The influence of a laminar boundary layer and laminar injection on film cooling performance

Measurements are reported of the film cooling effectiveness and heat transfer following injection of air into a mainstream of air. A single row of circular injection holes inclined at an angle of 35 deg is used with a lateral spacing between the holes of 3 dia. Low Reynolds number mainstream and injection flow permit studying the influence of a laminar approaching boundary layer and laminar film coolant flow. Measurements of the surface heat transfer taken with no injection indicate that the hole openings can effectively trip the laminar boundary layer into a turbulent flow. The type of the approaching boundary layer has relatively little influence on either the adiabatic effectiveness or the heat transfer with film cooling. The importance of the nature of the injected flow on film cooling performance can at least be qualitatively explained by the differences in the transport mechanisms and in the penetration of the injected air into the mainstream.