International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2019) 1154–1165

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

Chord-wise repeated thermal load change on flat tip of a turbine blade

Sang Woo Lee ⇑, Jae Sung Jeong, In Hwan Hong
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, 61 Daehak-ro, Gumi, Gyeongbuk 730-701, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Flow and heat transfer characteristics on the flat tip have been studied in a large-scale turbine blade cas-
Received 2 December 2018 cade for a tip gap-to-span ratio of h/s = 1.5%. The present heat/mass transfer experiment by employing the
Received in revised form 16 April 2019 naphthalene sublimation method with a high spatial resolution proves the existence of a chord-wise
Accepted 17 April 2019
repeated thermal load change on the flat tip in the region between the leading edge and mid-chord. In
this region, there are discrete local peaks of thermal load repeated along the pressure side, contrary to
a continuous peak line downstream of the mid-chord. Each discrete peak has an aft ridge extending
Keywords:
toward the suction side. The surface flow visualizations reveal that there exists a chord-wise repeated
Chord-wise repeated change
Tip gap flow
tip gap flow change between the leading edge tip gap vortex system and the stable separation bubble
Heat transfer downstream of the mid-chord. The chord-wise repeated thermal load change seems to have a close rela-
Flat tip tion to the chord-wise repeated flow change. Further investigations will be needed to understand exactly
Turbine blade how, why, and when the repeated change happens.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Combustion gas flow delivers severe thermal load onto turbine
blade tip and near-tip surfaces, which could sometimes result in a
critical failure of blades. Thus, sophisticated tip cooling systems are
widely employed in axial turbines. For better turbine tip design,
detailed thermal load distributions on the tip should be known.
This paper is interested in a new transport phenomenon on a flat
tip.
Tip gap flows over the flat tip were studied by many researchers
[1–7]. In general, the tip surface can be divided into two typical
flow regions: a tip gap vortex region near the leading edge; and a
flow separation/reattachment region downstream of it [5]. As h/s
(tip gap-to-span ratio) increases, these tip gap flows become more
dominant and tip leakage flow rate tends to be higher.
Heat transfer rates over the flat tip are strongly dependent upon
the tip gap flows. Bunker et al. [8] reported tip heat transfer with a
steady liquid crystal method. They identified a lower thermal load
area (sweet spot) near the leading edge and found that radius edge
tip increases thermal load by about 10 percent than sharp edge
one. Rhee and Cho [9] investigated heat transfer characteristics
on the rotating flat tip and on the shroud and reported that tip heat
transfer is about 10% lower compared to that without relative
motion. Newton et al. [10] conducted heat transfer experiments
employing a transient heat transfer technique with a mesh heater
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: swlee@kumoh.ac.kr (S.W. Lee).
for a low turning generic blade, and they revealed that highest heat
transfer exists in an area where tip gap flow reattaches. Azad et al.
[11] investigated flat tip heat transfer using a transient liquid crys-
tal technique and reported that due to tip entrance effects, heat
transfer is high near the pressure side, and generally lower h/s
results in low heat transfer. Lee et al. [12] investigated h/s effects
on thermal load on the flat tip using a naphthalene sublimation
method. They found that high thermal load prevails along the reat-
tachment line as well as in the leading edge tip gap vortices,
whereas low thermal load exists downstream of the tip gap vor-
tices. Zhang et al. [13] investigated heat transfer experimentally
and computationally. Employing a transient thermal measurement
technique with an infrared camera, they reported that as h/s
decreases, thermal load decreases near the leading edge but
increases near the trailing edge. Anto et al. [14] measured tip and
blade surface heat transfers using a transient infrared thermogra-
phy technique in a transonic blow down facility, and they showed
that increases of Mach number and tip gap augment leading edge
tip heat transfer. Zhang et al. [15] carried out computational and
experimental researches on the impacts of inlet turbulence on heat
transfer. They found that for different levels of turbulence, there
are no big changes in heat transfer on the tip but substantial
changes on the near-tip suction surface. Jackson et al. [16] reported
the effect of tip gap on tip thermal load in a transonic condition.
Heat transfer rate was measured with thin film resistance ther-
mometers. Their experimental and numerical data revealed that
heat transfer augmentation on the flat tip for low h/s is due to
the ingestion of high temperature fluid resulting from casing shear.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2019.04.083
0017-9310/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 S.W. Lee et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2019) 1154–1165
Fig. 1. Experimental facility.
Mansouri et al. [17] performed a computational research of tran-
sonic heat transfer and flow over the flat tip. They reported that
relative motion alters flow topology over the tip, casing, and suc-
tion surface, but overall tip heat transfer coefficient is almost same.
Turbine blade tips in real engines are not always in the form of a
simple flat design but are equipped with a full squealer [18–24] or
with one of partial squealers [25–30]. Moreover, tips having a
winglet (partial shroud) [31–43] are considered potential candi-
dates for future turbine tips. Nonetheless, better understanding
of flow and heat transfer over the flat tip is still important, because
they are baseline ones before being altered by the squealer or
winglet.
The above literature survey shows that on the flat tip, heat
transfer is characterized by two tip gap flows: a tip gap vortex sys-
tem near the leading edge; and an inlet flow separation/reattach-
ment downstream of it. In addition to these two tip gap flows,
however, there exists another transport phenomenon called a
‘‘chord-wise repeated flow (heat transfer) change” in the region
between them, which will be proved in the present experiments.
In this paper, this new transport phenomenon for the flat tip, that
was not noted in the prior investigations yet, has been studied for
h/s = 1.5% in a large-scale turbine cascade.
2. Experimental apparatus and instrumentation
2.1. Measurement methods for tip heat transfer coefficient
Heat transfer coefficients can be obtained from the naphthalene
sublimation method through a heat/mass transfer analogy [44]. In
this method, local sublimation depth during the exposure to flow is
measured on the test naphthalene surface. By performing the mass
1155
transfer measurement, wall conduction errors in the heat transfer
measurement can be completely eliminated.
The local Sherwood number, Sh, mass transfer coefficient, hm ,
_ and sublimation depth per unit time, dz=ds, have
mass flux, m,
the following relations [44]:
!  dz 
hm c _
m c _ c
m q c
Sh ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼  s ds
D qv ;w  qv ;1 D qv ;w D P v ;w D
RT w
RT w c dz
¼ qs ð1Þ
Pv ;w D ds
In Eq. (1), c is the chord, D is the mass diffusion coefficient for naph-
thalene vapor in air, qv ;w is the naphthalene vapor density on the
test surface, qv ;1 is the naphthalene vapor density of inlet flow
and is usually zero, qs is the density of solid naphthalene, R is the
gas constant for naphthalene, T w is the naphthalene wall tempera-
ture, and Pv ;w is the naphthalene vapor pressure on the wall [45]
which depends on T w . The ratio of the Nusselt number to the Sher-
wood number is given as a function of the Prandtl and Schmidt
numbers as in Eq. (2).
 n
Nu Pr
¼ ð2Þ
Sh Sc
In Eq. (2), n is 0.4 for a turbulent flow and 1/3 for a laminar flow
[44]. It should be noted that constant vapor density on the naph-
thalene surface corresponds to constant temperature on the test
surface in the heat transfer system. More detail on the mass transfer
measurements was reported by Goldstein and Cho [44].
2.2. Experimental facility
The present test facility is given in Fig. 1. It consists of four
major components: a low-speed wind tunnel; an inlet duct; a cas-
cade section; and an exhaust duct for the discharge of cascade flow.
The inlet duct has boundary layer trips on its bottom and top sur-
faces. The cascade section has six large-scale aluminum blades.
Each blade is fabricated with a CNC milling machine according to
the tip profile of a first-stage turbine blade for aircraft propulsion,
and it is five times larger than the original one. The coordinates of
the blade profile are presented in Table 1. Two side walls down-
stream of the blade #1 and blade #6 are adjusted for flow period-
icity among turbine passage flows.
The major dimensions of the present cascade and the coordi-
nate system are shown in Fig. 2. The chord length, pitch, and span
are 195.6 mm, 151.3 mm, and 213.2 mm. The exit-to-inlet velocity
ratio is 2.01, and the flow turning angle is 94.1 deg, so that the cas-
cade is considered highly reactive and moderate turning. The x-, y-,
and z-directions are drawn in Fig. 2. The potential velocity on the
blade surface (Upw) can be evaluated by using an inlet freestream
total pressure and a static pressure measured at each pressure
sensing hole on the blade. Its profile at the mid-span without tip
gap is reported in Fig. 3. To place tip gaps near the casing, four
blades (#2 - #5) in the middle are inserted into the indents drilled
on the hub. On the contrary, the outer blades (#1 and #6) have no
tip gap. The tip gap height, h, is shown in Fig. 2.
A tip mold and its assembly are drawn in Fig. 4. The tip mold is
12.0 mm thick, and it has a recess measuring 2.0 mm in depth for
molten naphthalene which is enclosed by a 2.0 mm wide full-
perimeter shoulder. The mold holder, tip mold, and mold cover
are assembled together as can be seen in Fig. 4. Liquid naphthalene
flows into the cavity which is bounded by the polished surface.
After the complete solidification of naphthalene, the mold cover
is removed from the tip mold, and then smooth naphthalene
surface can finally be obtained. During each tip leakage flow
1156 S.W. Lee et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2019) 1154–1165

Table 1
Coordinates of the present blade profile.

xp (mm) yp (mm) xp (mm) yp (mm) xp (mm) yp (mm) xp (mm) yp (mm)

68.2768 22.0443 2.6549 32.4766 72.7215 101.5315 2.8205 7.8862
68.8237 23.1104 5.3927 29.5633 72.4176 101.6306 5.5582 5.5073
69.1510 24.1797 8.1304 26.4501 72.1033 101.6886 8.2959 3.2664
69.3149 25.2515 10.8681 23.1502 71.7841 101.7046 11.0336 1.1491
69.3270 26.3255 13.6058 19.6581 71.4655 101.6783 13.7714 0.8531
69.3117 26.6516 16.3435 15.9736 71.1532 101.6101 16.5091 2.7310
69.2832 26.9857 19.0812 12.1168 70.8527 101.5012 19.2468 4.4994
69.2479 27.3047 21.8190 8.0819 70.5692 101.3535 21.9845 6.1640
69.1994 27.6314 24.5541 3.8663 70.3077 101.1697 24.7222 7.7239
69.1399 27.9584 27.2944 0.5101 70.0729 100.9529 27.7139 9.1805
69.0730 28.2854 30.0321 5.0559 69.8687 100.7063 30.1977 10.4627
69.0019 28.6124 32.7698 9.7716 69.1610 99.7400 32.9354 11.7951
68.9225 28.9396 35.5075 14.6544 68.4533 98.7700 35.6642 12.9364
68.8350 29.2669 38.2453 19.7044 67.7456 97.7972 38.4108 13.9725
68.7392 29.5944 40.9830 24.9225 67.0125 96.8214 41.1485 14.8827
68.6352 29.9219 43.7207 30.3086 66.3301 95.8426 43.8862 15.6638
68.5230 30.2496 46.4584 35.8468 65.6224 94.8593 46.6240 16.3136
68.4026 30.5774 49.1961 41.5432 62.8847 91.0227 49.3617 16.8269
64.3268 38.1396 51.9338 47.3998 60.1470 87.1613 52.0994 17.2246
60.2510 42.7351 54.6716 53.3954 57.4093 83.2582 54.7112 17.5046
56.1752 46.0385 57.4093 59.5015 54.6716 79.3480 57.3230 17.7442
52.0994 48.4745 60.1470 65.7408 51.9338 75.4300 59.9348 18.0315
49.3617 49.7349 62.8847 72.0749 49.1961 71.5107 62.5466 18.4921
46.6240 50.7169 65.6224 78.4612 46.4584 67.6234 62.9557 18.5849
43.8862 51.4087 67.0261 81.7682 43.7207 63.7555 63.3525 18.6913
41.1485 51.9073 68.4298 85.0973 40.9829 59.9276 63.7486 18.8113
38.4108 52.1693 69.8333 88.4074 38.2453 56.1537 64.1324 18.9448
35.6617 52.2249 71.2371 91.7228 35.5075 52.3636 64.5078 19.0918
32.9354 52.0803 72.6408 95.0416 32.7698 48.7583 64.8749 19.2525
30.1977 51.7419 74.0445 98.3492 30.0321 45.1444 65.2371 19.4208
27.4599 51.2119 74.1496 98.6510 27.2944 41.5915 65.5899 19.6044
24.7222 50.4897 74.2139 98.9641 24.5567 38.0903 65.9323 19.8047
21.9845 49.5731 74.2362 99.2830 21.8190 34.6512 66.2643 20.0218
19.2468 48.4789 74.2162 99.6020 19.0812 31.2953 66.5860 20.2556
16.5078 47.1843 74.1543 99.9156 16.3435 28.0127 66.8999 20.5020
13.7714 45.6929 74.0412 100.2182 13.6058 24.7968 67.2029 20.7658
11.0336 44.0015 73.9094 100.5046 10.8681 21.6924 67.4921 21.0520
8.2959 42.1059 73.7308 100.7697 8.1304 18.6996 67.7675 21.3605
5.5582 40.0084 73.5188 101.0088 5.3927 15.8018 68.0545 21.6912
2.8205 37.7031 73.2770 101.2179 2.6549 13.0324
0.0828 35.1913 73.0096 101.3931 0.0828 10.3936

experiment, this naphthalene tip mold is set up on the blade #4
which is 12.0 mm shorter than the others.
2.3. Instrumentation
For the measurements of inlet flow, we employed a MKS preci-
sion pressure sensor (model 223BD-00010ACB), a United Sensor
pitot-static probe, a Kanomax hot-wire anemometer, and an Agi-
lent digital multi-meter. The digital multi-meter is connected to
a computer through a RS232 serial port. The DC voltage from T-
type thermocouples are read by a Keithley digital voltmeter and
are transferred to the computer by way of a NI GPIB communica-
tion board. Each thermocouple with a reference cold junction is
calibrated in accordance with a standard of STP 470A [46].
In the naphthalene sublimation experiments, not only an accu-
rate sublimation depth measurement but also a fast and precise
movement of the depth gauge is essential. In this study, a Sensortec
LVDT (model S5-AY112HK) is used in the sublimation depth
instrumentation. The LVDT has a full scale of ±1.0 mm and a linear-
ity of 0.07%. For exact positioning of the depth gauge, a three-axis
automatic traverse system is built on the precision cast iron sur-
face plate. Each axis has a linear motion guide equipped with a ball
screw, a stepping motor, and a motor driver. The actuation of the
traverse system as well as the data acquisition from the depth
gauge is controlled automatically by a Labview program via a
plug-in NI PCI-6036E board and a RS232 serial port.
2.4. Measurement procedure
After naphthalene casting, the tip mold is mounted on the pre-
cision surface plate and is scanned with the LVDT all over the pre-
determined measurement points. These local elevations are stored
in the computer. After the exposure to tip gap flow, the mold is
reinstalled on the surface plate and the sublimed naphthalene sur-
face is scanned again. The difference in surface elevation between
the first and second scans still has a contribution by natural con-
vection during the depth measurement procedure. In the present
study, this contribution is measured by using another naphthalene
mold which is exposed only to natural convection during the pro-
cedure under the same condition that the tip mold undergoes. The
sublimation depth solely due to tip gap flow is finally obtained
after subtracting the contribution by natural convection.
3. Operating conditions and uncertainty intervals
The freestream velocity of the cascade (U1) is maintained at
15.0 m/s, and the freestream turbulence intensity is 0.5%. The exit
mean velocity (U2M = (w1/w2)  U1) is given as about 30.2 m/s, and
the exit Reynolds number (U2M c/m) is 3.78  105. 0.5b upstream of
the cascade, the displacement thickness is 1.96 mm (0.0092 s), and
the momentum thickness is 1.51 mm (0.0071 s). Thus, the shape
factor is calculated to be 1.30. In this experiment, h/s is fixed as a
value of 1.5%.
 S.W. Lee et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2019) 1154–1165 1157

Fig. 2. Cascade dimensions and coordinates.

Fig. 4. Tip mold for naphthalene casting.

Fig. 3. Profile of potential velocity on blade surface without tip gap.

In the heat/mass transfer experiments, three depth measure-

ment grids with different spatial resolution are tested to identify
the chord-wise repeated thermal load change. The temperature
of naphthalene is kept within 0.2 °C for each test. For the local
Sherwood number (Sh), the uncertainty interval is estimated with
95% confidence [47]. The uncertainty is evaluated to be ±5.8% of Sh.

4. Results and discussion

Fig. 5. Grid #1.

4.1. Thermal load data

At first, Grid #1 having 480 (=32  15) measurement points the leading edge and along the reattachment line (dotted line in
(Fig. 5) is used for the measurement of the Sh distribution for Fig. 6) near the pressure side, whereas lower Sh is observed in
h/s = 1.5% in Fig. 6. The results show that in general, higher Sh is the region just downstream of the tip gap vortices, which is some-
existent along the pressure- and suction-side tip gap vortices near times called a ‘‘sweet spot”. The contours in the tip gap vortex
1158 S.W. Lee et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2019) 1154–1165

Fig. 7 shows a naphthalene surface after the exposure to tip

leakage flow. A close examination of Fig. 7 especially between
the two dotted lines shows that there seem to be a series of darker
and brighter traces almost in parallel with the dotted lines. These
repeated traces, which result from different local sublimation of
naphthalene, can also be felt by touch on the actual naphthalene
surface. Therefore, it is considered that the irregular contours of
Sh in Fig. 6 are attributed to the large grid intervals of Grid #1in
Fig. 5.
For a better spatial resolution especially between the two dot-
ted lines in Fig. 7, new Grid #2 of 660 (=44  15) measurement
points is introduced as in Fig. 8. The Sh distribution in Fig. 9

Fig. 6. Contours of Sh for Grid #1 in the case of h/s = 1.5%.

Fig. 8. Grid #2.

Fig. 7. Naphthalene surface after the exposure to flow for h/s = 1.5%.

region near the leading edge as well as in the flow separation/reat-

tachment region from the mid-chord to the trailing edge (or the
contours outside the region enclosed by the two dashed lines in
Fig. 6) are considered usual and acceptable. On the other hand,
the contours between the two dashed lines are very irregular and
are not plausible. This suggests that there would be an unusual
transport phenomenon there. In fact, the present study is moti-
vated by the unusual result in Fig. 6. Fig. 9. Contours of Sh for Grid #2 in the case of h/s = 1.5%.
 S.W. Lee et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2019) 1154–1165 1159

measured by using Grid #2 are almost the same as those in Fig. 6 in

the leading edge tip gap vortex region as well as downstream of
the mid-chord. In the region between the two dashed lines, the
contours of Sh in Fig. 9 are more repetitive than those in Fig. 6,
but they still look irregular.
Fig. 10 shows Grid #3 having 2268 (=108  21) measurement
points. Grid #3 has about five times larger number of points than
Grid #1. The measurement by using Grid #3 delivers an unusual
but meaningful result as can be seen in Fig. 11. The contours of
Sh near the leading edge and downstream of the mid-chord in
Fig. 11 are almost the same as those in Figs. 6 and 9, but the con-
tours between the two dashed lines in Fig. 11are not irregular any

Fig. 12. Oil-film flow visualization for h/s = 1.5%.

Fig. 10. Grid #3.

Fig. 13. Enlarged oil-film flow visualization for h/s = 1.5%.

more. There are several discrete local peaks of Sh between the two
dashed lines on the pressure side, contrary to a continuous peak
line downstream of the mid-chord (the red1 dotted line in
Fig. 11). Each discrete local peak has an aft ridge of Sh extending
toward the suction side, and there exists a valley of Sh between
the neighboring ridges. Judging from the contours of Sh outside
the region surrounded by the two dashed lines in Figs. 6, 9, and
11, the present measurements have a good repeatability.

1
For interpretation of color in Fig. 11, the reader is referred to the web version of
Fig. 11. Contours of Sh for Grid #3 in the case of h/s = 1.5%. this article.
1160 S.W. Lee et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2019) 1154–1165

Fig. 14. Time sequence of video-taped oil film traces for h/s = 1.5%.
 S.W. Lee et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2019) 1154–1165 1161

This distinct chord-wise repeated thermal load change existing

in a very wide area as in Fig. 11 is not reported in the previous
researches yet. A clue on what kind of tip gap flow makes tip ther-
mal load repeated will be explained later with the flow visualiza-
tions on the flat tip.

4.2. Oil film tip surface flow visualization

4.2.1. Steady-state result

A steady-state flow visualization with kerosene and carbon
black mixture is conducted on the flat tip. Fig. 12 shows a full tip
surface result for h/s = 1.5%, and Fig. 13 is its enlarged one.
Fig. 12 shows the presence of a leading edge tip gap vortex system
and a stable separation bubble downstream of the mid-chord. It is
surprising from Figs. 12 and 13 that between the tip gap vortex
system and the stable separation bubble, there exist several streaks
of oil film extending from the pressure side to the suction side. This
fact confirms the existence of a chord-wise repeated tip gap flow
Fig. 15. Enlarged image at t = 2 sec for h/s = 1.5%.
change. The region having the chord-wise repeated tip gap flow
change in Fig. 12 corresponds to the occupation area of the The oil film traces observed in Fig. 14 are basically transient and
repeated thermal load change in Fig. 11. eventually turn to those in Fig. 12 without continuous supply of oil
Form the results in Figs. 11–13, it is concluded that over the flat film. Most of initial uniform oil film coating is swept away within
tip of the present turbine blade, there exist three distinct flow phe- t = 10 sec, as can be seen in Fig. 14. If oil film could continue to be
nomena: a leading edge tip gap vortex system; a flow separation/ supplied uniformly to the tip surface without any flow distur-
reattachment with a stable separation bubble downstream of the bances, flow traces similar to those found at t = 3 sec in Fig. 14,
mid-chord; and a newly-found chord-wise repeated flow change for example, might be existent in a steady way.
between them.

4.3. Comparison with previous results

4.2.2. Transient oil film movements
The steady-state flow visualization in Fig. 12 is the one that is In 1989, Bindon [2] suggested a conceptual tip gap flow model
photographed after the complete evaporation of kerosene. In order having three different flow channels as in Fig. 16. According to the
to know the process of how the initial uniform coating of oil film flow model, the channel 1 represents normal boundary layer and
turns into the final steady-state flow pattern in Fig. 12, the whole core flow without any separation, the channel 2 contains a separa-
visualization procedure is video-taped through a new transparent tion bubble ‘‘f” with a reattachment of flow behind it to represent
top casing window made of 10 mm thick optical glass. the flow over the forward part of the blade, and the channel 3 is
Fig. 14 shows a time sequence of the video-taped images. ‘‘t = 0 shaped to be an ejector exhausting separation bubble fluid ‘‘g” to
sec” in Fig. 14 indicates a moment just before stagnant uniform oil the suction corner flow [2]. It is considered that the channel 1 is
film starts to move. The movement of oil film tends to be initiated a flow passage of the pressure-side leading edge tip gap vortex
at locations where local wall shear stress is high enough to drag it. shown in Figs. 11 and 13, and the channel 3 is located in an area
At t = 1 sec, several bright streaks repeated in the chord-wise where oil film is drained intermittently as shown in Fig. 14. Thus,
direction begin to appear near the leading edge on the pressure the channel 1 and channel 3 are outside the area of the repeated
side.
At t = 2 sec, (i) the leading edge tip gap vortex system begins to
be formed, (ii) the repeated bright streaks are spread out toward
the mid-chord, and (iii) downstream of the mid-chord, some of
oil film near the pressure side flows backwards and is sucked into
the separation bubble. As a result, the oil film level within it rises.
On the contrary, the rest near the suction side moves forwards due
to the flow reattachment. The enlarged image at t = 2 sec in Fig. 15
provides a vivid evidence for the existence of the chord-wise
repeated tip gap flow change. In Fig. 15, the repeated streaks with
same brightness seem to undergo the same level of wall shear
stress.
At t = 3 sec, (i) the leading edge tip gap vortex system is fully
established, (ii) the repeated bright streaks develop toward the
suction side, and (iii) downstream of the mid-chord, oil film within
the separation bubble is drained intermittently. Thus, the oil level
within it tends to fall gradually. The flow phenomena observed at
t = 3 sec continue to exist, as time goes by from t = 3 sec to
t = 10 sec.
It should be emphasized that the repeated flow change in
Figs. 12 and 14 happens only in a confined area upstream of the
mid-chord. Through the comparison of Fig. 11 with Figs. 12 and
14, it seems that the chord-wise repeated thermal load change
has a close relation to the repeated tip gap flow change. Fig. 16. Conceptual tip gap flow model suggested by Bindon [2].
1162 S.W. Lee et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2019) 1154–1165

thermal load change. Moreover, the flow through the channel 2 channel 2 is repeated chord-wisely. Therefore, the early conceptual
represents a typical local flow in the region between the channel flow model [2] cannot explain the chord-wise repeated change
1 and channel 3, and there is no mention by Bindon [2] that the raised in this study.

Fig. 17. Contours of Sh for h/s = 1.36% [12].

Fig. 20. Tip Nusselt number contours for h/s = 1.5% measured by Zhang et al. [13].

Fig. 18. Grid for contours of Sh [12].

Fig. 21. Distribution of tip heat transfer coefficient for h/s = 1.8% measured by Anto
Fig. 19. Oil-film flow visualization for h/s = 1.36% [12].
et al. [14].
 S.W. Lee et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2019) 1154–1165 1163

Fig. 17 show the contours of Sh reported by Lee et al. [12] for h/
s = 1.36% in a high-turning turbine cascade. They used the mea-
surement grid of 750 (=50  15) points as in Fig. 18. Their flow
visualization is presented in Fig. 19. Contrary to the results in Figs. 6
and 9, there are no irregular contours in Fig. 17. Moreover, the
chord-wise repeated flow change as in Fig. 12 is not observed in
Fig. 19. Instead, there exists only a stable flow separation/reattach-
ment all the way from the leading edge to the trailing edge (Figs. 17
and 19). Previous heat transfer measurements by Bunker et al. [8],
Rhee and Cho [9], Newton et al. [10], Azad et. al. [11], and Jackson
et al. [16] could not show the repeated thermal load change on the
flat tip as well.
However, the Nusselt number contours (h/s = 1.5%) measured
by Zhang et al. [13] in Fig. 20 and the distribution of heat transfer
coefficient (h/s = 1.8%) by Anto et al. [14] in Fig. 21 show a couple of
stripes inside the dashed circle, although both the number and
occupation area of the stripes are much smaller in comparison
with Fig. 11. Fig. 22 shows an oil film tip surface flow pattern of
a rotating turbine blade for h/s = 1.4% [48]. It is likely that there
exists a repeated change of oil film inside the dashed ellipse indi-
cated in Fig. 22. The results in Figs. 20–22 support the existence
of the repeated thermal load (flow) change on the flat tip, even if
there is no mention of it in the studies [13,14,48].
Unfortunately, it seems that none of previous CFD works
detects the repeated changes of flow and heat transfer. Further
experimental and computational works will be needed to under-
stand exactly how, why, and when the repeated change happens.
4.4. Measurement of local tip gap velocities
In Figs. 12–15, the separation bubble downstream of the mid-
chord is continuous and stable but it seems that the separation
bubble between the leading edge and mid-chord is not continuous
nor stable. The reason why the chord-wise repeated flow change
happens on the flat tip surface particularly from the leading edge
to the mid-chord is not clear.
It is not easy to measure local velocities inside the tip gap,
because (i) the tip gap is so small even for the present five times
large-scale cascade (h = 3.2 mm for h/s = 1.5%), and (ii) the tip
gap flow is basically three dimensional, especially near the tip
gap inlet and in the region of the chord-wise repeated tip gap
flow change. In this study, static pressures are measured on
the casing along the camber line with an interval of Dx = 0.05b
from the leading edge to the trailing edge, as shown on the left
side of Fig. 23. In addition, total pressures are measured in the
middle of tip gap at two locations of x/b = 0.1 and 0.6 along

Fig. 22. Oil film surface flow pattern on a rotating turbine blade tip for h/s = 1.4% [48].

Fig. 23. Measurement locations for static and total pressures.

1164 S.W. Lee et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2019) 1154–1165
Fig. 24. Local velocity magnitudes for U1 = 15 m/s.
the camber line by using a miniature total-head probe, as shown
on the right side of Fig. 23. These two locations are outside the
region of the repeated flow change, and the total-head probe is
aligned with the local flow direction based on the flow visualiza-
tion in Fig. 12.
Fig. 24 shows the profile of potential velocity magnitude
along the camber line for h/s = 1.5%. The potential velocity is
evaluated on the basis of each casing static pressure and an inlet
freestream total pressure. The profile shows that along the cam-
ber line, the potential velocity increases steeply in the region
from x/b = 0.0 to
x/b = 0.5, stays almost unchanged, and then decreases mildly.
This fact suggests that there is a steep velocity gradient along
the camber line across the region of the repeated flow change.
It is presumed that this steep velocity gradient (or high shear
stress) in the chord-wise direction might trigger a local flow
instability inside the tip gap which may lead to the repeated
flow change. The velocity magnitude based on the casing static
pressure and total pressure measured in the middle of tip gap
is also presented in Fig. 24 at x/b = 0.1 and 0.6, and they match
well with the potential velocity especially at x/b = 0.6.
5. Conclusion
Flow and heat transfer characteristics on the flat tip have been
studied for h/s = 1.5% in a large-scale turbine cascade for propulsion.
The followings are new major findings as a result of this study.
(1) The present heat/mass transfer experiment by employing
the naphthalene sublimation method with a high spatial res-
olution proves the existence of a chord-wise repeated ther-
mal load change on the flat tip surface in the region
between the leading edge and mid-chord. In this region,
there are discrete local peaks of thermal load repeated along
the pressure side, contrary to a continuous peak line down-
stream of the mid-chord. Each discrete peak has an aft ridge
extending toward the suction side.
(2) The surface flow visualizations in this study reveal that there
exists a chord-wise repeated tip gap flow change between
the leading edge tip gap vortex system and the stable sepa-
ration bubble downstream of the mid-chord.
(3) The chord-wise repeated thermal load change seems to have
a close relation to the chord-wise repeated tip gap flow
change.
(4) The local potential velocity measurements inside the tip gap
show that there is a steep velocity gradient along the camber
line across the region of the chord-wise repeated tip gap
flow change.
Further investigations will be needed to understand exactly
how, why, and when the repeated change happens.
Conflict of interest
The authors declared that there is no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement
This research was supported by Basic Science Research
Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea
(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea
(2018R1D1A1B07041081).
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2019.04.083.
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