Author(s)

R.S. Nordlund & A.J. Kassab

Abstract

A conjugate BEM optimization algorithm for the design of turbine blade cooling passages is developed. The BEM is used to resolve the heat transfer at cross sections of the cooling passage, and it is coupled to a lumped 1-D compressible gas dynamics model which models the fluid flow and heat transfer within the cooling channel. The design parameters define the channel geometry, channel pitch, and, if desired, coolant pressure drop, and the design objective is to maintain the maximum channel wall temperature below some desired target temperature while minimizing the bypass coolant flow rate and, if desired, heat extraction rate. A nonlinear simplex (non-gradient based) optimization routine is used to optimize the objective function. Results are presented for a representative design. 1 Introductio

Keywords