This effort explores novel sub-resolution particle center estimation algorithms for Digital Particle Tracking Velocimetry (DPIV). The errors of these new methods were classified through Monte-Carlo simulations. These schemes provide direct measurements of the apparent particle image diameter and the subpixel position. The new methods significantly reduce the bias error due to pixel discretization, thus reducing the total error in the position and sizing measurement compared to the classic three point and least squares Gaussian estimators. In addition, the accuracy of the least-squares fits were essentially independent of the true particle diameter and significantly reduced the particle position error compared with current estimation schemes. The results of the Monte Carlo simulations were validated in a high pressure spray atomization experiment. / Master of Science

Thermoacoustic instabilities in modern high-performance, low-emission gas turbine engines are often observable as large amplitude pressure oscillations and can result in serious performance and structural degradations. These acoustic oscillations can cause oscillations in combustor through-flows and given the right phase conditions, can also drive unsteady heat release. This coupling has the potential to enhance the amplitude of pressure oscillations. To curb the potential harms caused by the existence of thermoacoustic instabilities, recent efforts have focused on the active suppression and even complete control of these instabilities. Intuitively, development of effective active combustion control methodologies is strongly dependent on the knowledge of the onset and sustenance of thermoacoustic instabilities. Specially, non-premixed spray combustion environment pose additional challenges due to the inherent unstable dynamics of sprays. The understanding of the manner in which the combustor acoustics affect the spray characteristics, which in turn result in heat release oscillation, is therefore, of paramount importance. The experimental investigations and the modeling studies conducted towards achieving this knowledge have been presented in this dissertation. Experimental efforts comprise both reacting and non-reacting flow studies. Reacting flow experiments were conducted on a overall lean direct injection, swirl-stabilized combustor rig. The investigations spanned combustor characterization and stability mapping over the operating regime. All experiments were performed under atmospheric pressure condition, which is considered as an obvious first step towards providing valuable insights into more intense processes in actual gas turbine combustors. The onset of thermoacoustic instability and the transition of the combustor to two unstable regimes were investigated via phase-locked chemiluminescence imaging and measurement and phase-locked acoustic characterization. It was found that the onset of the thermoacoustic instability is a function of the energy gain of the system, while the sustenance of instability is due to the in-phase relationship between combustor acoustics and unsteady heat release driven by acoustic oscillations. The presence of non-linearities in the system between combustor acoustic and heat release and also between combustor acoustics and air through-flow were found to exist. The impact of high amplitude limit-cycle pressure on droplet breakdown under very low mean airflow and the localized effects of forced primary fuel modulations on heat release were also investigated. The non-reacting flow experiments were conducted to study the spray behavior under the presence of an acoustic field. An isothermal acoustic rig was specially fabricated, where the pressure oscillations were generated using an acoustic driver. Phase Doppler Anemometry was used to measure the droplet velocities and sizes under varying acoustic forcing conditions and spray feed pressures. Measurements made at different locations in the spray were related to these variations in mean and unsteady inputs. The droplet velocities were found to show a second order response to acoustic forcing with the cut-off frequency equal to the relaxation time corresponding to mean droplet size. It was also found that under acoustic forcing the droplets migrate radially away from the spray centerline and show oscillatory excursions in their movement. Non-reacting flow experiments were also performed using Time-Resolved Digital Particle Image Velocimetry to characterize modulated sprays. Frequency response of droplet diameters were analyzed in the pulsed spray. These pilot experiments were conducted to assess the capability of the system to measure dynamic data. Modeling efforts were undertaken to gain physical insights of spray dynamics under the influence of acoustic forcing and to explain the experimental findings. The radial migration of droplets and their oscillatory movement were validated. The flame characteristics in the two unstable regimes and the transition between them were explained. It was found that under certain acoustic and mean air-flow condition, bands of high droplet densities were formed which resulted in diffusion type group burning of droplets. It was also shown that very high acoustic amplitudes cause secondary breakup of droplets. / Ph. D.

L’atomisation d’un jet ou d’une nappe liquide assistée par un courant gazeux rapide est couramment utilisée dans l’industrie ainsi qu’en propulsion aéronautique (turboréacteur) et spatiale (moteur-fusée cryotechnique). Plusieurs processus permettent la fragmentation de la structure cohérente liquide en gouttes. L’épluchage, qui intervient à courte distance en aval de l’injection, a été assez largement étudié (Marmottant et Villermaux 2004, Hong et al 2004) et les mécanismes sont assez bien décrits. En revanche, l’origine des instabilités large échelle – ou « flapping » - intervenant plus loin en aval, instabilités qui sont à l’origine de la production de large gouttes, reste mal comprise. Ceci est particulièrement vrai pour des jets cylindriques qui, contrairement au cas de nappes, ont fait l’objet de très peu d’études. Nous nous sommes donc attachés à comprendre l’origine du « flapping », à analyser ses liens avec les instabilités interfaciales de cisaillement, et à quantifier son impact sur la structure du jet ainsi que sur les gouttes produites. Pour cela, des expériences ont été menées en eau/air sur de larges plages de paramètres, aussi bien en termes de vitesses phasiques que des dimensions des veines gaz et liquide. Un soin particulier a été apporté au contrôle des écoulements internes.Pour l’ensemble des géométries, nous avons montré que la longueur du dard liquide est pilotée par le battement large échelle et non par le processus d’épluchage. Par ailleurs, la longueur de brisure présente une décroissance marquée avec la vitesse gaz, puis reste constante au delà d’une vitesse gaz critique. Un modèle a été proposé pour ce comportement asymptotique dans lequel la longueur de brisure est pilotée par le rapport de la vitesse liquide d’injection à une vitesse capillaire construite sur le diamètre liquide.La technique de mesure de la fréquence du battement large échelle mise en œuvre à partir d’images acquises par ombroscopie s’est avérée opérationnelle sur toute la plage de vitesses gaz considérées. Cette fréquence, qui ne varie pas spatialement, présente deux comportements : un premier où elle augmente avec la vitesse gaz, et un second où elle reste indépendante de la vitesse gaz. Ce second régime n’est pas mentionné dans la littérature. Pour le premier régime, le lien entre flapping et instabilité de cisaillement a été démontré en s’appuyant notamment sur des analyses de stabilité. Le nombre de Strouhal associé est piloté par le cisaillement côté gaz. La dépendance de la fréquence de battement à l’épaisseur de vorticité côté gaz est ainsi établie lorsque l’instabilité de cisaillement est pilotée par un mécanisme inviscide. Pour le second régime, le caractère opportuniste du flapping a été démontré l’aide d’une expérience de forçage : le flapping amplifie des structures liquides de longueur d’onde plus grande que celle associée à l’instabilité de cisaillement. Un nombre de Strouhal construit sur le diamètre liquide du jet et la vitesse du jet liquide à la distance de brisure a été proposé. Enfin, le rapport du diamètre du jet liquide à la longueur d’onde de l’instabilité de cisaillement semble pertinent pour définir la frontière entre ces deux régimes.Les tailles des gouttes produites sur l’axe de symétrie ont été mesurées à l’aide d’une sonde optique. Il apparaît que la distribution granulométrique évolue fortement avec la vitesse gaz, et qu’elle est multi-modale, ce qui traduit la présence de plusieurs mécanismes de brisure. La taille moyenne des gouttes décroit globalement comme UG-2, dans la limite de forts nombres de Weber aérodynamique. Cette taille moyenne s’avère aussi très sensible à la géométrie : elle diminue lorsque l’épaisseur gaz augmente jusqu’à atteindre une valeur plancher, et elle croît avec le diamètre liquide. / Jet or sheet atomized by a fast coaxial gas jet is currently used in industry, like aeronautical propulsion (turbofan) or spatial propulsion (cryotechnic rocket engine). Many physical processes allows liquid coherent structure fragmentation into drops. Stripping, which appears downstream near injector, has been largely studied (Marmottant et Villermaux 2004, Hong & al 2004), mecanisms has been correctly described.However, the origin of large scale - or 'flapping' instabilities - intervening further downstream, instabilities that are causing the production of large drops, remains poorly understood. This is particularly true for cylindrical jets which, unlike the case of sheets, have been the subject of very few studies. We are therefore committed to understand the origin of the "flapping", to analyze its relationship with interfacial shear instabilities, and to quantify its impact on the structure of the jet as well as on the drops produced. For this, experiments were carried out in water/air on wide set of parameters, both in terms of phasic speed than the dimensions of the gas gap and liquid diameter. Special care were made to the internal flow control.For all the geometries, we showed that the length of the liquid cone is driven by the large scale displacements and not by the stripping process. Furthermore, the length of brokenness jet presents a decline marked with the gas speed, then remains constant beyond a critical gas speed. A model was proposed for this asymptotic behavior in which the break-up length is driven by the report of the liquid injection speed to a capillary speed built on the liquid diameter.Measurement of the frequency of large scale displacement technology has been implemented from images acquired by shadowgraphy proved operational over the gas velocity range considered. This frequency, which varies not spatially, present two behaviors: a first where it increases with the speed of the gas, and a second where it remains independent of the gas speed. This second scheme is not mentioned in the literature. For the original plan, the link between flapping and shear instability has been demonstrated based on analyses of stability. The associated Strouhal number is controlled by the shear gas side. The dependence of the frequency of heartbeat to the thickness of vorticity gas side is thus established when shear instability is driven by an inviscide mechanism. For the second scheme, the opportunistic nature of the flapping has been demonstrated using forcing experience: the flapping amplifies liquid structures of wavelength greater than those associated with shear instability. A Strouhal number built on liquid jet diameter and the speed of the liquid jet at break distance has been proposed. Finally, the ratio of the diameter of the liquid jet at the wavelength of the shear instability seems relevant to define the border between these two regimes.Sizes drops produced on the symmetry axis were measured using an optical probe. It appears that granulometric distribution is evolving strongly with speed gas, and it is multi-modal, reflecting the presence of several mechanisms of brokenness. The average size of the drops decreases overall as UG - 2, in the limit of strong numbers of aerodynamic Weber. This medium size is also very sensitive to geometry: it decreases when the thickness of the gas increases until it reaches a floor value, and it grows with the liquid diameter. Finally, by forcing large amplitude lateral displacement, the average radial distribution of sizes of drops has been made much more homogeneous, and the average size of the drops on the axis has been reduced by a factor of 2. These results therefore open opportunities in terms of control of atomization.

<p>Micro- and nanoparticles (MNP) attract much attention owing to their unique properties, structural tunability, and wide range of practical applications. To deposit these important materials on surfaces for generating functional coatings, a variety of special delivery systems and coating/printing techniques have been explored. Herein, spray coating technique is a promising candidate to advance the field of nanotechnology due to its low-cost, high-deposition rate, manufacturing flexibility, and compatibility with roll-to-roll processing. Despite great advances, direct scalable spray writing of functional materials at high-spatial resolution through fine patterning without a need of vacuum and mask equipment still remains challenging. Addressing these limitations requires the development of efficient spray deposition techniques and novel manufacturing approaches to effectively fabricate functional coatings. To this end, this dissertation employs three different spray coating methods of (1) cold spray; (2) atomization-assisted supersonic spray, and (3) dual velocity regime spray to address the aforementioned limitations. A comprehensive set of coating materials, design principles, and operational settings for each spray system are tailored for rapid, direct, and sustainable deposition of MNP on various substrates. Besides, through the two-phase flow modeling, droplets dispersion and deposition characteristics were investigated under both subsonic and supersonic flow conditions to uncover the process-structure-property relationships of the established spray systems. Moreover, novel spray-based manufacturing approaches are developed to fabricate functional coatings in various applications, including (i) functional polymer metallization, (ii) printed flexible electronics, (iii) advanced thin-film nanocoating, (iv) laser direct writing, and (v) electronic textiles.</p>