Heat Transfer in Rotating Serpentine Coolant Passage With Ribbed Walls at Low Mach Numbers

This paper experimentally investigates the effect of rotation on heat transfer in typical turbine blade serpentine coolant passage with ribbed walls at low Mach numbers. To achieve the low Mach number (around 0.01) condition, pressurized Freon R-134a vapor is utilized as the working fluid. The flow in the first passage is radial outward, after the 180 deg tip turn the flow is radial inward to the second passage, and after the 180 deg hub turn the flow is radial outward to the third passage. The effects of rotation on the heat transfer coefficients were investigated at rotation numbers up to 0.6 and Reynolds numbers from 30,000 to 70,000. Heat transfer coefficients were measured using the thermocouples-copper-plate-heater regional average method. Heat transfer results are obtained over a wide range of Reynolds numbers and rotation numbers. An increase in heat transfer rates due to rotation is observed in radially outward passes; a reduction in heat transfer rate is observed in the radially inward pass. Regional heat transfer coefficients are correlated with Reynolds numbers for nonrotation and with rotation numbers for rotating condition, respectively. The results can be useful for understanding real rotor blade coolant passage heat transfer under low Mach number, medium–high Reynolds number, and high rotation number conditions.