Gas Turbine Studies at Oxford 1969–1987

Gas turbine heat transfer studies commenced at Oxford University in 1969 when transient techniques previously used for measurements in hypersonic flows were applied to the gas turbine environment. Shock tubes were employed and subsequently a new form of transient tunnel, the Isentropic Light Piston Tunnel, was developed specifically for turbine heat transfer testing. During the following years further short duration facilities were developed to study blade and vane external aerodynamics and also the heat transfer in cooling passages was examined using liquid crystal techniques. All these transient facilities are described and the development of the instrumentation peculiar to these is explained. The results of the work on external and internal heat transfer are summarised. In particular, the film cooling studies, the blade and vane external heat transfer work and the wake simulation experiments are outlined. This paper is dedicated to the late Don Schultz.