Impact of wall cooling on transonic gas turbine stators aerothermodynamics: Insights from Wall-Modeled LES

This study introduces a novel computational framework combining Wall-Modeled Large Eddy Simulation (WMLES) and the Immersed Boundary Method (IBM) to investigate the aerothermodynamic behavior of a transonic gas turbine vane. The numerical assessment is validated against a renowned experimental dataset Arts et al. (1990) [1], with the current investigation emphasizing the effects of wall cooling on aerodynamic performance. Results highlight the influence of wall-to-recovery temperature ratios on flow dynamics. From a detailed analysis of the system's physics, wall cooling is observed to reduce energy transfer from the outer flow to near-wall regions, leading to altered boundary layer dynamics and a reshaping of wake characteristics. Conversely, from a one-dimensional modeling perspective, aerodynamic losses exhibit only minor variations across all cases, while thermodynamic contributions under colder conditions lead to a substantial reduction in total entropy production, achieving an approximately 8% decrease compared to the adiabatic configuration. Thus, the paper demonstrates that the computational efficiency of the hybrid WMLES＋IBM approach, optimized for GPU architectures, enables detailed simulations of realistic gas turbine operations, including off-design conditions. By effectively capturing complex flow phenomena with high accuracy and scalability, this study establishes a robust methodological framework, providing a valuable foundation for advancing the knowledge of modern aero-engine gas turbine components.