Effects of combustor exit profiles on high pressure turbine vane aerodynamics and heat transfer

The goal of this work was to investigate the effects of different profiles representative of those exiting aero-engine combustors on high pressure turbine vane aerodynamics and heat transfer. The various profiles were produced using the non-reacting, inlet profile generator in the Turbine Research Facility (TRF) located at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). This paper reports how the pressure loading and heat transfer along the vane surface is affected by different turbine inlet pressure and temperature profiles at several different span locations. The results indicate that the different inlet total pressure profiles affected the aerodynamic loading by as much as 10%. The results also reveal that the combination of different total pressure and total temperature profiles significantly affected the vane heat transfer for a baseline test with relatively uniform inlet total pressure and total temperature profiles. Near the ID endwall, the baseline heat transfer was reduced 30 to 40% over the majority of the vane surface. Near the OD endwall, it was found that certain inlet profiles could increase the baseline heat transfer by 20 to 30%, while other profiles resulted in a decrease of the baseline heat transfer by 30 to 40%.