Local Heat Transfer Distribution in a Rectangular Pin Channel With and Without Vortex Generators

Short pin fins are used to enhance heat transfer rates by increasing the level of turbulence in the trailing edge of gas turbine blades. Experiments are conducted to investigate the local Nusselt number distributions in a staggered pin-fin array using the infrared thermal imaging technique. The pin fins are arranged in a rectangular channel with an aspect ratio of 9. The pins have streamwise pitch-to-diameter (XS/D) and spanwise pitch-to-diameter (XT/D) ratios of 2 with a pin height-to-diameter (H/D) ratio of 2. Ejection holes of 5-mm diameter with a pitch of 12.7 mm are used to study the effects of lateral ejection. Both one-wall and two-wall heating situations are studied for straight-flow and lateral-ejection cases. It is found that the local Nusselt numbers are highest below the horseshoe vortices just upstream of the individual pin fins. For the straight-flow case, the Nusselt numbers for the two-wall heating case are observed to be 15-20% higher than those of the one-wall heating case. Lateral ejection causes a decrease of about 1-10% for the one-wall heating case, while there is an increase of about 10% for the two-wall heating case. Experiments are also carried out with vortex generators between individual pin fins. Vortex generators cause an increase in heat transfer by about 50% compared to the straight-flow cases.