Effect of combined film cooling and swirl on the thermal performance of a contoured high pressure turbine vane of a modern turbofan engine: a numerical study

Mazouz, D, Mansouri, Z ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9293-3462 and Azzouz, S, 2026. Effect of combined film cooling and swirl on the thermal performance of a contoured high pressure turbine vane of a modern turbofan engine: a numerical study. Machines, 14 (3): 344. ISSN 2075-1702

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Abstract

Modern high-pressure turbine (HPT) nozzle guide vanes (NGVs) operate under non-uniform inlet conditions, including hot streaks and swirl, which can induce complex flow phenomena and uneven thermal loading. These effects, particularly at the hub-vane corner, can compromise NGV durability, yet the combined influence of swirl and film cooling remains underexplored. The objective of this study is to investigate the aerothermal behaviour of contoured first-stage NGVs under varying swirl intensities and directions to improve understanding of hub and corner thermal protection and failure mechanisms. Steady, compressible RANS simulations were conducted with the k-ω SST turbulence model. A vane with a contoured hub and multiple film cooling rows was designed and analysed under axial and swirling inflows, both clockwise and counter-clockwise, with swirl numbers of Sn = ±0.2 and ±0.4. Axial flow achieved the highest area-averaged film cooling effectiveness (FCE) of 0.617. Negative swirl (Sn = −0.4) improved suction-side corner FCE to 0.215 but reduced pressure-side cooling, whereas positive swirl (Sn = 0.4) improved pressure-side cooling but reduced suction-side FCE to 0.043. Corner temperatures under positive swirl reached 1780 K, consistent with promoting failure, while negative swirl reduced corner temperatures to 1516 K. Aerodynamic losses increased with swirl, with negative swirl generating 5.78% higher total pressure losses than the axial baseline. Swirl altered the corner vortex topology, affecting boundary layer interactions and local heat transfer. These results highlight a trade-off between thermal protection and aerodynamic efficiency, emphasising that optimising NGV performance requires careful design of hub cooling and consideration of swirl direction and intensity.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Machines
Creators:	Mazouz, D., Mansouri, Z. and Azzouz, S.
Publisher:	MDPI AG
Date:	March 2026
Volume:	14
Number:	3
ISSN:	2075-1702
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3390/machines14030344 DOI 2600371 Other
Rights:	© 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Melissa Cornwell
Date Added:	02 Apr 2026 08:33
Last Modified:	02 Apr 2026 08:33
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55495

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