Film-Cooling Effectiveness on a

Gas Turbine Blade Tip Using

Pressure-Sensitive Paint
Jaeyong Ahn
Effects of the presence of squealer, the locations of the film-cooling holes, and the tip-gap
Shantanu Mhetras clearance on the film-cooling effectiveness were studied and compared to those for a
plane (flat) tip. The film-cooling effectiveness distributions were measured on the blade tip
Je-Chin Han using the pressure-sensitive paint technique. Air and nitrogen gas were used as the film-
M.C. Easterling Endowed Chair cooling gases, and the oxygen concentration distribution for each case was measured.
e-mail: [email protected] The film-cooling effectiveness information was obtained from the difference of the oxygen
concentration between air and nitrogen gas cases by applying the mass transfer analogy.
Turbine Heat Transfer Laboratory, Department of Plane tip and squealer tip blades were used while the film-cooling holes were located (a)
Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University along the camber line on the tip or (b) along the tip of the pressure side. The average
College Station, Texas 77843-3123 blowing ratio of the cooling gas was 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. Tests were conducted with a
stationary, five-bladed linear cascade in a blow-down facility. The free-stream Reynolds
number, based on the axial chord length and the exit velocity, was 1,138,000, and the inlet
and the exit Mach numbers were 0.25 and 0.6, respectively. Turbulence intensity level at
the cascade inlet was 9.7%. All measurements were made at three different tip-gap clear-
ances of 1%, 1.5%, and 2.5% of blade span. Results show that the locations of the
film-cooling holes and the presence of squealer have significant effects on surface static
pressure and film-cooling effectiveness, with film-cooling effectiveness increasing with
increasing blowing ratio. 关DOI: 10.1115/1.1909208兴

Introduction decreased. Their results also showed that the squealer geometry
showed higher film-cooling effectiveness and lower heat transfer
The concept of cooling a surface subjected to high mainstream
coefficients compared to the plane tip geometry because of its
temperatures by perforating the surface with several discrete holes
smaller leakage flow.
and passing cold air 共film cooling兲 through them is a popular
Film cooling on a blade tip was also studied by Kim et al. 关4兴
technique used in several applications. The surface under test can
and Kim and Metzger 关5兴 by using a two-dimensional 共2D兲 rect-
be maintained at a cooler temperature due to formation of a thin
angular tip model used to simulate leakage flow between the tip
protective film of relatively colder air on the surface. This tech-
and the shroud. Various film-cooling configurations were exam-
nique has been successfully employed for cooling of gas turbine
ined using a transient liquid-crystal technique, and the results for
blades subjected to very high mainstream gas temperatures. A
heat transfer coefficients and film-cooling effectiveness were re-
high and uniform film-cooling effectiveness on the blade surface
ported.
will ensure superior performance and thermal fatigue life for the
There are many papers available in open literature that discuss
blade, thus making it an important parameter in its design.
heat transfer coefficients on the blade tip and near tip regions.
Hot gases from the combustor enter the turbine, resulting in a
Heat transfer coefficients on the blade tip and the shroud were
significant heat load on the turbine components. One of the com-
ponents more susceptible to thermal failure is the blade tip region measured by Metzger et al. 关6兴 using heat flux sensors in a rotat-
because of its severe environment and difficulty in cooling. Large ing turbine rig. Dunn and Haldeman 关7兴 measured time-averaged
leakage flow occurs on the tip because of a high pressure differ- heat flux at a recessed blade tip for a full-scale rotating turbine
ential from pressure to suction side. This leakage mass flow can stage at transonic vane exit conditions. Their results showed that
be reduced by using a labyrinthlike recessed cavity also known as the heat transfer coefficient at the mid and rear portion of the
the squealer tip. Presence of film cooling on the tip further reduces cavity floor is of the same order as the blade leading-edge value.
heat transfer from the mainstream gas to the blade tip. A compre- Bunker et al. 关8兴 utilized a hue detection-based liquid-crystal tech-
hensive compilation of the available cooling techniques used in nique to obtain local heat transfer distributions on the blade tip.
the gas turbine industry has been encapsulated by Han et al. 关1兴. They studied the effects of tip-gap clearance and free-stream tur-
Experimental investigations performed in the general area of bulence intensity levels. Bunker and Baily 关9兴 studied the effect of
film cooling on a blade tip are limited, with very few papers squealer cavity depth and oxidation on turbine blade tip heat
available in open literature. Most recently, Kwak and Han 关2,3兴 transfer. Azad et al. 关10,11兴 used a transient liquid-crystal tech-
studied the local heat transfer distribution and film-cooling effec- nique to study heat transfer. They compared squealer tip and plane
tiveness using the hue-detection-based transient liquid-crystal tip geometry and concluded that the overall heat transfer coeffi-
technique on the blade tip for plane and squealer tip geometry. A cients were lower for the squealer tip case. Heat transfer coeffi-
GE-E3 , five-blade linear cascade was used similar to the one used cient distributions for plane and squealer tip and near tip regions
in the present paper. They used three tip-gap clearances 共1.0%, were presented by Kwak and Han 关12,13兴. By using a squealer tip,
1.5%, and 2.5% of blade span兲 along with three average blowing heat transfer was found to decrease on the tip and near tip regions.
ratios 共0.5, 1.0, and 2.0兲 for the coolant. Increasing blowing ratio Azad et al. 关14兴 and Kwak et al. 关15兴 also investigated the heat
increased film effectiveness, but overall heat transfer coefficients transfer on several different squealer geometries. They found that
a suction-side squealer tip gave the lowest heat transfer among all
Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division of ASME for publication in the JOUR-
cases studied.
NAL OF HEAT TRANSFER. Manuscript recieved July 28, 2004. Final maunscript Investigations comparing a rotating and stationary shroud were
received October 20, 2004. Review conducted by Phillip M. Ligrani. performed by Mayle and Metzger 关16兴. They noted that the effect

Journal of Heat Transfer Copyright © 2005 by ASME MAY 2005, Vol. 127 Õ 521

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 06/01/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms

 of shroud rotation could be neglected to measure the blade tip heat
transfer over the entire range of parameters considered in the
study. Heyes et al. 关17兴 studied tip leakage flow on plane and
squealer tips in a linear cascade and concluded that the use of a
squealer tip, especially a suction-side squealer tip, was more ben-
eficial than a flat tip. Local heat transfer coefficients on a turbine
blade tip model with a recessed cavity 共squealer tip兲 were studied
by Yang and Diller 关18兴 in a stationary linear cascade. Based on
measurements at a single point on the cavity floor, they reported
that heat transfer coefficients were independent of the tip-gap
height.
Heat transfer coefficients and static pressure distributions of a
large-scale turbine blade tip were measured by Teng et al. 关19兴 in
a low-speed wind tunnel facility using a transient liquid-crystal
technique. Saxena et al. 关20兴 investigated the effect of various
tip-sealing geometries on blade tip leakage flow and heat transfer
of a scaled-up HP turbine blade in a low-speed wind tunnel facil-
ity using a steady-state HSI-based liquid-crystal technique. They Fig. 1 Schematic of test section and blow-down facility
found that the trip strips placed against the leakage flow produce
the lowest heat transfer on the tips compared to all the other cases.
Mass transfer technique was used by Papa et al. 关21兴 to study cility where the flow needed some time 共2.5 s兲 to reach the ex-
local and average mass/heat transfer distributions on a squealer tip pected steady value and during that developing time, the unavoid-
and winglet-squealer tip in a low-speed wind tunnel. Jin and able mainstream initial flow affected the blade tip initial
Goldstein 关22,23兴 also used this technique on a simulated high- temperature. Considering the high heat transfer coefficient and
pressure turbine blade tip and near tip surfaces. They concluded short experiment time, the error from the initial developing time
that the average mass transfer from the tip surface was much can affect blade tip heat transfer and film-cooling effectiveness.
higher than that on pressure- and suction-side surfaces. However, the PSP technique is based on mass transfer analogy, no
Some numerical investigations have also been carried out to heating of the test section or coolant is required, and the tests are
study heat transfer and film-cooling effectiveness on blade tip. performed under steady flow conditions. Thus, conduction errors
Effects of tip clearance and casing recess on heat transfer and at the edges and initial temperature errors are avoided.
stage efficiency for several squealer blade tip geometries were A scaled-up blade tip model of a first stage rotor blade (GE-E3 )
predicted by Ameri et al. 关24兴. Numerical results for heat transfer of a modern aircraft gas turbine was used in a five-blade linear
and flow obtained by Ameri et al. 关25兴 were compared to the cascade with the center blade tip coated with PSP. The same test
experimental results from Bunker et al. 关8兴 for a power-generation section and flow loop was used by Kwak and Han 关2,3兴 but in-
gas turbine. Ameri and Rigby 关26兴 also calculated heat transfer stead of PSP, the blade tip was coated with liquid crystal. Experi-
coefficients and film-cooling effectiveness on turbine blade mod- ments were carried out to study pressure and effectiveness for
els. plane and squealer blade tip for tip clearances of 1.0%, 1.5%, and
Numerical techniques were also utilized by Yang et al. 关27,28兴 2.5% of blade span with the average blowing ratios of 0.5, 1.0,
to study flow and heat transfer past a turbine blade with plane and and 2.0. A row of seven film-cooling holes has been used on the
squealer tip. Film-cooling effectiveness for a flat and squealer blade tip camber line and pressure side as opposed to a row of 13
blade tip with film-cooling holes on tip pressure side were pre- holes used by Kwak and Han 关2,3兴. Individual as well as com-
dicted by Acharya et al. 关29兴. Effects of different hole locations on bined effects of these two rows have been studied. The experi-
film-cooling effectiveness and heat transfer were predicted by mental results for pressure and effectiveness will aid future engi-
Yang et al. 关30兴. Hohlfeld et al. 关31兴 predicted film-cooling flow neers to design more efficient turbine blades and help to validate
from dirt purge holes on a turbine blade tip. They found that the CFD codes.
flow exiting the dirt purge holes helped in blocking the leakage
flow across the gap. As the blowing ratio increased for a large tip
gap, tip cooling increased only slightly, whereas film cooling on Experimental Setup
the shroud increased significantly. The test section consisted of a five-blade linear cascade with
Pressure-sensitive paint 共PSP兲 has been widely used to measure blade tip profiles placed in a blow-down loop. A schematic of the
local pressure distributions on a surface. Several papers are avail- test section and the blow-down loop is shown in Fig. 1. Inlet cross
able in the literature that discuss the application of the PSP tech- section of the test section was 31.1 cm 共width兲⫻12.2 cm 共height兲.
nique. Morris et al. 关32兴 and McLachlan and Bell 关33兴 discuss its A turbulence-generating grid 共rectangular bar mesh type兲 with a
applications to aerodynamics. Algorithms for image registration porosity of 57% was placed before the inlet. Turbulence intensity
and reselection for PSP have been developed by Donovan et al. was recorded 6 cm upstream of the middle blade 共or 20.7 cm
关34兴 and Bell and McLachlan 关35兴. Zhang and Fox 关36兴, Zhang downstream of the grid兲 using a hot-wire probe. Turbulence inten-
et al. 关37兴, and Zhang and Jaiswal 关38兴 conducted experimental sity (Tu) at this location was found to be 9.7% due to the pres-
work by applying the PSP technique to measure the local film- ence of the grid and turbulence length scales were estimated to be
cooling effectiveness distribution on the flat plate, nozzle, and 1.5 cm, which is slightly larger than the grid bar size. The bottom
endwall region by using air and nitrogen as coolants. and sides on the test section were machined out of 1.27 cm thick
The motivation for this study was to do a parametric investiga- polycarbonate sheets, whereas a 1.27 cm thick acrylic plate was
tion on the effect of blowing ratio, tip-gap clearance, and tip ge- used for the top for better optical access to the blade tip. The top
ometry on the pressure and the film-cooling effectiveness on the plate also acted as a shroud for the blades. A 12-bit, scientific-
blade tip for plane as well as squealer geometry. Although the grade CCD 共charge-coupled device兲 camera, which could main-
hue-detection-based transient liquid-crystal technique has been tain a constant CCD temperature 共⫺15°C兲, was mounted above
used by Kwak and Han 关2,3兴 to study the detailed local film- the test section and was used to record the images. Flow condi-
cooling effectiveness, it is hindered by conduction effects near tions in adjacent passages of the center blade were ensured to be
sharp edges, such as a film-cooling hole, resulting in relatively identical by adjusting the trailing-edge tailboards for the cascade.
large errors in that region. Moreover, they used a blow-down fa- A comprehensive discussion on the flow conditions, including

522 Õ Vol. 127, MAY 2005 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 06/01/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms

 Fig. 3 Film-cooling measurement blade

the detailed geometry of the film-cooling holes and their orienta-

tion on the pressure side and on the blade tip for plane tip and
squealer tip, respectively. Tip holes were drilled vertically along
the camber line, whereas pressure-side holes were located 0.444
cm below the tip surface at an angle of 30° with respect to the
airfoil pressure surface. Diameter 共d兲 of all the film-cooling holes
was 0.127 cm and distance between each hole was 1.27 cm (10d).
The blade with squealer tip had a recess of 4.22% of blade span
共0.508 cm兲.
This study was performed for three different tip gaps corre-
sponding to 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.5% of blade span 共12.2 cm兲. The
tip gaps thus obtained are 1.31, 1.97, and 3.29 mm, respectively.
Gaskets of these thicknesses were prepared and placed on top of
the side walls, the trailing-edge tailboards, and two outer guide
blades to realize these tip gaps. These tip gaps were maintained on
Fig. 2 Definition of blade tip and shroud the middle three blades. Experiments were performed with three
different blowing ratios 共M兲 of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 for each tip gap.
During testing, it was observed that actual velocity of the leakage
flow and coolant air could vary with the location and mass flow
flow periodicity in the cascade and pressure distribution along the rate of the coolant. For this reason, the blowing ratio was defined
blade has been reported by Kwak and Han 关12,13兴 and Azad et al. as M ⫽ ␳ c V c / ␳ m V avg . Here, V avg and V c are the averaged velocity
关10,11兴.
During the blow-down test, the cascade inlet air velocity and
exit velocity were 85 and 206 m/s, respectively. The Reynolds
number based on the axial chord length and exit velocity was
1.138⫻106 . Overall pressure ratio ( P t / P) was 1.28 共where P t is
inlet total pressure and P is exit static pressure兲 and inlet and exit
Mach numbers were 0.25 and 0.6, respectively. The pressure ratio
and exit Mach number are slightly higher than those reported by
Kwak and Han 关12,13兴. The blow-down facility could maintain
steady flow in the cascade for about 40 s. Compressed air stored
in tanks entered a high-flow pneumatic control valve, which could
maintain steady flow by receiving downstream pressure feedback.
The control valve could maintain a velocity within ⫾3% of de-
sired value.
All five blades placed in the test section were made of alumi-
num. A 3X scaled model of the GE-E3 blade was used with a
blade span of 12.2 cm and an axial chord length of 8.61 cm. Since
the blades were placed in a linear cascade, they were machined for
a constant cross section for its entire span, corresponding to the tip
profile of the actual GE-E3 blade. Figure 2 shows the blade pro-
files, the inlet and exit angles for air, and the blade tip and shroud
definitions. The middle blade was instrumented and was made in
two sections. Figure 3 shows the film-cooling measurement blade.
The lower portion of the blade was made of aluminum with one
through hole for passage of the coolant air. The upper portion
consisted of an aluminum rim with an internal cavity and an outer
shell made of polycarbonate with low thermal conductivity. Seven
film-cooling holes were provided for coolant to pass through on
the airfoil pressure side and on the tip. Figures 4共a兲 and 4共b兲 show Fig. 4 Geometry of film-cooling holes

Journal of Heat Transfer MAY 2005, Vol. 127 Õ 523

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 06/01/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms

 Fig. 5 Local blowing ratio for plane and squealer tip

of the cascade inlet and exit velocity and averaged coolant veloc- rounding partial pressure of oxygen. Any pressure variation on the
ity, respectively, while ␳ m and ␳ c are the densities of mainstream PSP-coated surface causes emitting light intensity to change be-
and coolant air, respectively. If the density is same, the ratio is cause of an oxygen-quenching process. A CCD camera measures
reduced to a velocity ratio. this change of intensity. A calibration performed for intensity ratio
To better explain the results for effectiveness, local blowing to give pressure ratio gives pressure information. To measure the
ratios through each of the seven holes on the tip and airfoil pres- film-cooling effectiveness and to obtain the intensity ratio from
sure side have been plotted in Fig. 5. Local blowing ratio was PSP, four kinds of images are required. A reference image 共with
calculated by using the pressure differential for each hole. The illumination, no mainstream flow, surrounding pressure uniform at
static pressure in the cavity inside the blade was measured using 1 atm兲, an air image 共with illumination and mainstream flow, air
three static pressure taps. The static pressure distribution was used as coolant兲, an air/nitrogen image 共with illumination and
found to be uniform in the coolant cavity and was then compared mainstream flow, nitrogen gas used as coolant兲, and a black image
to the static pressure distribution on the tip and pressure-side sur- 共no illumination and no mainstream and coolant flow兲 to remove
faces. The local pressure distribution for tip was found using PSP, noise effects due to the camera.
whereas static pressure taps located at 97% of blade span were Oxygen partial pressure information is obtained from the inten-
used to measure static pressure on the pressure side. The discharge sity ratio and calibration curve. This oxygen partial pressure in-
coefficient, C D was assumed to be the same for all the holes on a formation can be directly converted into static pressure distribu-
surface as it depends on the hole geometry. By knowing total mass tion for the case with air coolant injection. Intensity ratio for air
flow rate of the coolant, discharge coefficient and pressure differ- and air-nitrogen mixture is calculated using Eqs. 共1兲 and 共2兲, re-
ential for each hole, the local blowing ratio, M i was calculated. spectively,
For the cases with tip and pressure-side injection, static pressures
on the tip and pressure side were averaged for each hole location I ref⫺I blk
⫽func„共 P O2 兲 air… or func共 P 兲 (1)
i. I air⫺I blk
From Fig. 5, for coolant injection for tip holes, the squealer tip
shows a more uniform distribution of mass flux as compared to I ref⫺I blk
⫽func„共 P O2 兲 mix… (2)
plane tip. The uniform distribution of coolant flow through I mix⫺I blk
pressure-side holes is mainly due to more or less constant static
where I denotes the intensity obtained for each pixel for reference
pressure on the airfoil pressure side. Since internal and external
共ref兲, black 共blk兲, air and air-nitrogen 共mix兲 images and func( P) is
pressures for the pressure-side film holes are constant, the coolant
the relation between intensity ratio and pressure ratio obtained
flow rate is found to be uniform. The blowing ratio indicated for
after calibrating the PSP. ( P O2 ) air and ( P O2 ) mix are the partial pres-
tip and pressure-side injection represents the average of the blow-
ing ratio for each corresponding tip and pressure-side hole. The sures of oxygen on the test surface for air and air-nitrogen mixture
average blowing ratios thus obtained are similar to those for only images, respectively.
tip injection, indicating a minor effect of pressure-side coolant The film-cooling effectiveness can be expressed as a ratio of
injection. oxygen concentrations measured by PSP and is calculated using
the following equation:
Film-Cooling Effectiveness Measurement Theory and
Co air⫺Co mix 共 P O 2 兲 air⫺ 共 P O2 兲 mix
Data Analysis ␩⫽ ⫽ (3)
Co air 共 P O2 兲 air
Pressure-sensitive paint 共PSP兲 was used to measure the film-
cooling effectiveness on the blade tip. PSP is a photoluminescent where Co air and Co mix are the oxygen concentrations of main-
material that emits light with intensity proportional to the sur- stream air and air-nitrogen mixture on the test surface, respec-

524 Õ Vol. 127, MAY 2005 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 06/01/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms

 Fig. 6 Calibration setup for PSP

tively. By assuming the molecular weights of air and nitrogen as Images obtained from the camera were saved as TIF images,
the same, effectiveness can be expressed as a ratio of partial pres- and a program created to calculate the average intensity value at
sures of oxygen due to proportionality between concentration and each image pixel was executed. 200 images 共10 s at 20 Hz兲 were
partial pressure. captured for each case and the average pixel intensity was calcu-
The PSP-coated blade tip was illuminated by a strobe light lated from these images. Another program was used to convert the
fitted with an optical filter. Light emerging from this filter was intensity magnitudes to partial pressure of oxygen and then to
blue light with a center wavelength of 460 nm and a bandwidth of film-cooling effectiveness. Results obtained for each pixel were
20 nm. A 12-bit scientific-grade CCD camera 共high-speed Sensi- plotted as contour plots and are presented.
cam with CCD temperature maintained at ⫺15°C using two-stage Uncertainty calculations were performed based on a confidence
Peltier cooler兲 with an exposure time of 1 ms was employed to level of 95% and are based on the uncertainty analysis method of
measure emitting light intensity. An optical 590 nm long pass Coleman and Steele 关39兴. The uncertainty for effectiveness is es-
filter was placed in front of the camera to record orange light timated to be 7%, which arises due to an uncertainty of about 5%
emitting from the PSP. Optical filters were chosen to match the in the partial pressures of oxygen. This uncertainty is the result of
wavelengths for excitation 共blue兲 and return 共orange兲 signals for uncertainties in calibration 共4%兲 and image capture 共1%兲. Uncer-
the PSP. Special care was taken in choosing the wavelength range tainties for very low effectiveness magnitudes may be higher. Un-
of the filters to avoid any overlap of the ranges, so that the camera certainties for the blowing ratios are estimated to be 4%.
could detect only the excited light from PSP and not the reflected
light from the light source. The camera and the strobe light were Pressure Ratio Results
triggered at the same time by a 20 Hz trigger signal.
The PSP-coated blade tip surface was constructed by first coat- Local pressure ratio ( P t / P) distributions on plane and squealer
ing the blade tip with enamel-based white paint and then layering tip for coolant injection through tip holes only 共T case兲 for C
it with PSP. Calibration for the PSP was conducted inside a ⫽2.5% are shown in Fig. 8. Pressure distributions for all cases
vacuum chamber. Figure 6 depicts a schematic of the calibration were not included due to space restrictions. Typical distributions
setup. Air was removed from the chamber by a vacuum pump and are displayed in Fig. 8. The inlet total pressure was 147.39 kPa,
the intensity from the PSP-coated test plate was recorded at dif- and the exit static pressure was 115.27 kPa.
ferent pressures ( P⬍ P ref⫽1 atm). Pressure was varied from 0 to Pressure Ratio Distributions for Plane Blade Tip. Pressure
1 atm. The same optical components, strobe light, and camera distributions help indicate the possible paths of the tip-gap leak-
were used in the calibration. There is a temperature dependency of age flow. For plane tip, the pressure ratio is higher near the tip
PSP. However, if the intensity is normalized by that of the refer- pressure side 共20– 80% of chord region兲 indicating high leakage
ence image 共at 1 atm兲, the calibration curves, at different tempera- flow velocities on the tip. The pressure ratios near the leading
tures fall into one curve. Figure 7 shows the calibration curve of edge of the blade are low, indicating lower velocities. Presence of
intensity ratio versus pressure ratio, which is found to be linear
down to a ratio of 0.35. During testing, it was ensured that tem-
peratures of mainstream air, coolant, and test section were the
same, while taking reference, air, and nitrogen images to minimize
uncertainty. Thermocouples 共T-type兲 located upstream of the test
section and in the coolant flow recorded temperatures of air and
nitrogen gas. Experiments were conducted in an air-conditioned
room 共20°C兲 and temperatures of mainstream air, coolant air, and
nitrogen gas were maintained at 20°C.
Coolant mass flow was set using a Rota-meter to a flow rate
corresponding to the blowing ratio. A pneumatic valve was
opened and the pressure controller was set to the desired flow rate
for the mainstream air. A function generator was used to generate
TTL trigger signal for camera and strobe light. The images were
taken when the mainstream flow was fully developed, i.e., after
the initial developing time for flow 共⬃15 s兲. After the images were
captured, the pneumatic valve was closed. The duration of a single
experiment was about 30 s. Fig. 7 Calibration curve for PSP

Journal of Heat Transfer MAY 2005, Vol. 127 Õ 525

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 06/01/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms

 Fig. 8 Distributions of pressure ratio „ P t Õ P …
for plane blade tip „top row… and squealer blade
tip „bottom row… for coolant injection through
tip holes only „ T case… and C Ä2.5%

film-cooling jets may result in a blockage effect, which might blowing ratio is muted. It can also be noted that pressure ratio
reduce the leakage flow through the tip gap. The plane tip pressure distributions closely resemble the local heat transfer distributions
ratio distributions show slightly lower magnitudes with increasing 关2,3兴 for both plane and squealer tip cases.
blowing ratio, indicating the presence of this blockage effect.
Film-Cooling Effectiveness Results
Pressure Ratio Distributions for Squealer Blade Tip. Fig-
ure 8 also shows pressure ratio distributions for the squealer blade Film-Cooling Effectiveness Results for Plane Blade Tip
tip. The pressure ratio on the squealer surface inside the cavity is Figure 9 shows film-cooling effectiveness distribution for plane
lower as compared to the plane tip, indicating lower velocities on blade tip. The first three rows in the figure include results for tip
the surface, suggesting the presence of a recirculation zone. The only 共T兲 coolant injection, middle three rows for pressure side
leakage flow reattaches at the base of the rim near the suction side only 共P兲 coolant injection, and the last three rows for tip 共camber
and then the flow progresses toward the downstream pressure side line兲 and pressure-side (T P) coolant injection. For each case, a set
of the cavity. Numerical simulation of the same geometry per- of three different tip gap clearances 共C兲 of 1.0% 共10兲, 1.5% 共15兲,
formed by Yang et al. 关28兴 depicts flow path lines in the squealer and 2.5% 共25兲 are shown arranged columnwise. Results for blow-
tip, which correlate well with the experimental observations. High ing ratios of 0.5 共05兲, 1.0 共1兲, and 2 共2兲 for each tip-gap clearance
leakage flow occurs at about 15–35% of blade chord. For cases are also presented row-wise in Fig. 9. Notations used in the fig-
with squealer tip, the change in the pressure ratios with changing ures are indicated by the numbers in parentheses above. Thus,

Fig. 9 Film-cooling effectiveness distribution on plane blade tip

526 Õ Vol. 127, MAY 2005 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 06/01/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms

 TP-C15-2 corresponds to the case with coolant injection from tip tip. Effectiveness due to the tip holes along camber line remains
as well as pressure side, for a tip-gap clearance of 1.5% and blow- mostly constant, whereas that due to airfoil pressure-side holes
ing ratio, M ⫽2. Same notation has been used in all figures with shows an increasing trend with decreasing tip gap. Higher clear-
plots of film-cooling effectiveness. ances between blade tip and shroud allow more leakage flow,
The maximum film-cooling effectiveness among all cases in which, in turn, may lead to dilution of the coolant.
Fig. 9 is about 0.3 with the maximum value occurring immedi-
ately downstream of the holes. As blowing ratio increases from Film-Cooling Effectiveness Results for Squealer Blade Tip
M ⫽0.5 to M ⫽2, overall film-cooling effectiveness increases. Figure 10 shows film-cooling effectiveness distribution for
This is due to higher mass flow rate of the coolant injected squealer blade tip. The figure includes plots for T, P, and TP cases
through the holes resulting in a larger film-covered area. The film- with different tip clearances and blowing ratios with the plots
covered area extends further downstream with a more visible trace arranged in the same fashion as Fig. 9. The presence of a squealer
for film-cooling effectiveness as blowing ratio increases. The in- tip reduces the leakage flow from pressure to suction side of the
crease in magnitude is higher for tip holes 共T and T P) closer to blade. The film-covered area for squealer tip is smaller as com-
the leading and trailing edges as compared to midchord holes for pared to plane tip. Moreover, trace of the coolant is oriented to-
higher blowing ratios (M ⫽1 and 2兲, which can be attributed to ward the trailing edge and pressure side for the holes on the cam-
smaller leakage flow in this region. The relatively lower increase ber line, whereas the trace in plane tip case is oriented toward
in film-cooling effectiveness at 30– 40% of chord region may be suction side. This is because of the squealer rim, which induces a
due to high leakage flow, which may dilute the injected coolant recirculation zone inside the cavity.
with the leakage flow. Besides, coolant injection at 90° to the Film-cooling effectiveness increases with increasing blowing
blade tip surface is more prone to dilution with the mainstream ratio. For the region from the midchord of the blade to the trailing
flow, thus lowering effectiveness. edge in the cavity, the effectiveness is relatively higher due to the
For T P cases, since number of film-cooling holes is double, the accumulation and recirculation of coolant. A noticeable trace can
be detected on the trailing edge (T P), which is probably because
total mass flow rate was also set at two times that for T and P
of some carry over of the coolant over the rim from the pressure
cases. Thus, average blowing ratio for each hole is maintained
side.
same for T P, T, and P cases. It should also be noted that the local
Adding film-cooling holes on the pressure side 共P and T P) has
static pressure measured on the pressure side at 97% of the blade
only a minor effect on the tip. The pressure-side rim of the
span indicates that it is mostly constant over the region from
squealer tip shows some traces of the coolant, while a stronger
where coolant is injected with local pressure ratio magnitudes trace is visible on the trailing edge. The maximum value of film-
increasing from 1.0 at the leading edge to 1.07 near the last hole. cooling effectiveness is lower than 0.2 for cases with only
By comparing these ratios to local pressure ratios on the tip sur- pressure-side coolant injection. Results from a film-cooling effec-
face, the blowing ratio distribution for each corresponding tip and tiveness study performed by Kwak and Han 关3兴 using a hue-
pressure-side hole can be approximated. It can be observed from detection-based transient liquid-crystal technique on a squealer
Fig. 8 that the pressure ratio on the plane tip surface near the blade tip show similar path lines for coolant flow. This indicates
camber line is high with average values around 1.35, whereas for good consistency between the two methods. Their magnitudes for
the squealer tip the pressure ratios are lower 共⬃1.1兲. Thus, the effectiveness on the tip cavity surface are higher mainly because
pressure ratios for plane tip on the camber line are much higher as of a larger number of holes 共13兲, and, consequently, more coolant
compared to near-tip pressure side 共at 97% blade span兲, while for is supplied at the same blowing ratio.
squealer tip, the pressure ratios are comparable. This indicates that Increasing tip gap shows increasing film-cooling effectiveness
for the plane tip for TP cases, relatively more coolant passes in the squealer cavity. This is opposite to that for the plane tip,
through the tip holes than pressure-side holes because of a higher which shows a decreasing trend. At smaller tip-gap clearance, the
pressure drop through the tip holes, resulting in higher blowing shroud may restrict the recirculation inside the cavity because the
ratios for the tip holes. For the squealer blade tip for T P cases, the distance from the floor of cavity to the shroud is smaller than the
blowing ratios for tip and pressure-side holes are comparable due width of cavity. On the other hand, at a larger tip-gap clearance,
to similar surface static pressures on the tip and near-tip region. the recirculating vortex can be even stronger and can push the
Thus, higher effectiveness on the tip surface due to tip holes for coolant to the tip surface.
tip and pressure-side injection (T P) cases as compared to only tip
injection 共T兲 for the plane tip can be explained as the blowing Averaged Film-Cooling Effectiveness Results. Figure 11
ratios might be higher than the preset value. shows the variation of averaged film-cooling effectiveness 共%兲 for
For cases with coolant flow on the pressure side 共P and T P), the plane and squealer blade tip for all cases. The averaged values
traces of the coolant on the blade tip can be observed more clearly are obtained by area averaging the effectiveness magnitudes for
with increasing blowing ratio. Due to high mainstream velocities the projected tip area. Averaged effectiveness values show an in-
on the pressure side, coolant injected through these holes can get creasing trend with increasing blowing ratios as observed for the
diverted toward the trailing edge. Thus, effectiveness for the first contour plots. It can also be observed that results obtained for two
two holes is almost negligible for blowing ratios of 0.5 and 1.0. sets of film cooling holes (T P case兲 do not necessarily show a
For M ⫽2 though, a trace is visible due to larger momentum of cumulative effect for results with tip only 共T case兲 injection and
the coolant jet. The carrying over of the pressure-side coolant is pressure side only 共P case兲 injection. From Fig. 11, it is evident
higher for the holes near the midchord to trailing-edge region, that pressure side only 共P case兲 coolant injection has poor effec-
resulting in higher film-cooling effectiveness. For both pressure- tiveness for squealer tip as compared to plane tip.
side and camber line coolant injection, almost uniform, high film-
cooling effectiveness near the trailing edge is observed. A quali- Conclusions
tative comparison with the results obtained by Kwak and Han 关2兴
A parametric study has been performed for film-cooling effec-
shows consistency between the two data sets. They performed
tiveness on blade tip by using a plane tip and a squealer tip.
tests for coolant injection using 13 holes each on the camber line
Effects of coolant injection from tip, pressure side, tip and pres-
and pressure side, whereas seven holes have been used in this
sure side, blowing ratio, and tip-gap clearance have been studied.
study. Trends obtained for the coolant traces in both studies are Major findings from the experimental results are listed below.
similar, with the magnitudes in the present study slightly higher
than those obtained by Kwak and Han 关2兴. 1. Increasing blowing ratio increases film-cooling effectiveness
Increasing tip gap from 1.0% to 2.5% of span generally shows for tip for all cases. For pressure-side injection only 共P兲, the
a decreasing effect on the film-cooling effectiveness on the blade increase in effectiveness is smaller for higher blowing ratios.

Journal of Heat Transfer MAY 2005, Vol. 127 Õ 527

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 06/01/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms

 Fig. 10 Film-cooling effectiveness distribution on squealer blade tip

Fig. 11 Averaged film-cooling effectiveness for plane and squealer blade tip

528 Õ Vol. 127, MAY 2005 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 06/01/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms

 2. Blade tip effectiveness is relatively unaffected by changes in Transfer and Film Effectiveness Investigations Performed by Dr. D. E.
tip-gap clearance. Metzger,’’ ASME J. Turbomach., 117, pp. 1–11.
关5兴 Kim, Y. W., and Metzger, D. E., 1995, ‘‘Heat Transfer and Effectiveness on
3. For plane tip cases, the film-cooling effectiveness on blade Film Cooled Turbine Blade Tip Model,’’ ASME J. Turbomach., 117, pp. 12–
tip is higher for the case with pressure-side injection 共P兲 as 21.
compared to only tip 共T兲 and tip and pressure-side injection 关6兴 Metzger, D. E., Dunn, M. G., and Hah, C., 1991, ‘‘Turbine Tip and Shroud
(T P) except for the highest blowing ratio case (M ⫽2). Heat Transfer,’’ ASME J. Turbomach., 113, pp. 502–507.
4. For squealer tip cases, the film-cooling effectiveness on 关7兴 Dunn, M. G., and Haldeman, C. W., 2000, ‘‘Time-Averaged Heat Flux for a
blade tip is higher for the case with tip and pressure-side Recessed Tip, Lip, and Platform of a Transonic Turbine Blade,’’ ASME J.
injection as compared to only tip and only pressure-side in- Turbomach., 122, pp. 692– 697.
关8兴 Bunker, R. S., Baily, J. C., and Ameri, A. A., 2000, ‘‘Heat Transfer and Flow
jection.
on the First Stage Blade Tip of a Power Generation Gas Turbine: Part 1:
5. For squealer tip cases, higher film-cooling effectiveness is Experimental Results,’’ ASME J. Turbomach., 122, pp. 272–277.
observed due to accumulation between camber line and 关9兴 Bunker, R. S., and Baily, J. C., 2001, ‘‘Effect of Squealer Cavity Depth and
pressure side in the tip cavity. Oxidation on Turbine Blade Tip Heat Transfer,’’ ASME Paper No. 2001-GT-
6. Film-cooling effectiveness on the plane blade tip due to 0155.
coolant injection from the pressure side of blade is signifi- 关10兴 Azad, G. M. S., Han, J. C., Teng, S., and Boyle, R., 2000, ‘‘Heat Transfer and
cant, whereas for squealer tip, it is negligible. Pressure Distributions on a Gas Turbine Blade Tip,’’ ASME J. Turbo-
mach., 122, pp. 717–724.
关11兴 Azad, G. M. S., Han, J. C., and Boyle, R., 2000, ‘‘Heat Transfer and Pressure
Acknowledgment Distributions on the Squealer Tip of a Gas Turbine Blade,’’ ASME J. Turbom-
ach., 122, pp. 725–732.
This work was prepared with the partial support of the NASA 关12兴 Kwak, J. S., and Han, J. C., 2003, ‘‘Heat Transfer Coefficient on a Gas Turbine
Glenn Research Center, Solar Turbines, Inc., and State of Texas Blade Tip and Near Tip Regions,’’ J. Thermophys. Heat Transfer, 17„3…, pp.
Advanced Technology Program. 297–303.
关13兴 Kwak, J. S., and Han, J. C., 2003, ‘‘Heat Transfer Coefficient on the Squealer
Tip and Near Squealer Tip Regions of a Gas Turbine Blade,’’ ASME J. Heat
Nomenclature Transfer, 125, pp. 669– 677.
关14兴 Azad, G. M. S., Han, J. C., Bunker, R. S., and Lee, C. P., 2002, ‘‘Effect of
C ⫽ tip clearance gap
Squealer Geometry Arrangement on a Gas Turbine Blade Tip Heat Transfer,’’
CD ⫽ discharge coefficient ASME J. Heat Transfer, 124, pp. 452– 459.
Co ⫽ oxygen concentration 关15兴 Kwak, J. S., Ahn, J., Han, J. C., Pang Lee, C., Bunker, R. S., Boyle, R., and
Cx ⫽ axial chord length of the blade 共8.61 cm兲 Gaugler, R., 2002, ‘‘Heat Transfer Coefficients on Squealer Tip and Near Tip
d ⫽ diameter of film-cooling holes 共0.127 cm兲 Regions of a Gas Turbine Blade With Single or Double Squealer,’’ ASME
i ⫽ film-cooling hole location on a surface from leading Paper No. GT-2003-38907.
edge 关16兴 Mayle, R. E., and Metzger, D. E., 1982, ‘‘Heat Transfer at the Tip of an
Unshrouded Turbine Blade,’’ Proc. of 7th International Heat Transfer Confer-
I ⫽ pixel intensity for an image
ence, Hemisphere, Washington, DC, pp. 87–92.
M ⫽ average blowing ratio (⫽ ␳ c V c / ␳ m V avg) 关17兴 Heyes, F. J. G., Hodson, H. P., and Dailey, G. M., 1991, ‘‘The Effect of Blade
Mi ⫽ blowing ratio for ith hole (⫽ ␳ c,i V c,i / ␳ m V avg) Tip Geometry on the Tip Leakage Flow in Axial Turbine Cascades,’’ ASME
LE ⫽ leading edge of the blade Paper No. 91-GT-135.
P ⫽ local static pressure 关18兴 Yang, T. T., and Diller, T. E., 1995, ‘‘Heat Transfer and Flow for a Grooved
Pt ⫽ total pressure at the cascade inlet Turbine Blade Tip in a Transonic Cascade,’’ ASME Paper No. 95-WA/HT-29.
关19兴 Teng, S., Han, J. C., and Azad, G. M. S., 2001, ‘‘Detailed Heat Transfer
P O2 ⫽ partial pressure of oxygen Coefficient Distributions on a Large-Scale Gas Turbine Blade Tip,’’ ASME J.
PS ⫽ blade pressure side Heat Transfer, 123, pp. 803– 809.
TE ⫽ trailing edge of the blade 关20兴 Saxena, V., Nasir, H., and Ekkad, S. V., 2003, ‘‘Effect of Blade Tip Geometry
Tu ⫽ turbulence intensity level at the cascade inlet on Tip Flow and Heat Transfer for a Blade in a Low Speed Cascade,’’ ASME
x ⫽ axial distance 共cm兲 Paper No. 2003-GT-38176.
V avg ⫽ averaged velocity of mainstream air at cascade inlet 关21兴 Papa, M., Goldstein, R. J., and Gori, F., 2002, ‘‘Effects of Tip Geometry and
Tip Clearance on the Mass/Heat Transfer From a Large-Scale Gas Turbine
and exit
Blade,’’ ASME Paper No. 2002-GT-30192.
Vc ⫽ averaged velocity of coolant air from all film-cooling 关22兴 Jin, P., and Goldstein, R. J., 2002, ‘‘Local Mass/Heat Transfer on a Turbine
holes Blade Tip,’’ 9th International Symposium on Transport Phenomena and Dy-
␣ ⫽ thermal diffusivity of blade tip material namics of Rotating Machinery, Honolulu, Feb. 10–14, HT-ABS-012, pp.
(1.25⫻10⫺7 m2 /s) 1–11.
␩ ⫽ local film-cooling effectiveness 关23兴 Jin, P., and Goldstein, R. J., 2002, ‘‘Local Mass/Heat Transfer on Turbine
␳c ⫽ density of coolant air Blade Near-Tip Surfaces,’’ ASME Paper No. 2002-GT-30556.
关24兴 Ameri, A. A., Steinthorsson, E., and Rigby, L. D., 1999, ‘‘Effects of Tip Clear-
␳m ⫽ density of mainstream air ance and Casing Recess on Heat Transfer and Stage Efficiency in Axial Tur-
bines,’’ ASME J. Turbomach., 121, pp. 683– 693.
Subscript 关25兴 Ameri, A. A., and Bunker, R. S., 2000, ‘‘Heat Transfer and Flow on the First
Stage Blade Tip of a Power Generation Gas Turbine: Part 2: Simulation Re-
air ⫽ mainstream air with air as coolant sults,’’ ASME J. Turbomach., 122, pp. 272–277.
mix ⫽ mainstream air with nitrogen as coolant 关26兴 Ameri, A. A., and Rigby, D. L., 1999, ‘‘A Numerical Analysis of Heat Transfer
ref ⫽ reference image with no mainstream and coolant flow and Effectiveness on Film Cooled Turbine Blade Tip Models,’’ NASA/CR
1999-209165.
blk ⫽ image without illumination 共black兲
关27兴 Yang, H., Acharya, S., Ekkad, S. V., Prakash, C., and Bunker, R., 2002, ‘‘Flow
and Heat Transfer Predictions for a Flat-Tip Turbine Blade,’’ ASME Paper No.
References 2002-GT-30190.
关28兴 Yang, H., Acharya, S., Ekkad, S. V., Prakash, C., and Bunker, R., 2002, ‘‘Nu-
关1兴 Han, J. C., Dutta, S., and Ekkad, S. V., 2000, Gas Turbine Heat Transfer and merical Simulation of Flow and Heat Transfer Past a Turbine Blade With a
Cooling Technology, Taylor & Francis, New York. Squealer-Tip,’’ ASME Paper No. 2002-GT-30193.
关2兴 Kwak, J. S., and Han, J. C., 2002, ‘‘Heat Transfer Coefficient and Film-
关29兴 Acharya, S., Yang, H., Prakash, C., and Bunker, R., 2002, ‘‘Numerical Simu-
Cooling Effectiveness on a Gas Turbine Blade Tip,’’ ASME Paper No. GT-
2002-30194. lation of Film Cooling on the Tip of a Gas Turbine Blade,’’ ASME Paper No.
关3兴 Kwak, J. S., and Han, J. C., 2002, ‘‘Heat Transfer Coefficient and Film- 2002-GT-30553.
Cooling Effectiveness on the Squealer Tip of a Gas Turbine Blade,’’ ASME 关30兴 Yang, H., Chen, H. C., and Han, J. C., 2004, ‘‘Numerical Prediction of Film
Paper No. GT-2002-30555. Cooling and Heat Transfer With Different Film Hole Arrangements on the
关4兴 Kim, Y. W., Downs, J. P., Soechting, F. O., Abdel-Messeh, W., Steuber, G. D., Plane and Squealer Tip of A Gas Turbine Blade,’’ ASME Paper No. 2004-GT-
and Tanrikut, S., 1995, ‘‘A Summary of the Cooled Turbine Blade Tip Heat 53199.

Journal of Heat Transfer MAY 2005, Vol. 127 Õ 529

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 06/01/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms

 关31兴 Hohlfeld, E. M., Christophel, J. R., Couch, E. L., and Thole, K. A., 2003, Sensors,’’ AIAA Paper No. 93-0178.
‘‘Predictions of Cooling Flow Dirt Purge Holes Along the Tip of a Turbine 关36兴 Zhang, L. J., and Fox, M., 1999, ‘‘Flat Plate Film Cooling Measurement Using
Blade,’’ ASME Paper No. 2003-GT-38251. PSP and Gas Chromatography Techniques,’’ Proc. Fifth ASME/JSME Joint
关32兴 Morris, M., Donovan, J., Kegelman, J., Schwab, S., Levy, R., and Crites, R., Thermal Engineering Conf., San Diego, ASME, New York.
1995, ‘‘Aerodynamic Applications of Pressure Sensitive Paint,’’ AIAA Paper 关37兴 Zhang, L. J., Baltz, M., Pudupatty, R., and Fox, M., 1999, ‘‘Turbine Nozzle
No. 92-0264. Film Cooling Study Using the Pressure Sensitive Paint 共PSP兲 Technique,’’
关33兴 McLachlan, B., and Bell, J., 1995, ‘‘Pressure-Sensitive Paint in Aerodynamic ASME Paper No. 99-GT-196.
Testing,’’ Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci., 10, pp. 470– 485. 关38兴 Zhang, L. J., and Jaiswal, R. S., 2001, ‘‘Turbine Nozzle Endwall Film Cooling
关34兴 Donovan, J., Morris, M., Pal, A., Benne, M., and Crites, R., 1993, ‘‘Data Study Using Pressure-Sensitive Paint,’’ ASME J. Turbomach., 123, pp. 730–
Analysis Techniques for Pressure- and Temperature-Sensitive Paint,’’ AIAA 738.
Paper No. 93-0178. 关39兴 Coleman, H. W., and Steele, W. G., 1989, Experimentation and Uncertainty
关35兴 Bell, J., and McLachlan, B., 1993, ‘‘Image Registration for Luminescent Paint Analysis for Engineers, Wiley, New York.

530 Õ Vol. 127, MAY 2005 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 06/01/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms