Localized thermal buckling due to hot streaks in a combustor liner

Localized thermal buckling due to hot streaks at the louver lip is a common failure mode of louver-type combustors in some gas turbine engines. Investigations of the localized buckling of louvers under engine service condition using nonlinear finite element methods are described. Simulated buckling modes from buckling eigenvalue analysis were used to define the initial shape for analysis of cyclic inelastic stress and strain responses. Inelastic strain components were obtained to provide input for thermo-mechanical fatigue lifetime prediction of the liners using the strain-range partitioning method.