To maintain efficiency in advanced aero-engines, it is crucial to set high limits for the Operating Pressure Ratio (OPR) and Turbine Entry temperature (TET). This can be achieved using a Cooled Cooling Air (CCA) heat exchanger, which precools the compressed air with the bypass stream before the compressed air enters the turbine to cool the blades. The aim of the present study was to improve the aero-thermal performance of CCA heat exchangers by enhancing the uniformity of flow through its high-pressure (HP) side manifolds. The development of the new manifolds was constrained by their manufacturability, as well as the pressure drop across the heat exchanger. The inlet and outlet manifold geometries are parameterised, and Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations are carried out for Maximum Take-Off (MTO) conditions. Shape changes were performed using the mesh morphing tool, which enabled the intermediate remeshing steps to be skipped. By means of regression analysis, it was possible to find inlet and exit manifolds with improved flow uniformity; the heat transfer, structural integrity, and weight of the baseline and new manifolds were then evaluated. The new manifolds were structurally sound, and showed an 18.8% improvement in uniformity, a 10.6% reduction in pressure drop, a 0.4% increase in heat transfer rate, and a 22.5% decrease in weight.

为了保持先进航空发动机的效率，至关重要的是为工作压力比（OPR）和涡轮机入口温度（TET）设置高限值。这可以使用冷却的冷却空气（CCA）热交换器实现，该热交换器在压缩空气进入涡轮机以冷却叶片之前，先用旁路气流对压缩空气进行预冷却。本研究的目的是通过增强通过其高压（HP）侧歧管的流量均匀性来改善CCA换热器的空气热性能。新歧管的开发受到其可制造性以及热交换器上的压降的限制。参数化了进气和出口歧管的几何形状，并针对最大起飞（MTO）条件执行了计算流体动力学（CFD）模拟。使用网格变形工具执行形状更改，从而可以跳过中间的重新网格化步骤。通过回归分析，可以找到流动均匀性得到改善的入口和出口歧管。然后评估基线和新歧管的传热，结构完整性和重量。新的歧管结构合理，显示出均匀性提高了18.8％，压降降低了10.6％，传热率提高了0.4％，重量降低了22.5％。