Large eddy simulation of in-hole blockage effects on cooling performance of fan-shaped holes

Film-cooling and thermal barrier coating approaches are commonly used in gas turbines to protect the turbine parts from the high-temperature flow of gases. However, one drawback of this method is that the coatings can partially obstruct the cooling hole exit on the turbine blade surfaces, resulting in reduced cooling performance. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of in-hole blockage thickness on cooling effectiveness and flow characteristics of fan-shaped holes using large eddy simulations (LES). A laidback fan-shaped hole located on a flat plate was the reference cooling hole. Numerical simulations were conducted for two different blocked cooling hole configurations with various blockage thicknesses (t/D = 0.5 and 0.9) at three different blowing ratios (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0). The cooling effectiveness computed by the LES method was validated for both unblocked and blocked cooling holes, and the results were compared to the experiments at various blowing ratios. It was revealed that an increase in blockage thickness had a significant impact on the area-averaged cooling effectiveness, particularly at high blowing ratios. The overall area-averaged cooling effectiveness for the t/D = 0.9 case was approximately 75 % lower than that of the unblocked cooling hole. Moreover, assessment of the instantaneous velocity field inside the hole over time revealed that larger blockage thicknesses resulted in greater velocity fluctuations and a more unsteady flow.