Heat transfer coefficient of wheel rim of largecapacity steam turbines

A way of calculating the overall equivalent heat transfer coefficient of wheel rims of large capacity steam turbines is presented. The method and formula to calculate the mean forced convection heat-transfer coefficient of the surface of the blade and for the bottom wall of the blade passage, are introduced. The heat transmission from the blade to the rim was simplified by analogy to heat transmission in the fins. A fin heat transfer model was then used to calculate the equivalent heat transfer coefficient of the blade passage. The overall equivalent heat transfer coefficient of the wheel rim was then calculated using a cylindrical surface model. A practical calculation example was presented. The proposed method helps determine the heat transfer boundary conditions in finite element analyses of temperature and thermal stress fields of steam turbine rotors.