Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-023-04020-4

TECHNICAL PAPER

Computational flow and heat transfer study on impingement cooling

in a turbine blade leading edge using an innovative convergent
nozzles
Madhwesh N1 · Shantanu Purohit2 · K. Vasudeva Karanth1

Received: 19 July 2022 / Accepted: 3 January 2023 / Published online: 13 January 2023
© The Author(s) 2023

Abstract
The present paper discusses a detailed numerical study performed to investigate flow and heat transfer characteristics of
impingement cooling of the leading edge of a HP gas turbine blade model. An array of innovative converging shape nozzles
are used as jets which strike the surface to be cooled. A comprehensive study is presented investigating various parameters
which effect impingement cooling. These parameters include varying Mach number of the flow as 0.2 to 0.8, converging
ratio of the nozzle varied as 2 to 8 at two different minor diameters of 0.25–0.5 mm of the jet, pitch distance is changed from
3 to 5 mm, and inter-jet distance changed from 3 mm to 6 mm. Each parameter is independently scrutinized keeping other
parameters constant. The results indicate the formation of primary stagnation region where Nusselt number augmentation is
maximum compared to secondary stagnation region. Cross-flow effect plays a significant role in reducing peak values in the
Nusselt number in the downstream region. Enhancement in peak Nusselt number value is greater for high values of Mach
number of the flow, lower jet-to-target distances and the higher converging ratio at a lower value of jet diameter. Average
Nusselt number is found to be higher for lower values of pitch distance.

Keywords Convergent nozzle · Jet impingement cooling · Leading edge cooling · Numerical study
List of symbols i, j Tensorial subscripts
M Mach number of the flow k Turbulence kinetic energy (J/kg)
D Major diameter of the nozzle (mm) e Specific energy (J/kg)
d Minor diameter of the nozzle (mm) keff Effective thermal conductivity (W/mK)
H Distance from nozzle to target plate (mm) h Specific enthalpy (J/kg)
C Inter-jet distance (mm) T Temperature (K)
L Length of the target surface (mm) cp Pressure coefficient = p/po
u, v, w Mean velocity vector (m/s) p Local static pressure
ui Mean velocity components (m/s) po Stagnation pressure
p Pressure (N/m2) y+ Non-dimensional wall distance = ­yuτ/ʋ
p Mean pressure (N/m2) B Width of equivalent slot jet (m)
ui , uj Fluctuating velocity components (m/s) Re  ρV(2B)/μ
′ ′

Bi Body force components in x, y, z directions y Distance of first layer from the wall (m)
uτ Shear velocity (m/s)
r* Radius ratio, used in Ref. [4]
Technical Editor: Ahmad Arabkoohsar. Z Span-wise distance (mm)
Nu Hlc/kt
* K. Vasudeva Karanth
kv.karanth@manipal.edu
h Local heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K)
lc Characteristic length (mm)
1
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, S Circumferential coordinate (m)
Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy NuSW Span-wise area-weighted average Nusselt number
of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104, India
2
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis,
MN 55455, USA

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86 Page 2 of 14 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86
Greek symbols
ρ Density (kg/m3)
ʋ Kinematic viscosity ­(m2/s)
kt Thermal conductivity (W/mK)
μ Dynamic viscosity (kg/ms)
ω Specific dissipation rate ­(t−1)
ε Turbulent dissipation rate ­(m2/s3)
Abbreviations
HP High pressure
SST Shear stress transport
BSL Baseline
RNG Re-normalization group
1 Introduction
Modern-day gas turbines are expected to produce high power
and provide higher efficiency than conventional gas turbines.
To achieve improved working performance, a higher turbine
inlet temperature is essential. In general, the working fluid
temperature is far beyond than the metallurgical limits of the
material, and therefore, many contingent cooling techniques
have been devised to protect the turbine blades and as well
as end walls to extend the component life.
The leading edge and mid-chord region are usually
cooled by convection cooling, where, first, heat is exchanged
through the blade material by conduction followed by con-
vection through the compressed air flowing inside the cool-
ing passages. Impingement cooling is preferred for cooling
at the leading edge because it is the region which is sub-
jected to maximum thermal loads. Due to space constraints,
many at times it is difficult to incorporate impingement cool-
ing in mid-chord section and trailing edge region. Relatively
higher heat transfer rates can be obtained by impingement
cooling, but it has a disadvantage that it could weaken the
structural strength of a turbine blade [1].
To enhance heat transfer from the trailing edge region,
pin–fin cooling is commonly used. In film cooling, air
passes through the bleed cavities and forms a protective
layer of cooling around the surface of the blade and protects
it against the onslaught of extreme thermal fluxes, thereby
reducing blade wall temperature to a considerable extent.
Film cooling can act in tandem with convection cooling as
well as impingement cooling.
The literature is replete with the experimental and numer-
ical investigation of impingement cooling on curved and flat
surfaces. Thermal performance obtained from jet impinge-
ment cooling mainly depends on the jet Reynolds number,
nozzle-to-target distance, diameter of the jet, nozzle spacing
and curvature of target plate, as mentioned in the literature
[2]. Earliest investigations of heat transfer from concave sur-
faces have been done by Chupp et al. [2]. They performed
13
an experimental analysis on a concave surface by testing
several impingement tubes with an array of circular cavi-
ties. The Nusselt number correlation shows that it varies as
the power of 0.7 jet Reynolds number. Metzger and Larsen
[3] performed experiments on a rectangular channel with
90° turn and used surface coating to measure heat transfer
rate and observed approximately 120% increase in Nusselt
number when compared to its value at the inlet due to 90°
turn in the flow passage.
An experimental study was performed by Bunker and
Metzger [4] to measure localized heat transfer characteristics
of the leading edge of a turbine blade by jet impingement
cooling through an array of multiple jets. They tested several
parameters such as leading edge sharpness, Reynolds num-
ber of the flow coming out of the jet, pitch-to-diameter ratio
and nozzle-to-target ratio. They showed that heat transfer
is proportional to Reynolds number raise to the power of
0.6. The results indicate enhancement in heat transfer with
the reduction in nozzle-to-target ratio, decreasing leading
edge sharpness and augmentation in heat transfer in the lon-
gitudinal direction with a decrease in jet-to-pitch diameter
ratio. Tabakoff and Clevenger [5] performed an experimental
analysis for heat transfer characteristics for three jet arrange-
ments, viz. slot jet, round jet and an array configuration.
Localized heat transfer rate is highest at stagnation region
for slot and round jet, whereas array configuration exhibits
evenly distributed heat transfer characteristics. Huang et al.
[6] experimentally analyzed cross-flow orientation effect
on heat transfer distribution for an assortment of jets strik-
ing target plate orthogonally. Their result shows that heat
transfer variations on target surface significantly depends
upon cross-flow exit direction. One of the earliest numeri-
cal studies on jet impingement cooling was performed by
Kayansayan and Kucuka [7], and they found that concave
channel gives a better thermal performance when compared
to flat channel due to curvature effect of the concave cool-
ing channel.
Katti et al. [8] performed an experimental analysis on
a semicylindrical surface impinged by an array of jets to
study the distribution of pressure on the impinging sur-
face. Increasing jet-to-target distance results in reduced
pressure coefficients. Moreover, at larger pitches, second-
ary peaks of pressure coefficients are also noticed between
the adjacent jets. D. Singh et al. [9] numerically investi-
gated impingement cooling on a cylindrical surface keep-
ing the target plate at a constant temperature. The results
indicate a monotonic reduction in Nusselt number value
along both stream-wise and radial directions, and Nus-
selt number reduces at stagnation with an increase in d/D
ratio. Caliskan et al. [10] experimentally and numerically
investigated jet impingement cooling by elliptical and rec-
tangular arrays of impinging jets and found elliptical jets
provide better thermal performance than rectangular jets.
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86
Yang et al. [11] presented an experimental study of jets
impinging on the cylindrical target plate and validated it
with numerical analysis. Their study indicates that Nusselt
number distribution is influenced by cross-flow in the pas-
sage, Kelvin–Helmholtz eddy structures and unsteadiness
arising because of the above-mentioned phenomenon.
Taslim et al. [12] inspected jet impingement cooling on
a smooth target surface as well as with corrugated target
surface. Maximum heat discharge from the target plate is
achieved for notched-horseshoe ribs. Smooth target sur-
face produces maximum heat transfer coefficients. Fregeau
et al. [13] presented correlations computed numerically for
the mean and maximum Nusselt number of jets impinging
on a circular curved surface examining several parameters
such as jet-to-target distance, inter-jet distance and Mach
number of the flow. Numerical analysis of turbine blade
leading edge cooling by combining both impingement and
film cooling has been done by Liu et al. [14]. The study
indicates that thermal performance of internal surface of
leading edge improves with an increase in blowing ratio.
Kumar and Prasad [15] performed a numerical analysis
of jet striking on a curved surface and studied parameters
such as flow Reynolds number, the ratio of nozzle distance
to the diameter of a jet and the ratio of target distance to jet
diameter. Lower H/D ratios exhibit maximum heat transfer
coefficients.
More recently, the effect of jet nozzle diameter and Mach
number of the flow was examined by Liu et al. [16] and
they concluded that heat transfer from the surface augments
with an increase in Mach number of the flow and also with
the increase in diameter of the nozzle. Liu and Feng [17]
investigated the impingement cooling study on the posi-
tion of the jet nozzle in the axial direction. By increasing
the Mach number of the flow, the Nusselt number values
increase and it also increases with a reduction in the distance
from the pressure side to the nozzle. Moreover, for better
thermal performance side entry of jet should be preferred.
Kumar and Prasad [18] conducted numerical investigation
on heat transfer on an effused concave surface by impinge-
ment method. They found heat transfer to be minimum for
the exit configuration with staggered effusion and one edge
open. Wang et al. [19] studied the heat transfer effect of slit
nozzle impingement on a heated plate surface. Their results
show that by increasing jet angle, a significant improve-
ment in heat transfer can be observed for forward-moving
inclined slit jet impingement. Chao Ma et al. [24] studied
the influence of the non-uniform circumferential flow field
generated by radial turbine volutes on the back-disk’s cool-
ing characteristics. Their analyses showed that the circum-
ferential non-uniform distribution of the flow field caused by
the volute can significantly impact the relative distribution
of cooling efficiency across the surface of the back-disk and
can decrease the average cooling efficiency of the back-disk
Page 3 of 14 86
surface by 1.8–6.0% in comparison with when the flow field
is uniform.
After a comprehensive review of a host of technical
papers available in the literature on jet impingement cool-
ing of a leading edge of a turbine blade model, it is believed
that an innovative convergent shape nozzle as impinging jets
have not been reported in the literature so far. Hence, based
on this gap in the literature the following objective is set
forth for the present study. The main objective of present
research is to carry out a parametric study to understand the
influence of each parameter on gas turbine blade cooling and
also to understand the flow and heat transfer characteristics
of jet impingement cooling by using convergent shape noz-
zle for an augmented heat transfer from the blade leading
edge using a general CFD code.
2 Numerical modeling
A model of turbine blade consisting of a single array of
converging shaped nozzles impinging on the leading edge
surface is considered for the purpose of the analysis. When
the coolant from the jets strike the curved surface, the fluid
stream pattern and the stagnation regions are influenced by
the size and shape of the nozzle, cross-flow effect from the
air flowing in the span-wise direction, the velocity of the
jet, the arrangement of the jets and curvature of the lead-
ing edge. These factors influence the cooling and thermal
performance of jet impingement cooling.
2.1 Geometric details
The model of the leading edge surface used in the present
investigation closely follows the geometry used by Timko
[20]. The leading edge of the target surface was stretched
by the middle cross section and the flow coming out of a
converging nozzle ejected from an array of multiple jets. The
length of the leading edge surface is taken at 42 mm. Other
parameters such as major (D) and minor (d) diameter of the
converging nozzle, pitch distance (C), the distance between
nozzle tip to the leading edge of target plate (H) and Mach
number (M) of the flow at the inlet are varied. Figure 1 gives
the details of the computational domain. Inlet boundary con-
dition is applied at the thirteen converging nozzles and blade
tip is given an outlet condition.
2.2 Mesh procedure
A commercial software is used to generate the tetrahedral
mesh for the computational domain. The low Reynolds SST
k–ω model requires y +  < 2. Hence, in this study, y + is
considered as less than 1.0 to capture the characteristics of
the boundary layer. A mesh density of 4.5 million cells is
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86 Page 4 of 14 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86
Fig. 1  Geometric details of the computational domain
considered for the analysis purpose. The top view of the
meshed computational domain is shown in Fig. 2.
2.3 Grid independence study
A grid independence
( )study is conducted for the model of
converging ratio Dd = 4, minor diameter (d) = 0.5 mm,
H = 3 mm, L = 3 mm and Mach number of 0.4. Mesh den-
sity of 3.10 million, 3.97 million, 4.66 million and 5.55
million number of elements is considered to validate grid
independence results. The SST k–ω turbulence model
requires wall y + less than 2.0; hence, for the present grid
independence study wall y + of less than 1.0 is considered.
Fig. 2  Mesh of the computational domain
13
The area-weighted average Nusselt number obtained from
the simulation results is compared with the Richardson
extrapolation method presented in reference [22]. Nusselt
number values obtained from the grid size of 4.66 million
and 5.55 million elements are used to calculate the extrap-
olated value. The governing equations are discretized by
using a second-order upwind scheme. Hence, according to
Roache’s investigation, fourth-order accuracy can be
obtained in Nusselt number value from Richardson’s
extrapolation. Table 1 shows the Nusselt number obtained
from the simulation and extrapolation and relative error
between them.
Table 1 shows that relative error is 0.291% for 3.97 mil-
lion number of elements. Value of relative error becomes
0.207% when the number of nodes is increased from
3.97 million to 4.66 million. Further, when the nodes are
increased from 4.66 to 5.55 million, percentage relative
error marginally increases to 0.211. In view of this, a mesh
density of 5.55 million nodes is considered as optimum
sized domain for the present numerical analysis. Because
of the incorporation of this numerical domain, the analy-
ses take extra computational time, but accurate results are
anticipated.
2.4 Boundary conditions
The boundary conditions applied to the coolant (air) and
the target surface have been matched with those followed
by Zhao Liu [17]. Mass flow inlet boundary condition is
given to the jet, uniform temperature of 352 K is given to
the air, and turbulent intensity is kept at 5% for the inlet
air. Air is considered as compressible in nature. Tip of the
blade is assigned as pressure outlet with an atmospheric
gage pressure value of zero. The target surface is assumed
to be at a fixed temperature of 496.3 K. All other walls
are given non-slip adiabatic wall boundary condition. The
solution is assumed to reach convergence when residu-
als of continuity, momentum and turbulent equations are
lower than 1­ 0−4 and for energy 1­ 0−6. Along with residual,
surface monitors of Nusselt number are also considered
for convergence criteria.
Table 1  Average Nusselt number of the target surface
No. of elements (in Area-weighted average Relative error (%)
millions) Nusselt number
3.10 129.0208 –
3.97 129.3960 0.291
4.66 129.6643 0.207
5.55 129.9375 0.211
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86 Page 5 of 14 86

2.5 Governing Equations The constants 𝜙 of the new model can be treated as a

linear combination of two other constants, 𝜙1 and 𝜙2 , as:
ANSYS Fluent, a licensed popular CFD suite, is employed
(8)
( )
for fluid and thermal simulation study. For the compu- 𝜙 = F1 𝜙1 + 1 − F1 𝜙2
tations carried out in this work, double-precision-based
segregated solvers are used. A SIMPLE algorithm is used and 𝜎k1 = 0.85, 𝜎w1 = 0.5, 𝛽1 = 0.075, a1 = 0.31,
to couple velocity and pressure [25]. Steady-state com- 𝛽 ∗ = 0.09, k = 0.41, 𝜎k2 = 1, 𝜎w2 = 0.856, 𝛽2 = 0.0828
pressible Navier–Stokes equation is solved to obtain the
solutions and equations are discretized using finite con- Eddy viscosity can be defined as:
trol volume methodology. Second-order upwind scheme a1 k
is adopted to discretize the continuity, momentum, turbu- 𝜈t = (9)
max(a1 𝜔;ΩF2 )
lence and energy equation [25]. Since coolant (air) leaves
jet at very high velocity, compressibility effects are impor-
tant and thus considered in the analysis. The governing F1 = tanh arg41 (10)
( )

mean equations used can be written as:

Continuity equation: �
� √ � �
k 500𝜈 4𝜌𝜎w2 k
𝜕u 𝜕v 𝜕w
where arg1 = min max ; ; (11)
0.09𝜔y y2 𝜔 CDk𝜔 y2
+ + =0 (1)
𝜕x 𝜕y 𝜕z

Momentum equation: F2 = tanh arg22 (12)

( )
( ( ))
𝜕 ( ) 𝜕p 𝜕 𝜕ui 𝜕uj 2 𝜕ui
𝜌u ui = − + 𝜇 + − 𝛿
� √ �
𝜕xi 𝜕xi 𝜕xi 𝜕xi 𝜕xi 3 ij 𝜕xi 2 k 500𝜈
where arg2 = max ; (13)
0.09𝜔y y2 𝜔
𝜕
( � �)
Bi − 𝜌ui uj
𝜕xi
(2) (
1 𝜕k 𝜕𝜔
)
−20
CDk𝜔 = max 2𝜌𝜎𝜔2 , 10 (14)
𝜕ui 𝜕uj 𝜔 𝜕xj 𝜕xj
( ) ( )
( � �
)
2 𝜕uk
−𝜌 ui uj = 𝜇t + − 𝜌k + 𝜇t 𝛿 (3)
𝜕xj 𝜕xi 3 𝜕xk ij

Energy equations: 2.6 Comparison with existing experimental data

It is very important that a turbulence model selected for

( )
𝜕 ( 𝜕 ( ) 𝜕 𝜕T
(4)
)
𝛿eui = − pui + keff
𝜕xi 𝜕xi 𝜕xi 𝜕xi computation should be able to give accurate flow and
heat transfer results. Various turbulence models available
p V2 in FLUENT are SST k–ω model, standard and RNG k–ε
where e = h − + (5) model, and BSL k–ω model. Results obtained from these
𝜌 2
model are compared with the results of Bunker and Metzger
The SST k–ω turbulence model, a two-equation eddy [4]. Geometry used for the validation can be found in Ref.
viscosity hypothesis proposed by F. R. Menter [21], which [4] and is shown in Fig. 3a. The experimental case with
makes use of Wilcox k–ω model in the boundary layer H/B = 24, r* = 1, Re = 6750 and C/D = 4.67 in [4] is chosen
region and in the free stream region, switches to k–ε for comparison. Air is given a temperature of 347 K and
model. The SST k–ω model equations can be written as turbulence intensity of 4%. The mass flow boundary condi-
[19]: tion is given at the inlet. Its value is selected such that the
[ ] Reynolds number correctly represents the experimental work
D𝜌k 𝜕u 𝜕 ( ) 𝜕k
of Bunker and Metzger [4]. All other boundaries are given
= 𝜏ij i − 𝛽 ∗ 𝜌𝜔k + 𝜇 + 𝜎k1 𝜇t (6)
Dt 𝜕xj 𝜕xj 𝜕xj non-slip adiabatic wall boundary condition. The tempera-
ture of the target surface is kept constant at 296 K. All open
( )
D𝜌𝜔 𝛾1 𝜕ui 𝜕 ( ) 𝜕𝜔 1 𝜕k 𝜕𝜔
2 (7)
( )
= 𝜏ij − 𝛽𝜌𝜔 + 𝜇 + 𝜎𝜔 𝜇t + 2 1 − F1 𝜌𝜎w2
Dt 𝜈t 𝜕xj 𝜕xj 𝜕xj 𝜔 𝜕xj 𝜕xj

13
86 Page 6 of 14 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86

Fig. 3  a Geometric configurations used by Bunker & Metzger [4] for ▸
the experimental work, b comparison of area-weighted average Nus-
selt number of various turbulence model with experimental results
of Bunker & Metzger [4], c relative difference in Nusselt numbers
obtained from the experimental results of Bunker & Metzger [4] and
CFD analysis using SST k–ω turbulence model

boundaries are given outlet condition with zero gage atmos-

pheric pressure and an outlet temperature of 296 K. The wall
grid y +  < 1 is chosen for the analysis, and mesh density of
1.2 million elements is used for the present validation case.
A validation study has previously been done by Kumar
and Prasad [15] and Liu et al. [16]. Nusselt number is plotted
along the curve length (S/B) and its value is compared with
the experimental results in Reference [4]. Figure 3b shows
that all the turbulence model simulates the experimental
results well, but results obtained from SST k–ω turbulence
model closely match with the experimental results of Ref.
[4] with the maximum relative error of 15.23% for S/B ratio
of 12. For all other S/B ratio, the relative error is less than
12%. As the experimental error is nearly 10% and the error
obtained from the SST k–ω model is least among all the
turbulence models, further computations have been done
by using SST k–ω model. As per Bunker & Metzger [4],
the experimental uncertainty for their study is estimated to
be ± 10 percent using the methods for single-sample experi-
ments. The relative difference between the experimental
value and the present CFD analysis (using SST k–ω model)
is shown in Fig. 3c.

2.7 Parameters Investigated
( )
The converging ratio D
d
of the nozzle, inlet Mach number
(M) of the flow, target distance (H) and the pitch distance
(C) play an important role in heat transfer augmentation
from the target surface in jet impingement cooling. To inves-
tigate these parameters, a detailed numerical study is per-
formed to understand the effect of each parameter while
keeping other constant. Table 2 shows all the four cases
studied in this numerical study.

3 Results and discussions

3.1 Effect of Mach number on flow characteristics

for a given jet geometry

Figure 4 shows the velocity contour in span-wise direc-

tion for case 1 of Table 2 (for Mach number varying from
0.2 to 0.8). It is observed that impingement effect of the
jet shows reduced flow characteristics in the span-wise
direction for all the nozzles succeeding the first nozzle as

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Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86 Page 7 of 14 86

Table 2  Details of different cases for numerical study

S. no Case Parameters varied Parameters kept constant

1 Varying Mach no. (M) of the flow M = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8
( )
D
d = 4, d = 0.25 mm, H = 3 mm, C = 3 mm
2 M = 0.4, H = 3 mm, C = 3 mm
( ) ( ) ( )
D D D
Varying converging ratio d (a).
( ) = 2, d = 0.5 mm (b).
d = 4, d = 0.25 mm (c).
d
D = 4, d = 0.5 mm (d). D = 8, d = 0.25 mm
( )
d d

3 Varying jet-to-target distance (H) H = 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm

( )
D
d = 4, d = 0.25 mm, C = 3 mm, M = 0.4
4 Varying pitch distances (C) C = 3 mm, 4.5 mm, 6 mm
( )
D
d = 4, d = 0.25 mm, H = 3 mm, M = 0.4

shown in Fig. 4 owing to increase in cross-flow effect due prominent complementary secondary stagnation regions on
to spent jet air flow. either side of the primary stagnation region, formed due to
The expanded view of Fig. 5 shows that there is a pri- vortices generated when flow from the contiguous nozzle
mary stagnation region right beneath the jet and two other strikes each other. This effect diminishes in the downstream

Fig. 4  Velocity vectors along the span-wise direction at the center of the jet nozzle for various Mach number (M)

13
86 Page 8 of 14
Fig. 5  Zoomed view of the region (i) in Fig. 4a
Fig. 6  Pressure distribution along the span-wise direction for various
Mach number of the flow for a given jet geometry
direction where cross-flow effect dominates the impinge-
ment effect and completely disappears at the tip of the blade
near the outlet. Similar behavior can be observed for other
Mach number flow velocity contours.
Figure 6 shows the pressure coefficient fluctuations along
the leading edge of the target surface where flow from the
nozzles strike. The upward arrows specify the position of
the centerline of the nozzle. This figure also shows that pres-
sure distribution declines as fluid moves in the downstream
direction. It is noted that peak values of cp are observed at
primary stagnation region beneath the nozzle. Value of cp for
all Mach number reaches a peak value of unity at the nozzle,
either at No. 2 or at No. 3 and then decreases as the cross-
flow effect takes dominance over the impingement effect.
The secondary peak in cp values is also observed because of
the presence of entrainment formed due to the interaction
of impingement flow from the nozzle and the cross-flow
from the spent air. Secondary peak is initially observed at
the middle of two primary peaks, but then shifts to right as
fluid flows to further downstream direction indicating that
flow coming out of nozzle does not impinge the target plate
13
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86
directly, but rather deviate from its path because of dominat-
ing spent jet air flow.
Figure 7 shows the detailing of the contour shape of the
flow through each jet vis-à-vis through flow. The param-
eter used for the contour plot is specific dissipation rate (ω)
which throws light on the type of flow dissipation that occurs
for the bulk flow in the stream-wise direction. The flow from
nozzle No. 1 to No. 13 indicates clearly that in the initial
jet impingement on the blade leading edge, there is lower
dissipation of ω due to insignificant cross-flow, but as the
one proceeds toward the nozzle No. 13, the jet flow mix-
ing occurs along with a stronger cross-flow resulting in a
comparatively higher dissipation of ω in the neighborhood
of each jet region.
The cross-flow effect predominates with the increase in
Mach number of the flow resulting in the high distortion of
the impinging jet flow. However, the heat transfer charac-
teristic for the heat removal is due to both impingement jet
and the grade of cross-flow turbulence of the flow. Hence,
for higher Mach number flows due to higher turbulence as
manifested by larger ω is beneficial to augment cooling of
the leading edge in comparison with the lower Mach number
flows. This can be clearly brought out in the contour plots
of the Nusselt number of the leading edge for various Mach
number in Fig. 8.
In Fig. 8a, b, c and d, the bottom left side of the target
plate represents hub and the top right side of the plate rep-
resent the tip, respectively. Highest Nusselt number values
are obtained at the stagnation region as shown in Fig. 8,
and each jet covers a certain area where it has its influence.
Heat transfer rate also increases with the increase in Mach
number of the flow; hence, highest Nusselt number values
are obtained for a flow having Mach number as 0.8.
As the fluid moves toward the tip side, cross-flow influ-
ence over the jet impingement on the target plate increases;
therefore, jet flow does not directly hit the target plate and
merges with the bulk flow, and lower Nusselt number val-
ues are obtained in that region as evident from the figure.
This illustrates that the heat transfer rate obtained from jet
impingement cooling is higher than convection cooling. An
interesting phenomenon that can be observed that there are
significantly lower Nusselt number values at secondary stag-
nation region. It is mainly because when flow from two con-
secutive jets meet, the velocity at the secondary stagnation
point reduces due to the formation of velocity and thermal
boundary layers [23].
Figure 9 shows the Nusselt number plot along the span-
wise direction at various Mach number flows for a given jet
geometry. Figure 9 shows that the presence of jets causes
primary and secondary peak values of Nusselt number
almost in a similar fashion to the pressure coefficient peak
values observed in Fig. 6. But an important observation that
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86 Page 9 of 14 86

Fig. 7  Specific dissipation rate (ω) at various Mach number of the flow

Fig. 8  Nusselt number contour

at various Mach number for a
given jet geometry

13
86 Page 10 of 14 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86
Fig. 9  Nusselt number plot at varying Mach number for a given jet
geometry
can be made here is that Nusselt number peaks depend upon
jet Mach number unlike pressure coefficient plot (Fig. 6).
It should be noted that Nusselt number peaks are obtained
at stagnation region as evident from Nusselt number contour
plot of the leading edge of a gas turbine in Fig. 8. Second-
ary peaks in Nusselt number values can be attributed to the
vortex formed due to confluence when flow from contigu-
ous nozzle meet, thus promoting turbulent mixing which
increases heat transfer rate with lower secondary stagna-
tion pressure. Maximum thermal performance is obtained
for Mach number of 0.8, but it has a disadvantage that it
will reduce the combined efficiency of the gas turbine as
higher Mach number flow increases the load on the compres-
sor. Hence, a trade-off should be done in jet velocity such
that both reasonable thermal performance and less load on
a compressor could be achieved.
( )
3.2 Effect of D
d
on constant M, H and C
In order to study the effect of converging ratio of the nozzle
on impingement cooling, a detailed study is performed by
( )
varying Dd and keeping jet-to-target distance as 3 mm,
inter-jet distance as 3 mm and Mach number of the flow as
0.4. Figure 10( illustrates
) the Nusselt number plot showing
the effect of d on constant M, H and C. Nusselt number
D
peaks are found to be higher for d = 0.5 mm when compared
to d = 0.25 mm keeping constant converging ratio as 4. It is
primarily attributed to the fact that with an increase in the
diameter of the nozzle, the stagnation region area increases
as more fluid can come out of the nozzle and impinge the
target surface. The effect of converging ratio at a constant
13
Fig. 10  Nusselt number plot for varying Dd at constant M, H and C
minor diameter of the nozzle as 0.5 mm and 0.25 mm is also
shown in Fig. 10.
It is perceived that the converging ratio has a significant
influence
( ) on heat dissipation from the target surface. Increas-
ing Dd from 2 to 4 for d = 0.5 mm and from 4 to 8 for
d = 0.25 mm almost doubles the Nusselt number peaks. It is
due to the inherent shape of the nozzle. Rise in fluid velocity
coming out of the nozzle is more for higher converging ratio,
and thus, jet strikes the target plate with much higher veloc-
ity. The higher velocity of the flow helps in preventing
boundary layer formation at the target surface thereby aug-
menting heat transfer rate. As discussed in the previous sec-
tion, the cross-flow effect takes dominance over the impinge-
ment effect in the downstream direction, and it results in the
reduced heat transfer from the target surface.
( Figure 11 shows Nusselt number contours for varying
)
D
d
on constant M, H and C. In Fig. 11a, b, c and d, the
bottom left side represents hub and the top right side repre-
sents the tip of the leading edge of the turbine blade, respec-
tively. It can be appreciated that converging ratio has a note-
worthy influence on the Nusselt number with higher
converging ratio providing better heat transfer rate. It also
validates impingement cooling is much more effective than
convection cooling.
Secondary peaks in Nusselt number can also be observed
between two consecutive primary stagnation regions. It
appears because the confluence of jet flow and streamflow
produce secondary impingement which may cause the for-
mation of recirculation and vortices which generate swirl
and it strikes the target with lower velocity as compared to
velocity coming out of the jet. This phenomenon reduces in
span-wise direction because jet directly does not impinge on
the target plate due to the dominating effect of cross-flow;
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86 Page 11 of 14 86

Fig. 11  Nusselt number

( )
contours for varying Dd at
constant M, H and C

rather, it deflects from its usual path and turns sideways

toward the outlet.
Figure 12 shows pressure coefficient distribution along
the(span-wise
) direction of the leading edge showing an effect
of Dd on constant M, H and C. Here also pressure coeffi-
cient values reduce as fluid flows in (the)downstream direc-
tion. Highest peak values of cp for all Dd ratios are obtained
for the jet No. 2 as compared to rest of the
( jets.
) For constant
minor diameter (d = 0.5 mm) at varying Dd from 2 to 4, we
observe that pressure coefficient values increase throughout
the span-wise(direction.
) A similar phenomenon can also be
noticed when d increases from 4 to 8 at a constant minor
D

diameter((d))of 0.25 mm. It can further be discerned that for

constant Dd and increasing minor diameter from 0.25 mm
to 0.5 mm, pressure coefficient values compound.
Fig. 12  Pressure coefficient distribution for varying converging ratio
at constant M, H and C
( )
3.3 Effect of H for constant values of Dd , M and C

To analyze the influence of jet-to-target plate distance on

heat transfer augmentation from jet impingement cooling,

13
86 Page 12 of 14
the following section presents the detailed analysis of three
different (
H values
) of 3 mm, 4 mm and 5 mm for constant
values of Dd , M and C. The Nusselt number plot presented
( )
in Fig. 13 showing effect of H on constant values of Dd , M
and C shows that peak values of Nusselt number reduce with
the increase in value of H.
It can be attributed to the fact that as jet-to-target distance
increases, fluid gets more area to mix, and thus, convection
effect dominates impingement effect. This can be supported
by the Nusselt number contour plot of Fig. 14. An inter-
esting phenomenon can be noticed that with an increase in
H, stagnation region widens. This is largely due to higher
Fig. 13  Nusselt number
( ) distribution along the span-wise direction for
constant values of Dd , M and C
Fig. 14  Nusselt number contours for varying H at constant values of
13
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86
convection effect than impingement effect as fluid gets more
space to mix up which increases the turbulence of the flow.
Secondary peaks because of the confluence of jets are also
shown in Figs. 13 and 14. Figure 13 shows that peak val-
ues in Nusselt number for H = 5 mm deflect a bit toward
left away from the centerline of the jet due to dominating
cross-flow effect even in the upstream direction as it gets
more space to build up and inhibits jet to impinge directly
on the target plate. It should be noted that bottom left side
for Fig. 14a, b and c represents the hub and top right side
represents tip.
3.4 Effect
( )of pitch distance on constant values
of Dd , M and H
Pitch distance has a substantial influence on the cooling of
a turbine blade achieved through jet impingement method.
In this section, Nusselt number comparison is presented( for
)
varying pitch distance maintaining parameters such as Dd ,
M and H, as constant. Figure 15 illustrates the effect of pitch
distance on Nusselt number
( ) distribution along the span-wise
direction for constant Dd = 4, d = 0.25 mm, M = 0.4 and
H = 3 mm. Due to the different positioning of the jet nozzle,
the Nusselt number peaks are obtained at different locations
on the leading edge along the span-wise direction. It is noted
that with an increase in pitch distance, the effect of cross-
flow diffuses and impingement effect dominates even in the
downstream direction. It should be noted from the figure that
Nusselt number peaks obtained for varying inter-jet distance
in the upstream region are nearly same as the cross-flow
( )
D
d
, M and C
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86
Fig. 15  Nusselt number distribution(along
) the non-dimensional span-
wise distance for constant values of Dd , M and H
effect is not prominent in this region, whereas in downstream
region, cross-flow play a significant role for closer spaced
jets as compared to farther spaced jets. Therefore, Nusselt
number peak subsides for C = 3 mm, whereas for C = 6 mm
its value is higher than the other two C values in the down-
stream region.
Figure 16 shows Nusselt number contour for varying
inter-jet distance. It should be noted that the stagnation area
reduces with the increase in nozzle spacing. In Figs. 16a, b
( )
Fig. 16  Nusselt number contour for varying C at constant values of
Page 13 of 14 86
and c, the bottom left side represents the hub and top right
side represents the tip of a turbine blade.
4 Conclusion
From the detailed numerical analysis of the impingement
cooling using an innovative convergent nozzle, the following
observations can be made:
• Nusselt number value at the stagnation region is found
to be maximum and its values increase with the increase
in Mach number of the flow. Secondary peaks in Nus-
selt number and coefficient of pressure plots are also
observed in the upstream region, but this phenomenon
reduces in the downstream region.
• The converging ratio(has) a significant impact on jet
impingement cooling. Dd ratio of 8 at d = 0.25 mm pro-
vides better thermal performance.
• With the increase in jet-to-target distance (H), Nusselt
number reduces due to the dominant nature of the con-
vection effect.
• Impingement effect dominates cross-flow effect with an
increase in pitch distance (C). Nusselt number peaks for
C = 6 mm is greater than those obtained when C is kept
as 3 mm and 4.5 mm.
D
d
, M and H
13
86 Page 14 of 14 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2023) 45:86
Acknowledgements The authors would like to wholeheartedly express
the feeling of gratitude to the Department of Mechanical & Industrial
Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, MAHE Manipal, for
providing computational facility to carry out the research work. The
authors also acknowledge the support provided by the laboratory staff
and the institute. The present research work did not receive any grants
from any agencies.
Funding Open access funding provided by Manipal Academy of
Higher Education, Manipal. The authors did not receive financial sup-
port/funding from any organization for the submitted work.
Declarations
Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no known com-
peting financial interests or personal relationships that could have ap-
peared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri-
bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adapta-
tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source,
provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes
were made. The images or other third party material in this article are
included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated
otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in
the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not
permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will
need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a
copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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