Characteristics of Deterministic and Stochastic Unsteadiness of Trailing Edge Cutback Film Cooling Flows

Abstract Trailing edge cutback film cooling flows are ubiquitous in small and medium gas turbines, but they are difficult to predict accurately due to the inherent deterministic and stochastic unsteadiness that controls the effectiveness of the cooling system. To help develop accurate closure models for such flows, the characteristics of both types of unsteadiness and their effects on the mean flows are analyzed in this research. Zonal detached eddy simulation (ZDES) is performed on a trailing edge cutback flow model, and the numerical results are validated against the measured data. Then, by using spectral proper orthogonal decomposition (SPOD) reconstruction, the original dataset is segregated into deterministic and stochastic unsteadiness. The characteristics of the stress tensor and the heat flux of each type of unsteadiness are analyzed in detail, and notable differences between the two unsteadiness are identified in terms of the stress tensor anisotropy and distribution of unsteady kinetic energy and heat flux. By propagating the unsteadiness through the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations, the effect of different unsteadiness on the mean flow prediction is quantified. An accurate prediction of the total stress tensor reduces the prediction error in the velocity field by 79% and cooling effectiveness by 55%. An accurate prediction of the total heat flux vector reduces the prediction error in cooling effectiveness further by 37%. These findings provide valuable knowledge for the physical understanding, turbulence modeling, and aerothermal design of cutback trailing edge flows.