Flow Physics of Diffused-Exit Film Cooling Holes Fed by Internal Crossflow

Internal crossflow, or internal flow that is perpendicular to the overflowing mainstream, reduces film cooling effectiveness by disrupting the diffusion of coolant at the exit of axial shaped holes. Previous experimental investigations have shown that internal crossflow causes the coolant to bias toward one side of the diffuser and that the severity of the biasing scales with the inlet velocity ratio, VR_i, or the ratio of crossflow velocity to the jet velocity in the metering section of the hole. It has been hypothesized and computationally predicted that internal crossflow produces an asymmetric swirling flow within the hole that causes the coolant to bias in the diffuser and that biasing contributes to ingestion of hot mainstream gas into the hole, which is undesirable. However, there are no experimental measurements as of yet to confirm these predictions. In the present study, in- and near-hole flow field and thermal field measurements were performed to investigate the flow structures and mainstream ingestion for a standard axial shaped hole fed by internal crossflow. Three different inlet velocity ratios of VR_i = 0.24, 0.36, and 0.71 were tested at varying injection rates. Measurements were made in planes normal to the nominal direction of coolant flow at the outlet plane of the hole and at two downstream locations—x/d = 0 and 5. The predicted swirling structure was observed for the highest inlet velocity ratio and flow within the hole was shown to scale with VR_i. Ingestion within the diffuser was significant and also scaled with VR_i. Downstream flow and thermal fields showed that increased biasing contributed to more severe jet detachment and coolant dispersion away from the surface.