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Abstract In a gas turbine, the first-stage blade is the most significant component, operating in an extreme environment with high temperatures, pressure, and rotational speed. Affected by blade row interaction and wake flow from vanes, the rotor flow field exhibits significant unsteady characteristics. These factors can contribute in crack development in turbine blades. In this study, steady and unsteady conjugate heat transfer (CHT) simulations were performed to investigate the heat transfer and aerodynamics of the first stage of the W501F cooling blade. Factors such as internal cooling structure, hot streaks, and rotation were considered. The vane was treated as an empty domain with a film cooling hole inlet on the vane surface. The effects of flow characteristics on the blade’s heat transfer have been discussed in detail. Specifically, the results reveal that the formation of a vortex around the blade strongly affects the distribution of film cooling on the blade. In some cases, the vortex interacts with the wall surface, causing a reduction in film cooling performance on the blade surface. Consequently, overheating occurs in regions such as the leading edge (LE), rim squealer tip, and platform. The maximum temperature at these critical regions could be reached 1380K, close to the blade’s melting temperature. The prediction of the overheating position shows good agreement with a crack position on blade patterns from the power plant company. Furthermore, by understanding the heat transfer characteristics of the blade, we can apply advanced treatments to improve the blade’s cooling performance.
Vo et al. (Mon,) studied this question.