The Role of Turbine Operating Conditions on Combustor–Turbine Interaction—Part II: Loading Effects

Aero-engine combustors burn a lean and premixed blend releasing vorticity and temperature perturbations. Interacting with the first turbine stage, these disturbances impact the cascade aerodynamics, add criticality to the blade cooling, and are sources of noise. The first of these issues is addressed in this paper, focusing on off-design turbine conditions, as experienced by aero-engines in their duty. This paper, Part II of a two-fold contribution, analyses the effect of the stage loading obtained by changing the rpm (three different values) at the same expansion ratio of 1.4, representative of subsonic flow conditions. Engine-representative disturbances are generated by a combustor simulator able to produce a swirling entropy wave. Two injection positions and four injection patterns are considered. Experimental measurements are carried out through the stage, measuring the injected disturbance and the aerothermal flow field downstream of the stator and the rotor. Results show that the swirl profile mostly impacts the stage aerodynamics. The different work extraction and the interaction with secondary flow structures change the entropy wave transport, diffusion, and decay through the rotor. Furthermore, the increased angle of the incidence caused by the injected disturbance can make the blade stall under the most loaded operating condition.