Heat transfer coefficients and the resulting heat flux reduction due to film cooling on a flat plate downstream a row of cylindrical holes are investigated. Highly resolved two dimensional heat transfer coefficient distributions were measured by means of infrared thermography and carefully corrected for local internal testplate conduction and radiation effects [1]. These locally acquired data are processed to lateral average heat transfer coefficients for a quantitative assessment. A wide range variation of the flow parameters blowing rate and density ratio as well as the geometrical parameters streamwise ejection angle and hole spacing is examined. The effects of these dominating parameters on the heat transfer augmentation from film cooling are discussed and interpreted with the help of highly resolved surface results of effectiveness and heat transfer coefficients presented earlier [2]. A new method of evaluating the heat flux reduction from film cooling is presented. From a combination of the lateral average of both the adiabatic effectiveness and the heat transfer coefficient, the lateral average heat flux reduction is processed according to the new method. The discussion of the total effect of film cooling by means of the heat flux reduction reveals important characteristics and constraints of discrete hole ejection. The complete heat transfer data of all measurements are used as basis for a new correlation of lateral average heat transfer coefficients. This correlation combines the effects of all the dominating parameters. It yields a prediction of the heat transfer coefficient from the ejection position to far downstream, including effects of extreme blowing angles and hole spacing. The new correlation has a modular structure to allow for future inclusion of additional parameters. Together with the correlation of the adiabatic effectiveness it provides an immediate determination of the streamwise heat flux reduction distribution of cylindrical hole film cooling configurations.© 2002 ASME