45 deg Round-Corner Rib Heat Transfer Coefficient Measurements in a Square Channel

Cooling channels, roughened with repeated ribs, are commonly employed as a means of cooling turbine blades. The increased level of mixing induced by these ribs enhances the convective heat transfer in the blade cooling cavities. Many previous investigations have focused on the heat transfer coefficient on the surfaces between these ribs and only a few studies report the heat transfer coefficient on the rib surfaces themselves. The present study investigated the heat transfer coefficient on the surfaces of 45 deg, round-corner ribs. Three staggered rib geometries corresponding to blockage ratios of 0.133, 0.167, and 0.25 were tested in a square channel for pitch-to-height ratios of 5, 8.5, and 10, and for two distinct thermal boundary conditions of heated and unheated channel wall. Comparisons were made between the surface-averaged heat transfer coefficients and channel friction factors for sharp-and round-corner ribs and 45 versus 90 deg ribs, reported previously. Heat transfer coefficients of the furthest upstream rib and that of a typical rib located in the middle of the ribroughened region were also compared. It was concluded that: (a) For the geometries tested, the rib average heat transfer coefficient was much higher than that for the area between the ribs. (b) The general effect of rounding the rib corners was a decrease in both rib heat transfer coefficient and channel pressure drop. (c) For the highest blockage ratio ribs (e/D_h = 0.25), 90 deg ribs performed superior to 45 deg ribs. However, this trend reversed for smaller rib blockage ratios. (d) Heat transfer coefficients for the two smaller rib geometries (e/D_h = 0.133 and 0.167) did not vary significantly with the pitch-to-height ratio in the range tested. However, the heat transfer coefficient for the high blockage rib geometry increased significantly as the ribs were brought closer to each other. (e) Under otherwise identical conditions, ribs in the furthest upstream position produced lower heat transfer coefficients than those in the midstream position. (f) Rib thermal performance decreased with the rib blockage ratio. The smallest rib geometry (e/D_h = 0.133) at a pitch-to-height ratio of 10 and the largest rib geometry (e/D_h = 0.25) at a pitch-to-height ratio of 5, both in midstream position, produced the highest and the lowest thermal performances, respectively.