Improved film cooling from cylindrical angled holes with triangular tabs: effect of tab orientations

The effect of discrete delta (or triangular)-shaped tabs with different orientations on the film cooling performance from a row of cylindrical holes is investigated. The holes are inclined at 35° along the streamwise direction and the tabs are located along the upstream edge of the holes. Three tab orientations are investigated: (1) tabs placed parallel to the film cooled surface covering a part of the hole; (2) tabs oriented downward at −45°; and (3) tabs oriented upwards at 45°. Measurements were carried out in a low-speed wind tunnel using the transient liquid crystal technique. The mainstream velocity and free-stream turbulence intensity in the low-speed wind tunnel are 9 m/s and 7% respectively and the mainstream Reynolds number based on hole diameter is around 7100. Three blowing ratios of 0.56, 1.13, and 1.7 are tested. Results show that the tabs oriented downwards provide the highest effectiveness at a blowing ratio of 0.56 while the tabs oriented horizontally provides the highest film effectiveness at blowing ratios of 1.13 and 1.7. The higher effectiveness with the tabs is due to the generation of secondary eddies counter-rotating with respect to the kidney pair; these eddies reduce jet penetration and thus increase film-cooling effectiveness. The horizontally oriented tabs produce higher discharge coefficients (lower pressure drop) over the entire range of blowing ratios.