Effects of Non-Uniform Inlet Temperature Distribution on High-Pressure Turbine Blade Loading

The effects of a non-uniform inlet field on the performance of a commercial, transonic, single-stage, high-pressure, axial turbine with a curved inlet duct have been investigated numerically by solving the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the shear stress transport (SST) turbulence model. By adjusting the alignment of the experimentally-based inlet temperature field with respect to the stator vanes, two clocking configurations were generated: a Vane-Impinging (VI) case, in which each hot streak impinged on a vane and a Mid-Pitch (MP) case, in which each hot streak passed between two vanes. An additional case with a purely radial (PR) variation of inlet temperature was also investigated. In the VI case, it was observed that, as the hot streaks impinged on the stator vanes, they spread spanwise due to the actions of the casing passage vortices and the radial pressure gradient; this resulted in a stream entering the rotor with relatively low temperature variations. In the MP case, the hot streaks were convected undisturbed past the relatively cool vane section. Relatively high time-averaged enthalpy values were found to occur on the pressure side of the blades in the MP configuration.