Investigation of jet engine turbine blade cooling methods with the aid of computational fluid dynamics

The efficiency of gas turbines and the power generated are directly related to the thermal endurance of the turbine blades. As the thermal endurance increases, it becomes possible to increase the turbine inlet temperature, which results in higher efficiency and power generation. In recent years, turbine operating temperatures have reached about 2000 K. By increasing turbine operating temperatures, it has been possible to obtain more powerful and efficient jet engines. However, the thermal strength of the material from which the turbine blades are manufactured is an important factor limiting the temperature increase. In the present thesis, cooling methods applied to turbine blades are investigated and computational fluid dynamics analyses are performed. Hole diameter, hole shape, spanwise angle, coolant rate, coolant temperature and turbulence intensity were selected as the six parameters that most affect the film cooling performance. These parameters were analysed at different values and the results of turbine blade temperature variation and film cooling effectiveness values were evaluated. Computational fluid dynamics analyses on the C3X turbine blade were performed using ANSYS FLUENT 2023 R2 software with reference to data from NASA experimental studies. The results of the analyses are validated by comparing with NASA's experimental study numbered '44344'. In the presented study, k-ω turbulence model is used. As a result of the analyses, the blade designs with triangle hole shape, -45° blowing angle, 2mm hole diameter, 500K coolant temperature, 0,01595 kg/s coolant velocity and 0,5% turbulence intensity provided the highest film cooling effectiveness value.