Numerical Simulation of the Main Flow/Coolant Interaction in a Transonic High-Pressure Turbine Vane

Nowadays, Gas Turbines in both industrial and aeronautical applications have high pressure components that work at very high temperatures because they must achieve maximum performance in terms of specific work and cycle efficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to cool down the hot gas path in order to maintain durability. Film cooling is the most studied system given its high efficiency in vane and blade cooling. The research topic of this Master Thesis concerns external film cooling in a transonic fully cooled High Pressure Turbine Nozzle Guide Vane. The NGV is a component which is positioned immediately downstream of the combustor, therefore it is affected by the highest temperature of the Joule-Brayton thermodynamic cycle but also by non-uniform inlet conditions in terms of hot-spot and swirl. This activity mainly aims at studying the three-dimensional interaction between the main flow from the combustor and the coolant jet from the cooling system in a transonic HPT vane by means of numerical simulations in order to improve the adiabatic film cooling effectiveness. The study is a prosecution of a master thesis where a film-cooled flat plate was numerically analyzed to investigate the influence of some geometrical configurations and fluid dynamics parameters on film cooling adiabatic effectiveness. After having identified through literature review a recent configuration of a state-of-art high pressure turbine vane test case and the related experimental data, we moved to a validation through comparison with the experimental data by means of three-dimensional numerical simulations using appropriate turbulence models. All three-dimensional numerical simulations will be performed by ANSYS® FLUENT® software. Lastly, after having matched experimental results with numerical results, we moved on to change the geometric configuration of the test case in order to study the effects on each film cooling row on the overall adiabatic effectiveness. The work is conducted in collaboration with GE Avio S.r.l that is a GE Aviation Business operating in the production sector and maintenance of components and systems for civil and military aeronautics, engaged in continuous search for the excellence of its services and products.