Session: Poster Session

Paper Number: 159134

Development of an Adjoint Optimization System for Improvement of Turbine Cooling Passages 

Gas turbines often suffer an efficiency penalty due to sourcing cooling flows from the compressor as an effort to cool turbine stages against the high temperature environment. This loss in efficiency calls for the optimization of cooling hole passages within turbine blades. With the rise in additive manufacturing, optimization methods that allow for freeform deformation, such as the adjoint method, can be taken advantage of. In this study, a simplified cooling hole passage is optimized for maximized heat transfer and minimized pressure loss using the adjoint method, a CFD-based scheme. The baseline geometry to be modified is a u-bend passage with no turbulators, based upon the heat transfer model in NASA’s HOST experiment. The computational model will be using STAR-CCM+’s built-in adjoint method for optimization of the baseline geometry. An accompanying experimental study will validate the baseline CFD model, as well as assess the performance of the optimized geometry. The experiment will consist of a heat transfer rig incorporating the additively manufactured baseline and optimized geometries. Heat transfer will be visually evaluated using thermochromic liquid crystals. Studying and assessing capabilities of the adjoint method in this capacity establishes a greater understanding of an additional tool that can be utilized to design gas turbines that run more efficiently, thus contributing towards efforts in reducing fuel emissions.

Presenting Author: Tammy Nguyen-Huynh The Ohio State University

Presenting Author Biography: Tammy Nguyen-Huynh is a Graduate Research Assistant and an Ohio Space Grant Consortium Master’s Fellow pursuing a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering in the Gas Turbine Laboratory at The Ohio State University's Aerospace Research Center. Additionally, she is a Pathways Intern in the Turbomachinery and Turboelectric Systems Branch at NASA Glenn Research Center. Tammy holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from The Ohio State University.

Authors:

Tammy Nguyen-Huynh The Ohio State University
Randall Mathison The Ohio State University