Advanced CFD Software for Improving Durability of Turbine Inlet Guide Vanes

In high F/A military gas turbine combustors such as JSF, localized pockets of carbon monoxide (and perhaps hydrogen) can exit the combustor, causing severe cooling challenges for designers of turbine inlet guide vanes. Instead of cooling the vane, coolingair can actually interact with the hotpath flow to release heat near the vane surface, resulting in catastrophic damage. In this SBIR, we propose to develop innovative 3D CFD software that accurately predicts the effects of heat release and heat transferinto the vane. Current CFD codes are not capable of such analysis. Our software will utilize combustion Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) methods. In Phase I, the overall feasibility of this approach will bedemonstrated. Initial work will focus on implementing/validating near wall turbulence models that accurately predict boundary layers in LES calculations without fully resolving the boundary layer. We will then analyze flow past a single vane that mimicsthe physics seen in the actual JSF application. Our selected subcontractor, University of Cincinnati, will provide test data from a cooled generic vane under fuel-rich conditions. CFD predictions will be compared to measurements of surface temperature andheat flux at the vane surface to assess the analysis capability. In Phase II, model improvements identified in Phase I will be implemented and validated, followed by analysis of JSF vanes and potential design improvements.