Gas Turbine Combustor Development Tools for Production Designs
Gas turbine engine combustor design and development has long held a somewhat undeserved reputation as a “Black Art”. This reputation was earned because those unfamiliar with the technology perceived the large amount of development testing required indicated a lack of fundamental knowledge of combustion. Fundamental knowledge exists and provides the foundation for design and to guide decisions on development. However, considerable trial and error work is required to satisfy many and sometimes conflicting performance goals because complete quantification of separated flow aerodynamics, three dimensional flowfields, anisotropic two phase flow, chemical reaction and heat addition is a challenge not yet met. Therefore, there is considerable reliance on use of rigs during the preliminary design phase and on the use of rigs and engines during development. Well founded use of experimental tools is necessary and must be adequately planned for in any program for a combustor intended for production. This paper describes these tools and how they should be used in such a program.