Gas Turbine Engine Test Cell Modeling

A numerical simulation of the aerothermal characteristics of a gas turbine engine test cell is presented. The three-dimensional system is modeled using the PHOENICS computational fluid dynamics code. Results predict the velocity field, temperatures, pressures, kinetic energy of turbulence, and dissipation rates of turbulent kinetic energy. Numerical results from two versions, a cartesian coordinate model and a body fitted coordinate model, are compared to experimental data. The comparison shows good quantitative and very good qualitative agreement, suggesting that numerical modeling would be useful in the preliminary design of gas turbine test facilities.