M. Basha · M. K. Sahu (B)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering
(Autonomous), Madhurawada 530048, India
e-mail: mithileshkumarsahu@gvpce.ac.in

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 461
M. Palanisamy et al. (eds.), Theoretical, Computational, and Experimental Solutions
to Thermo-Fluid Systems, Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4165-4_43
462 M. Basha and M. K. Sahu

1 Introduction

Over a period of last two decades, the advances in the gas turbine engine technolo-
gies have become more sophisticated which lead to higher performance and lower
maintenance costs. These new technologies are driven by the need to drive at higher
operating temperatures (higher turbine inlet temperatures, TIT) to improve thermal
efficiency, reduce engine emissions and more power output. The author reported in
his previous works about performance variation of gas turbine cycles with varying
operating condition and also investigated the exergoeconomic performance of cycle
[1, 2]. To achieve higher TITs many sophisticated cooling technologies are used in
which film cooling is one of the most effective methods of cooling the gas turbine
blade. Many studies have been done on the surface of the flat plate to investigate
the parameters that are influencing the performance of film cooling. Schmidt et al.
[3] conducted experiments on a flat plate with holes for three compound angles. The
film cooling effectiveness for round holes and diffused holes with compound angle of
60° for different flux variations is experimentally studied. It was concluded that the
compounded angle holes with extended exits have enhanced distribution of coolant
near the holes when compared to others. Chowdhury et al. [4] conducted different
experiments on flat plate with three different leading edge models, comparing the
two cooling hole configurations at three different blowing ratios on film cooling
performance. The experiment concluded that film cooling effectiveness of radial-
angle cylindrical holes increases with increasing blowing ratios. Shridhar Paregouda
and Nageswara Rao [5] conducted experiments on flat surface and concluded that
3D CFD models with increased exit angles of cooling hole would increase the film
cooling effectiveness and reduce the temperature of blade surface. Lingyu Zeng
et al. [6] investigated the film cooling performance for three simplifications of blade,
namely annular cascade vs. linear cascade, twist blade vs. straight blade, rotation vs.
non-rotation. The geometric differences between the twist blade and straight blade
coupled with rotation lead to the change of stagnation line at the leading edge. The
film cooling at the leading edge depends on the main flow stagnation. When compared
between twisted blade to straight blade there is amount of error due to geometry. The
film cooling effectiveness of blade when rotating is high on the pressure side and low
on suction side, because the coolant from cooling holes is subjected to Coriolis force
pertaining to the pressure side when it is rotating. This results in more deflection of
film over suction side due to the superposition of centrifugal force and Coriolis force.
Hai-wang Li et al. [7] conducted experimental investigations on the effect of injec-
tion angle and blowing ratio on the leading edge film cooling on a rotating twisted
gas turbine blade. For an injection angle of 30° and 45°, the average film cooling
effectiveness increases as the blowing ratio increases in all regions. For an injection
angle of 60°, it first increases and decreases as the blowing ratio increases from 0.5
to 2.0. Tommaso Bacci et al. [8] conducted experimental and CFD analysis on a
highly loaded gas turbine. For clear view of heat transfer mechanisms to determine
metal temperatures, infrared (IR) and conjugate heat transfer (CHT) were used. At
the suction side, the temperature distribution is two-dimensional and is determined
CFD Analysis of Twisted Gas Turbine Blade with Different … 463

by the progressive thickening of the laminar boundary layer followed by a sudden

transition to turbulent conditions. On the pressure side, the heat transfer is quite
uniform. Therefore, the pattern of temperature distribution clearly indicates that it is
influencing internal cooling performance. The increase in coolant flow and reduced
flow of mainstream gases leads to lesser metal temperature. Azzi et al. [9] performed
numerical analysis to study the effect of injection angles on the film effectiveness
at the leading edge turbine blade. The injection angles are maintained at 25°, 30°,
35° and 45°. The injection hole with 25° has the optimal film coverage over the
blade and the highest film cooling effectiveness. Gao et al. [10] conducted numer-
ical study of leading edge holes (cylindrical) with five different compound angles
on film cooling performance. It was noticed that as the blowing ratio increases the
film cooling effectiveness increases but at highest blowing ratio 2.0, the film cooling
effectiveness decreases. It was concluded that optimal blowing ratio is 1.4. Mithilesh
Kumar Sahu and Sanjay have investigated the air film cooled complex gas turbine
cycles for its exergoeconomic performance [11–14]. Liu et al. [15] investigated the
film cooling and impingement cooling performance on the leading edge of turbine
blade. It was found that film cooling effectiveness mainly depends on the blowing
ratio parameter. Han et al. [16] have reported the cooling technology schemes of blade
cooling. The book provides the detailed information on different kinds of cooling
schemes and the effect of blowing ratio.
Based on the above literature it is concluded that several experimental and numer-
ical investigations have been done on the surface of the flat plate to evaluate the param-
eters that are influencing the film cooling performance. The examination comprises
numerical and experimental analyses on turbine blade with different radial cooling
holes by varying the number of holes. Also, numerical and experimental analyses
were conducted on turbine blade with cylindrical cooling holes at leading edge with
different orientations (30°, 45° and 60°).

2 Modelling

The airfoil used in this work for model creation is Eppler Airfoil (EPPLER
E1212MOD AIRFOIL). The turbine blade profile is twisted in nature with an angle
of twist of 7 and is shown in Fig. 1. To achieve the objective, two-blade models are
created with two different hole profiles. Model 1 is having cylindrical LE holes while
Model 2 is created with tapered LE holes, as shown in Fig. 2.
Figure 3 presents the geometrical model of the present problem. Here mainstream
gases (flue gases from combustion chamber) flow through an enclosure having dimen-
sion of 200 × 100 mm. The turbine blade is placed at a distance of 100 mm from
inlet of the enclosure. The length of the enclosure is kept as 400 mm. The coolant air
passage is from the bottom of blade through radial cooling holes. The mainstream
gases interface with coolant at blade tip and also at leading edge of turbine blade. The
mainstream gases have a temperature of 1273 K while coolant temperature is about
464 M. Basha and M. K. Sahu

Fig. 1 Cooling holes of turbine blade

Fig. 2 Model 1 (cylindrical LE hole) and Model 2 (tapered LE hole) with 30° orientation

773 K. The mainstream Reynolds number considered is 200,000. In the analysis, all
the enclosure walls are considered adiabatic and zero heat flux is applied to them.

3 Results and Discussion

The numerical investigations are performed on two models, namely Model 1 (cylin-
drical LE holes) and Model 2 (tapered LE holes) with four blowing ratios (0.9, 1.0,
1.1 and 1.2). Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the temperature profiles for Model 1 (cylin-
CFD Analysis of Twisted Gas Turbine Blade with Different … 465

Fig. 3 Turbine blade with enclosure

drical LE holes) and Model 2 (tapered LE holes), respectively, with blowing ratio 1.
The temperature profiles basically show when the mainstream gases of 1273 K flow
over the blades; the parts of the blades which are covered with the film of coolant air
have lesser temperature compared to the portions which do not have such film. So

Fig. 4 Temperature distribution for model 1 (cylindrical LE holes) for blowing ratio (1)
466 M. Basha and M. K. Sahu

Fig. 5 Temperature distribution for model 2 (tapered LE holes) for blowing ratio (1)

to protect the turbine blades from higher thermal stresses, the leading edge of blade
should be provided with more number of cooling holes to create more stable film,
keeping in mind the physical strength of the blade also.

3.1 Effect of Blowing Ratio on the Span-Wise Film Cooling

Effectiveness for Model 1

In this work, the compressed air is taken as a coolant, and the different blowing
ratios considered for simulations are 0.9, 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2. Figure 6 illustrates the
effect of blowing ratio on the span-wise film cooling effectiveness for Model 1. In
the figure, three arrows indicate the position of leading edge holes on the blade.
As the blowing ratio increases from 0.9, the effectiveness increases until 1.1 and
there is slight decrease in effectiveness when blowing ratio is 1.2. This decrease
in effectiveness is due to the lift off phenomenon of coolant. The highest peak of
film cooling effectiveness is measured at stagnation line at hole number E3 (0.7333),
which can be seen in Fig. 6. The effectiveness decreases at pressure side, which tends
CFD Analysis of Twisted Gas Turbine Blade with Different … 467

Fig. 6 Effect of blowing ratio on the span-wise film cooling effectiveness for model 1 (cylindrical
LE holes)

to increase at stagnation, and then again decreases as it goes to the suction side. The
effect of film cooling effectiveness is more at pressure side compared to suction side.

3.2 Effect of Blowing Ratio on the Span-Wise Film Cooling

Effectiveness for Model 2

The effect of blowing ratio on the span-wise film cooling effectiveness for Model
2 is presented in Fig. 7. Model 2 (tapered LE holes) is also analysed for different
blowing ratio ranging from 0.9 to 1.2 in step of 0.1. Figure 7 depicts the cooling
effectiveness of different leading edge holes over the blade span. Results show that
the effectiveness increases as blowing ratio increases from 0.9 to 1.1, and afterwards
it shows fall in cooling effectiveness for increase in blowing ratio. As mentioned
earlier that due to lift off phenomenon the formation of air film got affected and thus
it results in decrease in film cooling effectiveness. In this case also the highest peak
of film cooling effectiveness is measured at hole number E3 (0.7246). The cooling
effectiveness increases as it moves from pressure side to stagnation line, and then
starts decreasing as it moves towards the suction side. The figure also shows that
effect of film cooling is more at pressure side compared to suction side.
468 M. Basha and M. K. Sahu

Fig. 7 Effect of blowing ratio on the span-wise film cooling effectiveness for model 2 (tapered LE
holes)

4 Conclusions

Based on the results obtained and discussed in previous section, the important
conclusions have been made and listed as follows:
• CFD analysis of twisted gas turbine blade has been carried out for two different
models (cylindrical LE holes and tapered LE holes).
• Four different blowing ratios (0.9, 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2) were taken for analysis for air
as coolant.
• Film cooling effectiveness of blade increases up to certain level of blowing ratio
(here up to 1.1) and afterwards it starts decreasing.
• In this analysis it was found that Model 1(cylindrical LE holes) has better span-
wise film cooling effectiveness than Model 2 (tapered LE holes).
• Considering E3 hole (highest effectiveness hole), Model 1 (cylindrical LE holes)
has 1.2% more cooling effectiveness when compared to Model 2 (tapered LE
holes) with air as coolant.
The discussed article is a helpful source of knowledge for both researchers working
in this field and for gas turbine blade designers. The presented work helps them to
select the right hole geometry, type of coolant and to identify the best blowing ratio
for higher possible film cooling effectiveness of gas turbine blade with leading edge
cooling holes.

Acknowledgements I express my gratitude to my M. Tech research supervisor, Dr. Mithilesh

Kumar Sahu, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gayatri Vidya Parishad
CFD Analysis of Twisted Gas Turbine Blade with Different … 469

College of Engineering (Autonomous) Visakhapatnam for his continued support and encouragement
during the course of this research work.

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