The effect of mismatching between combustor and HP vanes on the aerodynamics and heat load in a 1-1/2 stages turbine

Abstract In modern aero-engine and gas turbine, the hot streak and residual swirl caused by the combustor have strong impact on both aero and thermal performances of the high-temperature turbine. Due to different design philosophies of combustors and turbine, one combustor usually matches two or more vanes and the resultant mismatching effect is numerically investigated with unsteady simulation where one nonuniform core faces two Nozzle Guide Vane (NGV) blades. Results indicate that the nonuniformity clocking position dominates the averaged-temperature, while the swirl orientation dominates the radial distribution. The mismatching effect strongly impacts both time-averaged and instantaneous performances, in that neighboring blades of NGV have averaged-temperature difference of 10.5 K, and it also halves the base frequency and amplifies unsteady variation in the rotor passage. By analyzing both aero and thermal results from a matrix of four cases, the LE-pos configuration has the best performance. The complex transportation of the nonuniformity in the LE-pos case is detailed and the unsteady interactions between the inlet nonuniformity and the complex flow topology are analyzed. The residual swirl carries the hot streak fluctuating radially in rotor passages and redistributes the temperature on rotor surface. Results from this work highlight the necessity of considering the mismatching effect in gas turbine design optimization.