Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Quasi Steady State Heat Transfer (QSSHT) inside Additively Manufactured Channels with Complex Geometries

Over the last decade, Additive Manufacturing (AM) has been a breakthrough in the production of small and elaborate gas turbine components. Thanks to AM printing, it is possible to design advanced cooling schemes for high-temperature components with complex geometries that wouldn't be feasible with traditional industrial processes, thus increasing gas turbine efficiency. However, the surface roughness resulting from AM production influences the conduits' thermal and hydraulic performances, in terms of friction factor and heat transfer coefficients. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the interaction between surface roughness and cooling performances through experimental analysis of different geometries additive manufactured mini-channels. The results for helix-shaped conduits show a significant overall performance increase compared to straight channels, though it's remarkable to understand how different helix geometrical properties are correlated to the friction factor and the heat transfer coefficients. The results for finned channels demonstrate similar performances to the helix-shaped ones, but further investigation is needed to validate the model.