Turbine Nozzle Endwall Film Cooling Study Using Pressure-Sensitive Paint

Endwall surface film cooling effectiveness was measured on a turbine vane endwall surface using the pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) technique. A double staggered row of holes and a single row of discrete slots were used to supply film cooling in front of the nozzle cascade leading edges. Nitrogen gas was used to simulate film cooling flow as well as a tracer gas to indicate oxygen concentration such that film effectiveness by the mass transfer analogy could be obtained. Cooling mass flow was controlled to be 0.5 to 3.0 percent of the mainstream mass flow. The free-stream Reynolds number was about 283,000 and Mach number was about 0.11. The free-stream turbulence intensity was kept at 6.0 percent for all the tests, measured by a thermal anemometer. The PSP was calibrated at various temperatures and pressures to obtain better accuracy before being applied to the endwall surface. Film effectiveness distributions were measured on a flat endwall surface for five different mass flow rates. The film effectiveness increased nonlinearly with mass flow rate, indicating a strong interference between the cooling jets and the endwall secondary flows. At lower mass flow ratios, the secondary flow dominated the near wall flow field, resulting in a low film effectiveness. At higher mass flow ratios, the cooling jet momentum dominated the near wall flow field, resulting in a higher film effectiveness. The comparison between hole injection and slot injection was also made.