Title:
Breakup characteristics of a liquid jet in subsonic crossflow
Breakup characteristics of a liquid jet in subsonic crossflow
Author(s)
Gopala, Yogish
Advisor(s)
Zinn, Ben T.
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Abstract
This thesis describes an experimental investigation of the breakup processes involved in the formation of a spray created by a liquid jet injected into a gaseous crossflow. This work is motivated by the utilization of this method to inject fuel in combustors and afterburners of airplane engines. This study aims to develop better understanding of the spray breakup processes and provide better experimental inputs to improve the fidelity of numerical models. This work adresses two key research areas: determining the time required for a liquid column to break up in the crossflow (i.e., primary breakup time) and the effect of injector geometry on spray properties. A new diagnostic technique, the liquid jet light guiding technique that utilizes ability of the liquid jet to act as a waveguide for laser light was developed to determine the location where the liquid column breaks up, in order to obtain the primary breakup time. This study found that the liquid jet Reynolds number was an important factor that governed the primary breakup time and improved the existing correlation. Optical diagnostic techniques such as Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer, Liquid Jet Light Guiding Technique, Particle Image Velocimetry and Imaging techniques were employed to measure the spray properties that include spray penetration, droplet sizes and velocities, velocity field on the surface of the liquid jet and the location of the primary breakup time. These properties were measured for two injectors: one with a sharp transition and the other with a smooth transition. It was found that the spray created by the injector with a sharp transition forms large irregular structures while one with smooth transition produces a smooth liquid jet. The spray transition creates a spray that penetrates deeper into the crossflow, breakup up earlier and produces larger droplets. Additionally, this study reports the phenomenon of the liquid jet splitting into two or more jets in sprays created by the injector with a smooth transition.
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Date Issued
2012-05-18
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Text
Resource Subtype
Dissertation