Numerical modeling of flow and thermal patterns within a combustor simulator

Performance enhancements and control of heat transfer in high pressure gas turbine vanes and rotors is dependent on understanding the flow and thermal fields approaching the turbine. The flow field exiting the combustor has highly non-uniform pressure and temperature variations in both the radial and circumferential directions as well as high turbulence levels. Several studies have shown significant impact on the overall and secondary flow fields within the turbine due to the inlet profile. The Turbine Research Facility (TRF) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has recently added a non-reactive full scale annular combustor simulator to the facility to study these effects. In conjunction with the TRF experimental effort to simulate combustor section exit flows, a three-dimensional CFD analysis of the newly installed simulator has been undertaken. The analysis aids in the experimental implementation of the simulator and gives further understanding of the simulator's complex internal flow patterns. The goal for the TRF simulator is to produce a wide range of profiles to the inlet plane of the vane for evaluation of effects on heat transfer, loss, and loading. The CFD analysis allows an understanding of how those profiles are obtained by tracking the flow through two rows of staggered dilution holes and six rows of staggered film cooling holes on both the ID and OD liners of the main simulator chamber. This enables control as the CFD can guide the experimenter in knowing which liner component influenced the turbine inlet profile shape. Cases can then be run computationally by varying the mass flows and temperatures to tailor the profile to the desired shape prior to running the experiment. These profiles can then be sent through the turbine stage both computationally and experimentally to understand their impact. Finally, turbine airfoils and cooling patterns can then be designed to take advantage of this knowledge.