The THERMAL STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF A THERMAL BLADE

Abstract

Cooling of gas turbine blades is a major consideration because they are subjected to high temperature
working conditions. Several methods have been suggested for the cooling of blades and one such
technique is to have radial holes to pass high velocity cooling air along the blade span. The forced
convection heat transfer from the blade to the cooling air will reduce the temperature of the blade to
allowable limits. Finite element analysis is used in the present work to examine steady state thermal &
structural performance for N155, Inconel 718and Titanium T6. The analysis is carried out using ANSYS
software package. While comparing these materials, it is found that Inconel 718 is better suited for high
temperature applications. On evaluating the graphs drawn for temperature distribution, von-mises stresses
and deflection, the blade with 13 holes is considered as optimum.