Local Heat Transfer in Turbine Disk Cavities: Part I—Rotor and Stator Cooling With Hub Injection of Coolant

Results are presented from an experimental study designed to obtain detailed radial heat transfer coefficient distributions applicable to the cooling of disk-cavity regions of gas turbines. An experimental apparatus has been designed to obtain local heat transfer data on both the rotating and stationary surfaces of a parallel geometry disk-cavity system. The method employed utilizes thin thermochromic liquid crystal coatings together with video system data acquisition and computer-assisted image analysis to extract heat transfer information. The color display of the liquid crystal coatings is detected through the analysis of standard video chromanance signals. The experimental technique used is an aerodynamically steady but thermally transient one, which provides consistent disk-cavity thermal boundary conditions yet is inexpensive and highly versatile. A single circular jet is used to introduce fluid from the stator into the disk cavity by impingement normal to the rotor surface. The present study investigates hub injection of coolant over a wide range of parameters including disk rotational Reynolds numbers of 2 to 5 × 10⁵, rotor/stator spacing-to-disk radius ratios of 0.025 to 0.15, and jet mass flow rates between 0.10 and 0.40 times the turbulent pumped flow rate of a free disk. The results are presented as radial distributions of local Nusselt numbers. Rotor heat transfer exhibits regions of impingement and rotational domination with a transition region between, while stator heat transfer shows flow reattachment and convection regions with evidence of an inner recirculation zone. The local effects of rotation, spacing, and mass flow rate are all displayed. The significant magnitude of stator heat transfer in many cases indicates the importance of proper stator modeling to rotor and disk-cavity heat transfer results.