Airfoil Impingement Cooling with Crossover Passages
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine engine components, particularly airfoils, face challenges in effective cooling due to extreme heat exposure, leading to issues like oxidation, erosion, and thermal-mechanical fatigue, especially in high-pressure and high-temperature regions.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a unique airfoil structure with multiple impingement cavities and crossover passages that direct coolant airflow to specific regions, providing targeted impingement cooling and reducing the likelihood of coolant starvation, thereby enhancing heat transfer and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional cooling schemes are used for airfoils in extreme heat regions, then the component structure remains simple, but the cooling effectiveness is insufficient leading to oxidation, erosion, and thermal-mechanical fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
The airfoil is divided into multiple cooling zones with separate impingement cavities (first and second impingement cavities) and feeding cavities. Each cavity is independently supplied through dedicated crossover passages, allowing localized cooling control in different high-heat regions of the airfoil, thereby improving overall cooling effectiveness and component durability
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the airfoil receive customized cooling through specifically oriented crossover passages. The first crossover passage delivers coolant to the first impingement cavity while the second delivers to the second impingement cavity, enabling each region to be cooled according to its specific thermal load and geometric requirements
2Reliability
If coolant is delivered to multiple impingement cavities through a single feeding cavity, then the device complexity is reduced, but coolant starvation occurs in certain regions
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into multiple feeding cavities (first feeding cavity and second feeding cavity), each dedicated to supplying coolant to specific impingement cavities. This segmentation ensures that each region receives adequate coolant flow without starvation, improving cooling distribution uniformity across the airfoil
Solution Approach 2:
Feeding cavities act as intermediary chambers between the coolant source and the impingement cavities. The first feeding cavity mediates coolant delivery to the first impingement cavity, while the second feeding cavity mediates delivery to the second impingement cavity, ensuring controlled and uniform coolant distribution
3Temperature
If crossover passages are arranged without surface intersection, then the passage structure is simpler, but heat transfer efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The crossover passages are designed with curved geometries that allow them to intersect the airfoil surfaces. The first crossover passage intersects the first airfoil surface, and the second crossover passage intersects the second airfoil surface, creating effective impingement zones that enhance heat transfer efficiency through focused coolant jets
Solution Approach 2:
The crossover passages extend through the airfoil thickness in three-dimensional space, intersecting the external surfaces at specific locations. This 3D arrangement allows the coolant to impinge directly on the surface, creating effective cooling zones that would not be achievable with simple planar passage arrangements
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This cooling arrangement improves the durability and efficiency of gas turbine engine components by ensuring uniform cooling distribution and reducing thermal stress, leading to extended component life and improved engine performance.
Implementation Method 1
a first impingement cavity and a second impingement cavity bounded by the external wall at a leading edge region... a first crossover passage within the internal wall that connects the first impingement cavity and the first feeding cavity
Data Source
AI summary
An airfoil for a gas turbine engine according to an example of the present disclosure includes, among other things, an airfoil section that has an internal wall and an external wall. The external wall defines pressure and suction sides that extends in a chordwise direction between a leading edge and a trailing edge, a first impingement cavity and a second impingement cavity bounded by the external wall at a leading edge region that defines the leading edge. A first crossover passage within the internal wall is connected to the first impingement. The first crossover passage defines a first passage axis that intersects a surface of the first impingement cavity. A second crossover passage within the internal wall is connected to the second impingement cavity. The second crossover passage defines a second passage axis that intersects a surface of the second impingement cavity.