Experimental Thermal Field Measurements of Film Cooling Above the Suction Surface of a Turbine Vane

Two-dimensional thermal profiles were experimentally measured downstream of a single row of film cooling holes on both an adiabatic and a matched Biot number model turbine vane. The measurements were taken as a comparison to computational simulations of the same model and flow conditions. Previously, adiabatic and overall effectiveness comparisons have been made between experimental and computational data. To improve computational models of the evolution of a film cooling jet as it propagates downstream, the thermal field above the vane, not just the footprint on the vane surface must be analyzed. This study expands these data to include 2-D thermal fields above the vane at 0, 5 and 10 hole diameters downstream of the film cooling holes. Four blowing ratios were tested, M = 0.28, 0.65, 1.11, and 2.41. In each case the computational jets remained colder than the experimental jets because they did not diffuse into the mainstream as quickly. In addition, the computational results for the higher two blowing ratios exhibited the effects of the kidney vortex commonly studied in film cooling, but the experimental thermal fields were not dominated by this vortex. Finally, in comparing results above adiabatic and matched Biot number models, these thermal fields allow for an accurate analysis of whether or not the adiabatic wall temperature was a reasonable estimate of the driving temperature for heat transfer.