Turbomachinery deterioration

High-pressure turbine research

Rolls-Royce-sponsored experimental and numerical work on how in-service leading-edge damage alters aerodynamic and thermal performance of high-pressure nozzle guide vanes, the signature research thread behind manuscripts, facility campaigns, and planned methods notes on lucasrey.com.

Not sure where to start? 4 places to go

Start with your question

Why visitors arrive: You are researching HPT leading-edge damage, loss, cooling effectiveness, or engine maintenance physics.

Your question: What experimental and numerical work exists on high-pressure turbine deterioration?

You may also be asking

  • Where are the manuscripts and ECAT campaign details?
  • How is transient thermography used?
  • How is CFD paired with experiment?

Where to go next

  • Institution: Oxford Thermofluids Institute (ECAT turbine facility)
  • Sponsor: Rolls-Royce plc
  • Focus: Leading-edge holing, aerodynamic loss, cooling effectiveness, and metal temperatures under engine-representative conditions
  • Methods: Transient infrared thermography, RANS/CFD validation, bespoke rig hardware, data-driven maintenance insight
  • Author: Lucas Rey, programme lead · ORCID · About · Publications

Engineering problem

Civil aero-engine operators need defensible intervals for inspection and overhaul. Standard correlations for heat transfer and loss were developed on pristine hardware; real components accumulate leading-edge damage from oxidation, erosion, and cooling-hole blockage. The gap between catalogue performance and in-service behaviour is where maintenance economics and safety margins are won or lost.

This programme quantifies how leading-edge holing redistributes coolant flow, shifts aerodynamic loss, and changes thermal margins, using engine-scale experimentation paired with high-fidelity simulation.

Research approach

Experiment

Transient thermography and pneumatic probing at ECAT, facility commissioning, DAQ, and rig-specific instrumentation documented in the HPT deterioration project.

Simulation

RANS campaigns to interpret loss mechanisms and support manuscript arguments, cross-linked from the same project log.

ECAT facility context

Campaigns run on the Engine Component AeroThermal (ECAT) turbine facility at the Oxford Thermofluids Institute, an engine-scale rig suited to transient thermography, pneumatic probing, and coolant-flow metering under representative pressure ratios. Facility commissioning, DAQ architecture, and rig-specific hardware are documented in the HPT deterioration project log rather than duplicated here.

Engine-scale testing matters because similarity arguments that hold in small channels can fail once coolant-to-mainstream ratios, Biot numbers, and inlet boundary-layer states shift. The programme treats facility operating points as part of the experimental model, documented alongside thermophysical inputs and CFD-experiment validation practice on lucasrey.com.

What the programme establishes

Leading-edge holing changes both aerodynamic loss and coolant redistribution, the integrated quantities operators care about when setting inspection intervals. Transient infrared thermography resolves metal temperature response; RANS campaigns interpret loss mechanisms and support manuscript arguments. Peer-reviewed outputs and in-preparation manuscripts are tracked on publications; the narrative methods layer includes experimental aerothermal measurement and CFD-experiment validation articles for readers who need workflow context before opening project data.

  • Aerodynamic thread: Loss coefficient shifts with holing pattern and blockage, manuscript in preparation (ASME Journal of Turbomachinery, 2026)
  • Thermal thread: Coolant effectiveness and metal temperature margins under deteriorated leading edges, companion manuscript in preparation
  • Methods thread: Aerothermal engineering methods · probe uncertainty and thermography workflows on instrumentation & measurement and the notes hub

Publications & outputs

Peer-reviewed outputs and in-preparation manuscripts are listed on Publications. Companion aerodynamic and thermal performance papers target the ASME Journal of Turbomachinery (2026), aerodynamic manuscript · thermal manuscript.

In preparation

Honest next builds from the active HPT programme, distinct pages when they add unique value, not duplicated project logs.

  • Leading-edge holing parameterisation note: bridges rig hardware, manuscript figures, and maintenance interpretation (complements thermography note)
  • ECAT benchmark subset: external validation of transient reduction workflow (FO-12 dataset policy)

Within the knowledge platform

This thematic page is the editorial home for the deterioration thread, linking applied projects, formal publications, methods notes, and teaching context without duplicating the full project catalogue.

Part of

This page sits within the broader knowledge structure on lucasrey.com:

  • Engineering - Central knowledge platform - tools, curriculum, notes, and research assets.
  • Research - Peer-reviewed and technical publications in aerothermal and fluid engineering.
  • Projects - Applied engineering work connecting theory to practice.

Related content from the same research and engineering work:

Part of Engineering

This page is part of the engineering knowledge platform on lucasrey.com.

Engineering knowledge platform

More tools, curriculum, notes, and research from the same body of work:

  • Engineering - Central knowledge platform - tools, curriculum, notes, research, and applied engineering work.
  • Collaborate - Industry advisory, aerothermal R&D collaboration, and venture partnerships.

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