Particle deposition characteristics on a turbine vane leading edge with different film-cooling hole geometries

In particle-laden environments such as sand and dust, particle deposition on the turbine vane leading edge affects gas turbine reliability and service life. This study numerically investigates the effects of blowing ratios ( M = 0.5–2.0) and film cooling hole geometries on particle deposition at the leading edge. The flow field is solved using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations with the SST k–ω turbulence model, while particle-wall interactions are modeled using the critical velocity deposition model. Cylindrical holes, several shaped holes, and trenched configurations are examined. The results show that the influence of film cooling on particle deposition strongly depends on the blowing ratio. At low blowing ratios, deposition efficiency remains high and exhibits weak sensitivity to hole geometry. With increasing blowing ratio, particle capture is progressively suppressed, and shaped holes reduce deposition efficiency by up to 48.7% at M = 2.0 compared with cylindrical holes. In addition, leading-edge deposition shows pronounced particle-size selectivity. Within the investigated size range of 1–20μm, particle deposition exhibits clear size-dependent behavior. Fine particles (1–4μm) contribute negligibly to leading-edge deposition. At low blowing ratios, coarse particles (11–20μm) dominate the deposited mass, whereas the contribution of medium particles (5–10μm) increases with blowing ratio and exhibits the strongest sensitivity to blowing ratio and hole geometry. These results indicate that shaped holes operated at relatively high blowing ratios can effectively mitigate particle deposition at the leading edge.