Calculation of Heat Transfer to Convection-Cooled Gas Turbine Blades

A mathematical model is presented for calculating the external heat transfer coefficients around gas turbine blades. The model is based on a finite-difference procedure for solving the boundary-layer equations which describe the flow and temperature field around the blades. The effects of turbulence are simulated by a low-Reynolds number version of the k-ε turbulence model. This allows calculation of laminar and transitional zones and also the onset of transition. Applications of the calculation method are presented to turbine-blade situations which have recently been investigated experimentally. Predicted and measured heat transfer coefficients are compared and good agreement with the data is observed. This is true especially for the pressure-surface boundary layer which is of a rather complex nature because it remains in a transitional state over the full blade length. The influence of various flow phenomena like laminar-turbulent transition and of the boundary conditions (pressure gradient, free-stream turbulence) on the predicted heat transfer rates is discussed.