Influence of Spanwise and Streamwise Film Hole Spacing on Adiabatic Film Effectiveness for Effusion-Cooled Gas Turbine Blades

To meet the challenges of increased thermal loads and performance demands on aero-engine turbine blades, more advanced cooling techniques are required. This study used a modification of the well-known Goldstein equation to predict film effectiveness for an individual film cooling hole and applied the Sellers' superposition method to apply these films across effusion-cooled configurations. In doing so, it tackles a relatively unchallenged problem of film holes in close spanwise proximity. An experimental set-up utilised infrared cameras to assess the film effectiveness of nine geometries of varying spanwise and streamwise spacings. Higher porosity led to increased thermal protection, and the spanwise spacing had the most profound impact, with film effectiveness approaching 0.9. Additionally, greater uniformity in the spanwise direction was observed. The modified Goldstein-Sellers method showed good agreement with experimental results although lateral mixing was underestimated. This method represents a tool that could be easily implemented in the industry for rapid assessment of novel cooling geometries.