Suction and Pressure Side Film Cooling Influence on Vane Aero Performance in a Transonic Annular Cascade

An experimental study on a film cooled nozzle guide vane has been conducted in a transonic annular sector to observe the influence of suction and pressure side film cooling on aerodynamic performance. The investigated vane is a typical high pressure gas turbine vane, geometrically similar to a real engine component, operated at an exit reference Mach number of 0.89. The aerodynamic results using a five hole miniature probe are quantified and compared with the baseline case which is uncooled. Results lead to a conclusion that the aerodynamic loss is influenced substantially with the change of the cooling flow rate regardless the positions of the cooling rows. The aerodynamic loss is very sensitive to the blowing ratio and a value of blowing ratio higher than one leads to a considerable higher loss penalty. The suction side film cooling has larger influence on the aerodynamic loss compared to the pressure side film cooling. Pitch-averaged exit flow angles around midspan remain unaffected at moderate blowing ratio. The secondary loss decreases (greater decrease in the tip region compared to the hub region) with inserting cooling air for all cases compared to the uncooled case.