Simulations of Slot Film-Cooling With Freestream Acceleration and Turbulence

Slot film cooling in an accelerating boundary layer with high freestream turbulence is studied numerically using large eddy simulations (LES). Calculations are done for a symmetrical leading edge geometry with the slot fed by a plenum populated with pin fins. The synthetic eddy method is used to generate different levels of turbulence and length scales at the inflow cross-plane. Calculations are done for a Reynolds number of 250,000 and freestream turbulence levels of 0.7%, 3.5%, 7.8%, and 13.7% to predict both film cooling effectiveness and heat transfer coefficient over the test surface. These conditions correspond to the experimental measurements of (Busche, M. L., Kingery, J. E., and Ames, F. E., 2014, “Slot Film Cooling in an Accelerating Boundary Layer With High Free-Stream Turbulence,” ASME Paper No. GT2014-25360.) Numerical results show good agreement with measurements and show the observed decay of thermal effectiveness and increase of Stanton number with turbulence intensity. Velocity and turbulence exiting the slot are nonuniform laterally due to the presence of pin fins in the plenum feeding the slot which creates a nonuniform surface temperature distribution. No transition to fully turbulent boundary layer is observed throughout the numerical domain. However, freestream turbulence increases wall shear stress downstream driving the velocity profiles toward the turbulent profile and counteracts the laminarizing effects of the favorable pressure gradient. The effective Prandtl number decreases with freestream turbulence. The temperature profiles deviate from the self-similar profile measured under low freestream turbulence condition, reflecting the role of the increased diffusivity in the boundary layer at higher freestream turbulence.