Intersecting Conduit Cooling Apertures for Turbine Film Cooling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Turbine engines face inefficiencies in effusion cooling due to counter-rotating vortices that lift cooling fluid away from hot surfaces, leading to higher temperatures and potential material issues, with existing solutions either increasing system inefficiency or being costly to implement.
Innovation Solution
The use of an array of apertures formed by intersecting conduits with varying cross-sectional areas and angles, creating a restrictor effect to enhance film cooling while maintaining system efficiency and reducing costs through conventional drilling techniques.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional cooling methods are used, then cooling is provided to combat high temperatures, but counter-rotating vortices lift cooling fluid away from hot surfaces reducing cooling efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The aperture is divided into multiple conduits (first conduit and second conduit) that intersect within the member. This segmentation allows the cooling fluid to be delivered through separate paths that converge at an intersection point, creating a restrictor effect that stabilizes the cooling fluid flow and prevents counter-rotating vortices from lifting the cooling film away from the hot surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The total cross-sectional area of the aperture varies along its length, being minimum at the intersection point of the conduits. This local variation in cross-sectional area creates a restrictor effect at the intersection point, which stabilizes the cooling fluid flow and enhances film cooling effectiveness at the critical region where cooling is most needed.
2Temperature
If existing solutions are implemented to improve cooling, then cooling effectiveness may be enhanced, but system inefficiency increases or implementation costs rise
Solution Approach 1:
The intersecting conduits structure creates a self-generated restrictor effect within the aperture, utilizing the geometry of the conduits themselves rather than requiring external restrictor components. This self-service approach achieves flow stabilization and enhanced cooling effectiveness without adding separate restrictor devices, thereby avoiding increased manufacturing complexity and cost.
3Temperature
If the cross-sectional area of conduits is varied, then film cooling is enhanced through restrictor effect, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The total cross-sectional area of the aperture is varied along its length by changing the dimensions of the conduits. The conduits are configured to have different cross-sectional areas at different positions, with the minimum area occurring at the intersection point. This parameter change creates the restrictor effect needed for enhanced film cooling while maintaining manufacturability through conventional drilling techniques.
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 approach improves effusion cooling efficiency by maintaining a stable cooling film, reducing thermal barrier loss, and extending component lifespan without increasing system inefficiency or requiring expensive micromachining.
Implementation Method 1
counter-rotating vortices that lift cooling fluid away from hot surfaces
Implementation Method 2
high temperatures created within a turbine engine can have adverse effects on the material properties of the structure
Implementation Method 3
effusion cooling
Data Source
AI summary
A member may have a primary major surface and a secondary major surface. The member may form an array of apertures extending from the primary major surface to the secondary major surface. The array of apertures includes at least one aperture comprising two or more conduits. The axis of each conduit intersects the axis of each other conduit in the aperture. The cross-section of at least one of the conduits perpendicular to its axis may be circular. In some embodiments, an aperture may comprise two or three conduits.