Assessment of URANS and DES for Prediction of Leading Edge Film Cooling

This paper describes assessment of CFD simulations for the film-cooling on the blade leading edge with circular cooling holes in order to contribute durability assessment of the turbine blades. Unsteady RANS (URANS) applying a k–ε–v²–f turbulence model and the Spallart and Allmaras turbulence model, and Detached-Eddy Simulation (DES) based on the Spallart and Allmaras turbulence model are addressed to solve thermal convection. The CFD calculations were conducted by simulating a semi-circular model in the wind tunnel experiments. The DES and also the k–ε–v²–f model evaluate explicitly unsteady fluctuation of local temperature by the vortex structures, so that the predicted film cooling effectiveness comparatively in agreement with measurements. On the other hand, the predicted temperature fields by the Spallart and Allmaras model are less diffusive than the DES and the k–ε–v²–f model. In the present turbulence modeling, the DES only predicts penetration of main flow into the film cooling hole, but the Spallart and Allmaras model is not able to evaluate the unsteadiness and the vortex structures clearly, and over-predict film cooling effectiveness on the partial surface.