Heat Transfer Enhancement for Gas Turbine Blade Internal Cooling With Lattice Structured Rib

A higher turbine inlet temperature is crucial for enhancing efficiency in gas turbines. However, this increase can reduce the lifetime of turbine blades due to thermal deformation in the solid material. To address this challenge, this study numerically explores the use of lattice-structured ribs within the internal cooling channels of gas turbine blades to improve heat transfer performance. Conjugate heat transfer analysis evaluates the effectiveness of these ribs. The methodology’s accuracy was affirmed by comparing the results with those of a channel featuring fully-filled ribs under thermal performance factor tests. A constant temperature boundary condition was applied to the channel’s bottom wall in the middle section. The k-ω and SST turbulence models were utilized for their precise prediction of flow separation near wall regions. The results indicate that the flow through the lattice structure mixes with bypass flow downstream, significantly enhancing heat transfer compared to the fully-filled rib model. This enhancement is attributed to the combined effects of flow mixing and increased surface area.