Impact of swirl flow on the cooling performance of an effusion cooled combustor liner

An experimental study on combustor liner cooling of modern direct lean injection (DLI) combustion chambers using coolant ejection from both effusion cooling holes and a starter film has been conducted. The experimental setup consists of a generic scaled three sector planar rig in an open loop hot gas wind tunnel, which has been described earlier in Wurm et al. [1]. Experiments are performed without combustion. Realistic engine conditions are achieved by applying engine-realistic Reynolds numbers, Mach numbers, and density ratios. A Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurement technique is employed, which has been adjusted to allow for high resolution near wall velocity measurements with and without coolant ejection. As the main focus of the present study is a deeper understanding of the interaction of swirl flows and near wall cooling flows, wall pressure measurements are performed for the definition of local blowing ratios and to identify the impact on the local cooling performance. For thermal investigations an infrared thermography measurement technique is employed that allows high resolution thermal studies on the effusion cooled liner surface. The effects of different heat shield geometry on the flow field and performance of the cooling films are investigated in terms of near wall velocity distributions and film cooling effectiveness. Two different heat shield configurations are investigated which differ in shape and inclination angle of the so called heat shield lip. Operating conditions for the hot gas main flow are kept constant. The pressure drop across the effusion cooled liner is varied between 1% and 3% of the total pressure. Results show the impact of the swirled main flow on the stability of the starter film and on the effusion cooling performance. Stagnation areas which could be identified by wall pressure measurements are confirmed by PIV measurements. Thermal investigations reveal reduced cooling performance in the respective stagnation areas.Copyright © 2012 by Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG