Effects of various modeling schemes on mist film cooling simulation

Numerical simulation is performed in this study to explore film-cooling enhancement by injecting mist into the cooling air with a focus on investigating the effect of various modeling schemes on simulation results. The effect of turbulence models, dispersed-phase modeling, inclusion of different forces (Saffman, thermophoresis, and Brownian), trajectory tracking, and mist injection scheme is studied. The effect of flow inlet boundary conditions (with/without air supply plenum), inlet turbulence intensity, and the near-wall grid density on simulation results is also included. Simulation of a two-dimensional (2D) slot film cooling with a fixed blowing angle and blowing ratio shows a 2% mist (by mass) injected into the cooling air can increase the cooling effectiveness about 45%. The renormalization group (RNG) k-epsilon model, Reynolds stress model, and the standard k-epsilon turbulence model with an enhanced wall treatment produce consistent and reasonable results while the turbulence dispersion had a significant effect on mist film cooling through the stochastic trajectory calculation. The thermophoretic force slightly increases the cooling effectiveness, but the effect of Brownian force and Saffman lift is imperceptible. The cooling performance deteriorates when the plenum is included in the calculation due to the altered velocity profile and turbulence intensity at the jet exit plane. The results of this paper can provide guidance for corresponding experiments and serve as the qualification reference for future more complicated studies with 3D cooling holes, different blowing ratios, various density ratios, and rotational effect.