GEOMETRIC AND FLOW CHARACTERIZATION OF ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURED TURBINE BLADES WITH DRILLED FILM COOLING HOLES

Abstract As designers investigate new cooling technologies to advance future gas turbine engines, manufacturing methods that are fast and accurate are needed. Additive manufacturing facilitates the rapid prototyping of parts at a cost lower than conventional casting, but is challenged in accurately reproducing small features such as turbulators, pin fins and film cooling holes. This study explores the potential application of additive manufacturing and advanced hole drill methods as tools to investigate cooling technologies for future turbine blade designs. Data from computed tomography scans are used to non-destructively evaluate each of the cooling features in the blade. The resulting flow performance of these parts is further related to the manufacturing through benchtop flow testing. Results show that while flow through the entire blade is consistent throughout a full wheel of the additively manufactured cooled blades, flow through smaller regions show larger variations. Shaped film cooling holes manufactured using a high-speed electrical discharge machining method are within tolerance in the metering section but do not expand at the specified angle in the diffuser even though design tolerances are met. In contrast to high-speed EDM, conventional EDM holes are undersized throughout the length of the hole. The roughness results show high levels on thin walls, particularly at the trailing edge and on downskin surfaces. Internal surface roughness is higher than external roughness at most locations on the blade. The results of this study confirm that additive manufacturing along with advanced hole drilling techniques offer faster development of blade cooling designs.