Conjugate Heat Transfer Analysis of a Newly Designed High-Pressure Vane Equipped With Rib-Turbulated Internal Channels Subject to Pulsating Inlet Conditions

Gas turbine efficiency and specific power are limited by the aerodynamic losses associated with constant pressure combustion. Switching to detonation combustion allows for reducing entropy generation for a given turbine inlet temperature. However, the efficiency gain may be limited by a reduced performance of the turbine module operating under fluctuating conditions. Therefore, it is important to study the coupling between cooled high-pressure turbine vanes and rotating detonation combustors. The design optimization of a cylindrical vane with diffusive endwalls is presented herein. A Genetic Aggregation method was used to generate a response surface from a design of experiments. Subsequently, a Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm was used to identify an optimal geometry characterized by low losses and a low deviation angle. The selected vane was equipped with two internal cooling systems, with and without rib turbulators, and was simulated using a Conjugate Heat Transfer approach. Inlet total temperature fluctuations had a negligible impact on metal temperature levels, and the cooling systems effectively reduced the heat load. Moreover, the fluctuation of the stagnation point was responsible only for the generation of a small separation bubble on the vane suction side, thus demonstrating the robustness of the designed vane under pulsating conditions. Radial distributions at the vane exit section quantified the residual fluctuation of stagnation quantities and yaw angle. Finally, cycle-averaged parameters allowed for determining the specific impact of thermal and aerodynamic losses on the vane performance.