In current afterburners combustion is stabilized by the high temperature, recirculating region behind bluff body flame holders, such as V-gutters. Blocking the high speed flow with bluff bodies causes a significant pressure drop, and heating the flame holder by the hot combustion product causes a thermal signature, which is a critical problem in a military jet. To reduce these problems, ignition methods using a high frequency (HF) spark discharge, or a radical jet generator (RJG) were developed. The HF discharge ignited and stabilized a flame successfully in a premixed methane-air flow. The electrical power consumption was very small compared to the combustion heat release, as long as the operating velocity was relatively low. However, a theoretical study showed that the ratio of the electrical power consumption to the heat generation by the stabilized flame increases rapidly with increasing flow velocity. For flame stabilization in a high velocity flow, the developed RJG showed much better performance than direct exposure to a plasma. The present study investigated the characteristics of a radical jet produced in a RJG and injected into a main combustor. The limits of flame stabilization by this jet was measured experimentally, and compared to those of bluff body flame holders. The flame holding performance of the radical jet was also experimentally compared to that of a thermal jet. The effect of radicals on flame stabilization was examined using CHEMKIN, and the limit of flame stabilization by the radical jet was estimated for a simple flow configuration using an approximate solution. The results suggest that the reduction of local spontaneous ignition delay time by active species in the radical jet and the longer length of a typical radical jet compared to the dimension of the recirculation zone behind a bluff body increases the maximum velocity at which a flame can be stabilized.

With continued development of the electronic industry, the demand for highly efficient heat removal solutions requires innovative cooling technologies. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) study, including heat transfer, is performed for an axisymmetric, confined jet impingement experiencing boiling and coupled with vapor extraction. Boiling occurs at the target surface while extraction occurs at the wall confining the radial flow. The region between the target and confining wall is defined as a confined gap. Extraction is employed to enhance heat transfer and to minimize the potential negative influence of flow instabilities resulting from two-phase flow within a confined region. A three-dimensional sector of the confined jet is employed in the simulation. A single circular impinging jet with a constant jet diameter (4 mm) and variable gap height (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mm), also known as nozzle-to-target spacing, is considered. The effect of mass flux at the confined gap entrance is also investigated (200, 400 and 800 kg/m²-s) for a range of heat flux (5 to 50 W/cm²). Fluid flow and heat transfer are simulated using the Volume of Fluid (VOF) model and the wall-boiling sub-model within the Multiphase Segregated Flow (MSF) model. The boiling sub-model in the VOF model applies the Rohsenow boiling correlation, while in the MSF model, the Kurul-Podowski boiling sub-model is used. Also, vapor extraction is realized by different mechanisms for these two models. For the VOF model, a specific phase "wall porosity" can be assigned to a wall to make it porous. Over a range of pressure differentials across this porous wall such that the inertial transport influence is negligible, vapor transport should agree with Darcy's law. For the MSF model, a wall can be made permeability to one substance or phase while remaining impermeable to the other substance or phase. However, a portion of the substance or phase reaching the boundary allowed to pass through the surface must be specified. A pressure drop cannot be applied across the wall, thereby prohibiting Darcy flow modeling. The solutions of both models are at steady state. The boiling curves without vapor extraction from both models are provided and compared to experiments. Simulations matching experimental wall temperatures under-predict theoretical vapor generation and those matching vapor generation over-estimate wall superheat. For cases with no extraction, local temperature and velocity profiles from the VOF model are provided at several radial locations within the confined gap. Scalar temperature and pressure distributions and velocity vectors are presented to explain observations in profiles. / Graduation date: 2013

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Ignition by a jet of hot combustion product gas injected into a premixed combustible mixture from a separate pre-chamber is a complex phenomenon with jet penetration, vortex generation, flame and shock propagation and interaction. It has been considered a useful approach for lean, low-NOx combustion for automotive engines, pulsed detonation engines and wave rotor combustors. The hot-jet ignition constant-volume combustor (CVC) rig established at the Combustion and Propulsion Research Laboratory (CPRL) of the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is considered for numerical study. The CVC chamber contains stoichiometric methane-hydrogen blends, with pre-chamber being operated with slightly rich blends. Five operating and design parameters were investigated with respect to their eff ects on ignition timing. Di fderent pre-chamber pressure (2, 4 and 6 bar), CVC chamber fuel blends (Fuel-A: 30% methane + 70% hydrogen and Fuel-B: 50% methane + 50% hydrogen by volume), active radicals in pre-chamber combusted products (H, OH, O and NO), CVC chamber temperature (298 K and 514 K) and pre-chamber traverse speed (0.983 m/s, 4.917 m/s and 13.112 m/s) are considered which span a range of fluid-dynamic mixing and chemical time scales. Ignition delay of the fuel-air mixture in the CVC chamber is investigated using a detailed mechanism with 21 species and 84 elementary reactions (DRM19). To speed up the kinetic process adaptive mesh refi nement (AMR) based on velocity and temperature and multi-zone reaction technique is used. With 3D numerical simulations, the present work explains the e ffects of pre-chamber pressure, CVC chamber initial temperature and jet traverse speed on ignition for a speci fic set of fuels. An innovative post processing technique is developed to predict and understand the characteristics of ignition in 3D space and time. With the increase of pre-chamber pressure, ignition delay decreases for Fuel-A which is the relatively more reactive fuel blend. For Fuel-B which is relatively less reactive fuel blend, ignition occurs only for 2 bar pre-chamber pressure for centered stationary jet. Inclusion of active radicals in pre-chamber combusted product decreases the ignition delay when compared with only the stable species in pre-chamber combusted product. The eff ects of shock-flame interaction on heat release rate is observed by studying flame surface area and vorticity changes. In general, shock-flame interaction increases heat release rate by increasing mixing (increase the amount of deposited vorticity on flame surface) and flame stretching. The heat release rate is found to be maximum just after fast-slow interaction. For Fuel-A, increasing jet traverse speed decreases the ignition delay for relatively higher pre-chamber pressures (6 and 4 bar). Only 6 bar pre-chamber pressure is considered for Fuel-B with three di fferent pre-chamber traverse speeds. Fuel-B fails to ignite within the simulation time for all the traverse speeds. Higher initial CVC temperature (514 K) decreases the ignition delay for both fuels when compared with relatively lower initial CVC temperature (300 K). For initial temperature of 514 K, the ignition of Fuel-B is successful for all the pre-chamber pressures with lowest ignition delay observed for the intermediate 4 bar pre-chamber pressure. Fuel-A has the lowest ignition delay for 6 bar pre-chamber pressure. A speci fic range of pre-chamber combusted products mass fraction, CVC chamber fuel mass fraction and temperature are found at ignition point for Fuel-A which were liable for ignition initiation. The behavior of less reactive Fuel-B appears to me more complex at room temperature initial condition. No simple conclusions could be made about the range of pre-chamber and CVC chamber mass fractions at ignition point.

Characterization of local boiling trends, in addition to the typically reported area-averaged trends, is essential for the robust design and implementation of phase change technologies to sensitive heat transfer applications such as electronics cooling. Obtaining the values of heat fluxes corresponding to locally varying surface temperatures has been a challenge limiting most investigations to area-averaged results. This thesis illustrates the importance of a spatially local heat transfer analysis during boiling. Pool and submerged jet impingement boiling scenarios on a silicon surface are considered at the macroscale (27.5 mm heater with multiple nucleation sites) and microscale (1000 ��m heater for isolated bubble generation), by the use of two thin film serpentine heater geometries. The macroscale heater highlights the effect of spatial variations in imposed heat flux on boiling heat transfer with a circumferentially uniform but radially non-uniform heat flux distribution. The microscale heater simulates a local hot-spot for spot cooling on an electronic device. Spatial variation in boiling heat transfer and bubble dynamics with and without a jet flow are documented using thin film voltage sensors along with qualitative and quantitative high speed imaging and infra-red thermography. Unique to this study is the documentation of local boiling curves for different radial locations on the heat transfer surface and their comparison with the corresponding area-averaged representations. It is shown here that sectionally averaged representations of boiling curves over regions of like-imposed heat flux can substantially simplify the interpretation of data while retaining important information of the local variations in heat transfer. The radial influence of the convective jet flow on the bubble dynamics and boiling heat transfer is assessed for a single circular submerged jet configuration. Varied parameters include jet exit Reynolds numbers, nozzle geometry, test fluid (deionized water and FC-72), fluid subcooling and the supplied heat flux. Distinct modifications of the surface temperature distribution imposed by the impinging jet flow are highlighted by comparing radial temperature profiles during pool and jet impingement boiling. It is demonstrated that in contrast with pool boiling, thermal overshoots during jet impingement boiling for a highly wetting fluid like FC-72 are highest in regions farthest from the impingement point. The effect of jet inertia on bubble departure characteristics are compared with pool boiling under subcooled conditions for FC-72. Qualitative high speed visualization indicates the presence of two modes of bubble generation during jet impingement boiling (a) bubble departure from the surface and (b) bubble separation from the source resulting in sliding bubbles over the surface. The effect of jet flow on bubble entrainment is depicted. Quantitative results indicate that in general departure diameters for pool and jet impingement boiling increase and plateau at a maximum value with increasing power input while no notable trends were observed in the corresponding departure frequencies. The largest departure diameters for jet impingement boiling at fixed fluid subcoolings of 10��C and 20��C were found to be smaller than that for the corresponding pool boiling test by a factor of 1.6 and 2.3, respectively. / Graduation date: 2013

This thesis aims at studying the breakup of swirling liquid sheets discharging from the outer orifice of gas centered swirl coaxial atomizers. Such atomizers are considered as propellant injection systems for semi-cryogenic liquid rocket engines. A gas centered swirl coaxial type atomizer discharges an annular swirling liquid sheet which is atomized by a gaseous jet issuing from the central orifice of the atomizer. The primary objectives of this work were to understand the fluid dynamic interaction process between the outer liquid sheet and the central gas jet and its role on the breakup process of the liquid sheet. Cold flow experiments were carried out by constructing custom made gas centered swirl coaxial atomizers. Two different atomizer configurations with varying swirl effect were studied. The jets were injected into ambient atmospheric air medium with tap water and air as experimental fluids. The flow conditions were described in terms of Weber number (Wel) and Reynolds number (Reg) for liquid sheet and the air jet respectively. Spray images were captured by employing an image acquisition system comprising a high resolution digital camera and a strobe lamp. The captured spray images at different combinations of Wel and Reg were analyzed to extract quantitative measurements of breakup length (Lb), spray cone angle (θs), spray width (SW) and two-dimensional surface profile of liquid sheets. Quantitative analysis of the variation of Lb with Reg with different values of Wel suggested that low inertia liquid sheets undergo an efficient breakup process. High inertia liquid sheets ignore the presence of central air jet at lower values of Reg however undergo air jet breakup at higher values of Reg. Qualitative analysis of experimental observations revealed that the entrainment process, established between the inner surface of the liquid sheet and the boundary of central jet, triggers the air assisted sheet breakup by drawing the liquid sheet closer to the spray axis. The entrainment process may be developing corrugations on the surface of liquid sheet which promotes the production of thick liquid ligaments from the sheet surface. The level of surface corrugations on the liquid sheet, quantified by means of tortuosity of liquid sheet profile, increases with increasing Reg. Limited studies on the effect of variation swirl intensity on the air assisted breakup process of liquid sheets did not show any significant influence for the atomizers examined in the present work.

The chamber walls in inertial fusion reactors must be protected from the photons and ions resulting from the target explosions. One way this can be accomplished is through a sacrificial liquid wall composed of either liquid jets or thin liquid films. The x-rays produced by the exploding targets deposit their energy in a thin liquid layer on the wall surface or in the surface of liquid jets arrayed to protect the wall. The partially vaporized liquid film/jet forms a protective cloud that expands toward the incoming ionic debris which arrives shortly (a few s) thereafter. The charged particles deposit their energy in the vapor shield and the unvaporized liquid, thereby leading to further evaporation. Re-condensation of the vapor cloud and radiative cooling of the expanding plasma allow the energy deposited in the liquid to be recovered prior to the next target explosion (100ms). Chamber clearing prior to the next explosion represents a major challenge for all liquid protection systems, inasmuch as any remaining liquid droplets may interfere with beam propagation and/or target injection. Therefore, the primary objective of this research is to experimentally examine the interaction between liquid droplets and low- temperature, low-pressure plasmas under conditions similar to those expected following inertial fusion target explosions and the subsequent expansion. The data obtained in this research will be useful in validating mechanistic chamber-clearing models to assure successful beam propagation and target injection for the subsequent explosion.

With the advantage of modern high speed computers, there has been an increased interest in the use of first-principles based computational approaches for the aerodynamic modeling of horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). Since these approaches are based on the laws of conservation (mass, momentum, and energy), they can capture much of the physics in great detail. The ability to accurately predict the airloads and power output can greatly aid the designers in tailoring the aerodynamic and aeroelastic features of the configuration. First-principles based analyses are also valuable for developing active means (e.g., circulation control), and passive means (e.g., Gurney flaps) of reducing unsteady blade loads, mitigating stall, and for efficient capture of wind energy leading to more electrical power generation. In this present study, the aerodynamic performance of a wind turbine rotor equipped with circulation enhancement technology (trailing edge blowing or Gurney flaps) is investigated using a three-dimensional unsteady viscous flow analysis. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Phase VI horizontal axis wind turbine is chosen as the baseline configuration. Prior to its use in exploring these concepts, the flow solver is validated with the experimental data for the baseline case under yawed flow conditions. Results presented include radial distribution of normal and tangential forces, shaft torque, root flap moment, surface pressure distributions at selected radial locations, and power output. Results show that good agreement has been for a range of wind speeds and yaw angles, where the flow is attached. At high wind speeds, however, where the flow is fully separated, it was found that the fundamental assumptions behind this present methodology breaks down for the baseline turbulence model (Spalart-Allmaras model), giving less accurate results. With the implementation of advanced turbulence model, Spalart-Allmaras Detached Eddy Simulation (SA-DES), the accuracy of the results at high wind speeds are improved. Results of circulation enhancement concepts show that, at low wind speed (attached flow) conditions, a Coanda jet at the trailing edge of the rotor blade is effective at increasing circulation resulting in an increase of lift and the chordwise thrust force. This leads to an increased amount of net power generation compared to the baseline configuration for moderate blowing coefficients. The effects of jet slot height and pulsed jet are also investigated in this study. A passive Gurney flap was found to increase the bound circulation and produce increased power in a manner similar to the Coanda jet. At high wind speed where the flow is separated, both the Coanda jet and Gurney flap become ineffective. Results of leading edge blowing indicate that a leading edge blowing jet is found to be beneficial in increasing power generation at high wind speeds. The effect of Gurney flap angle is also studied. Gurney flap angle has significant influence in power generation. Higher power output is obtained at higher flap angles.

Processes at the air-water/ice interface are known to play a very important role in the release of reactive halogen species with atmospheric aerosols serving as catalysts. The ability to make different types of ice with various morphologies, hence, different adsorption and surface properties in vacuum, provide a useful way to probe the catalytic effect of ice in atmospheric reactions. Also, the use of the liquid jet technique provides the rare opportunity to probe liquid samples at the interface; hitherto impossible to investigate with traditional surface science techniques. Studies of reactions on both ice and liquid surfaces at ambient conditions are usually complicated by the rapid desorption and adsorption processes due to the high evaporation rates at the surface. To gain a better understanding and improve modeling of several atmospheric relevant reactions, it is therefore important to develop laboratory techniques that provide an opportunity to investigate non-thermal reactions on both ice and liquid surfaces. Detailed investigation of the interactions of atmospheric relevant molecules (methyl iodide and hydrogen chloride) on water ice at low temperature in UHV conditions has been carried out. These interactions were studied using different techniques such as temperature programmed desorption (TPD), electron stimulated desorption (ESD) and resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI). Unlike probing reactions on ice surfaces, investigating air/liquid interfaces present several challenges. This is because traditional surface science techniques require an ultra high vacuum environment to prevent distortion of information due to interference from equilibrium vapor above the liquid surface during data acquisition. The liquid jet technique facilitates the direct study of continually renewed liquid surfaces in high vacuum, thereby preventing the constant changing of the properties and composition of the liquid surface due to the aging process (diffusion of impurities or liquid constituent). A linear time-of-flight mass spectrometer has been used to monitor ion ejection during laser irradiation of liquid jet containing aqueous solutions and pure water. Since these ions are ejected exclusively from the surface of the liquid and the cluster distributions observed are influenced by the local structure, these experiments provide a sensitive probe of the liquid vacuum interface of these solutions. Though the research is fundamental, the results obtained from these investigations indicate how the discontinuity of bulk properties on the surface of both ice and aqueous solutions affects interfacial reactions.

This thesis is dedicated to the study of the interaction between a gas jet and a liquid film on a moving surface. This flow configuration corresponds to the gas-jet wiping technique, which is widely used in the coating industry to reduce and control the thickness of a liquid film dragged by a moving substrate. For that purpose, a turbulent slot jet impinges on the liquid surface, involving a runback flow and consequently a lower coating thickness downstream wiping. The different process parameters (nozzle pressure, nozzle to substrate standoff distance, slot width, substrate speed) allow controlling the final film thickness. This metering technique is very common in coating processes, such as the application of gelatin layers on photographic films.<p><p>The first part of this thesis deals with the prediction of the mean jet wiping flow, i.e. the film thickness distribution in the wiping region. A lubrication model is developed for that purpose, which is simplified to a zero-dimensional model giving directly the final thickness<p><p>In the second part, the prediction of splashing occurrence in jet wiping is addressed. The splashing phenomenon in jet wiping is featured by the ejection of droplets from the runback flow, and it constitutes a physical limit to the process. An experimental investigation is conducted on a water model facility, and based on a phenomenological description, a dimensionless correlation in terms of film Reynolds number and jet Weber number is derived for splashing occurrence. The latter is perfectly well validated with observations on industrial lines.<p><p>The last part of this thesis is dedicated to the study of the unsteady phenomena occurring on the free surface of the liquid film downstream wiping. This phenomenon has never been understood nor characterized up to now. In the present research, undulation is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Two model test facilities with dedicated measurement techniques have been designed and constructed. They allow performing parametric studies of the undulation characteristics (amplitude, wavelength, wave velocity), and analyzing the jet/film interaction.<p> / Doctorat en sciences appliquées / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The present thesis involves the study of introducing passive exit flexibility in a two dimensional starting jet. This is relevant to various biological flows like propulsion of aquatic creatures (jellyfish, squid etc.) and flow in the human heart. In the present study we introduce exit flexibility in two ways. The first method was by hinging rigid plates at the channel exit and the second was by attaching deformable flaps at the exit. In the hinged flaps cases, the experimental arrangement closely approximates the limiting case of a free-to-rotate rigid flap with negligible structural stiffness, damping and flap inertia; these limiting structural properties permitting the largest flap openings. In the deformable flaps cases, the flap’s stiffness (or its flexural rigidity EI) becomes an important parameter. In both cases, the initial condition was such that the flaps were parallel to the channel walls. With this, a piston was pushed in a controlled manner to form the starting jet. Using this arrangement, we start the flow and visualize the flap kinematics and make flow field measurements. A number of parameters were varied which include the piston speed, the flap length and the flap stiffness (in case of the deformable flaps). In the hinged rigid flaps cases, the typical motion of the flaps involves a rapid opening with flow initiation and a subsequent more gradual return to its initial position, which occurs while the piston is still moving. The initial opening of the flaps can be attributed to an excess pressure that develops in the channel when the flow starts, due to the acceleration that has to be imparted to the fluid slug between the flaps. In the case with flaps, additional pairs of vortices are formed because of the motion of the flaps and a complete redistribution of vorticity is observed. The length of the flaps is found to significantly affect flap kinematics when plotted using the conventional time scale L/d. However, with a newly defined time-scale based on the flap length (L/Lf ), we find a good collapse of all the measured flap motions irrespective of flap length and piston velocity for an impulsively started piston motion. The maximum opening angle in all these impulsive velocity program cases, irrespective of the flap length, is found to be close to 15 degrees. Even though the flap kinematics collapses well with L/Lf , there are differences in the distribution of the ejected vorticity even for the same L/Lf . In the deformable flap cases, the initial excess pressure in the flap region causes the flaps to bulge outwards. The size of the bulge grows in size, as well as moves outwards as the flow develops and the flaps open out to reach their maximum opening. Thereafter, the flaps start returning to their initial straight position and remain there as long as the piston is in motion. Once the piston stops, the flaps collapse inwards and the two flap tips touch each other. It was found that the flap’s flexural rigidity played an important role in the kinematics. We define a new time scale (t ) based on the flexural rigidity of the flaps (EI) and the flap length (Lf ). Using this new time scale, we find that the time taken to reach the maximum bulge (t* 0.03) and the time taken to reach the maximum opening (t* 0.1) were approximately similar across various flap stiffness and flap length cases. The motion of the flaps results in the formation of additional pairs of vortices. Interestingly, the total final circulation remains almost the same as that of a rigid exit case, for all the flap stiffness and flap lengths studied. However, the final fluid impulse (after all the fluid had come out of the flap region) was always higher in the flap cases as compared to the rigid exit case because of vorticity redistribution. The rate at which the impulse increases was also higher in most flap cases. The final impulse values were as large as 1.8 times the rigid exit case. Since the time rate of change of impulse is linked with force, the measurements suggest that introduction of flexible flaps at the exit could result in better propulsion performances for a system using starting jets. The work carried out in this thesis has shown that by attaching flexible flaps at the exit of an unsteady starting jet, dramatic changes can be made to the flow field. The coupled kinematics of the flaps with the flow dynamics led to desirable changes in the flow. Although the flaps introduced in this work are idealized and may not represent the kind of flexibility we encounter in biological systems, it gives us a better understanding of the importance of exit flexibility in these kinds of flows.