Session: 15-04: General Internal Cooling

Paper Number: 153056

The Design of a Turbine Heat Transfer Evaluate Test Apparatus (THETA) for Studying Rotating Convection Heat Transfer in the Blade Internal Channel 

Understanding the rotational heat transfer characteristic of internal channels inside turbine blades depends on high-quality experimental research, and the excellent performance of the experimental apparatus is the primary factor in achieving this goal. This paper introduces a new experimental apparatus for rotating heat transfer of turbine blades. It adds a series of unique functions through significant structural innovation, improves the experimental ability of the original facility, and can cover the working condition envelope of the current typical turbine blade internal cooling channel. The experimental apparatus can be divided into the air source system, air pipeline system, power system, rotor system, test and control system. In the experiment, the absolute pressure of the air source can reach up to 0.85 MPa. The air pipeline system can realize dual separate coolant supply and combined coolant supply. The maximum rotational speed of the rotor system can reach 1300 rpm, and the rotation radius of the test section can be adjusted within the range of 0.27 ~ 0.75 m. Temperature and pressure measurement points have been increased to 256 and 8, respectively, with room for further upgrades. In addition, the disk design of the rotor system also provides a broad space for the application of advanced measuring instruments, which can meet the needs of the future such as infrared or liquid crystal temperature measurements, and real-time measurement of small mass flow rates at the bleeding slots of the experiment section. At present, the experimental facility has been put into use, and it has played an irreplaceable role in the rotational heat transfer research of turbine blade leading edge impingement channel, double wall cooling channel, and U-shaped channel with overflow under low use costs.

Presenting Author: Chenghua Zhu Beihang University

Presenting Author Biography: Zhu Chenghua is a PhD candidate from the Research Institute of Aero-Engine (RIAE), Beihang University (BUAA). In 2014, he received a bachelor of engineering degree from the School of Aerospace Engineering (SAE), Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), and worked at Sichuan Gas Turbine Establishment (CGTE), Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) from 2014 to 2019, as an assistant engineer. From 2019 to 2021, he studied for a master's degree at the School of Energy and Power Engineering (SEPE), Beihang University (BUAA). Since 2021, he has studied at the Research Institute of Aero-Engine (RIAE), Beihang University (BUAA). The research direction is heat transfer and cooling technology of aero engine/gas turbine turbine blades.

Authors:

Chenghua Zhu Beihang University
Jie Wen Beihang University
Guoqiang Xu Beihang University
Hao Li Beihang University
Jiale Wang Beihang University
Guoliang Chen Beihang University