The development of Laser-Induced Thermal Grating Spectroscopy (LITGS) for diagnostics of combusting and non-combusting flows is described. The first use of LITGS to provide in situ calibration of 2-Dimensional temperature distributions generated using Two-Colour Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (TC-PLIF) is reported. Time-resolved measurements of temperature distributions in a firing GDI optical engine obtained by TC-PLIF were made during the compression stroke and calibrated to the absolute temperature scale by simultaneous LITGS measurements. The accuracy and precision of the temperatures derived from LITGS data are evaluated using alternative methods of data analysis - Fast Fourier Transform and Fitting to theoretical models of the experimental data. The relative merits of the two methods are examined for analysis of weak LITGS signals obtained under engine conditions of low pressure and high temperature. The combined TC-PLIF and LITGS system was demonstrated by performing repeated single-shot measurements for 1 in every 10 four-stroke cycles showing excellent correlation of the temperatures derived from both techniques. Direct measurement of the effect of 'charge cooling', of order 5 K, for operation with direct injection is reported. Inhomogeneous temperature distributions were observed during the compression stroke for fired operation with Port Fuel Injection (PFI) and also with Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI). The effects of varying the relative concentrations of toluene and iso-octane in the two-component fuel were investigated. Extension of the LITGS technique to multi-point measurements along a 1-D line is described. By recording signals from 4 points on separate detectors using a fibre-coupled photodiode array the limitations of Streak Cameras used previously for 1-D LITGS measurements were overcome. Demonstration of principle experiments are reported in which simultaneous 4-point measurements were made with 1 mm spatial resolution and a precision of 0.7 % in temperature gradients in gas flows and in boundary layers at surfaces.

Les écoulements internes et le mélange prenant place pendant la phase de compression d'un cylindre moteur constituent des facteurs clés en vue de l'optimisation du moteur ainsi que des émission polluantes. Le cadre contractuel de ce travail est un projet collaboratif mettant en oeuvre les constructeurs automobiles (PSA, Renault) le CNRS ainsi que l'ADEME. Une installation expérimentale existante a été exploitée. Nous avons apporté des modification permettant de réaliser une injection directe au sein de la chambre. Nous avons pu rassembler une base de donnée importante et fiable. Des techniques d'imagerie laser ont été utilisées. Cette étude servira à répondre à mieux connaître la capacité de cette interactions à altérer les propriétés de transport et de non dissipativité de la structure tourbillonnaire à grande échelle attendue pour réaliser une stratification de la charge. Nous nous intéressons ici à l'interaction entre un spray et l'aérodynamique dans une situation modèle d'un moteur à pistons. Ainsi un jet rond monophasique modèle à été a été mis en place afin de respecter une analyse dans dimension permettant d'être représentatif de la situation réelle. Deux directions d'injections ont été testées afin d'étudier l'influence du jet sur l'écoulement Des mesures ont donc été effectuées pour mesurer les champs de vitesse (PIV) ainsi que les champs de fraction massique (PLIF) dans le plan de symétrie de la chambre. Afin de réaliser des mesures quantitatives de fluorescence, il était nécessaire de réaliser un étalonnage afin de connaître le coefficient d'absorption ainsi que le rendement de fluorescence du dopant utilisé (en l'occurrence de l'acétone). Ces mesures permettent une meilleure compréhension des phénomènes de transfert d'énergie entre le jet d'injection et la structure tourbillonnaire à grande échelle ainsi que de la modification du processus de rupture de cette dernière par l'injection. L'énergie moyenne est transférée vers les petites échelles durant un temps très cours. Puis il apparaît que la perturbation de la structure cohérente à grande échelle par l'injection provoque très tôt dans le cycle le processus de dissipation. Ainsi, le temps de dissipation est plus long entraînant un niveau d'énergie fluctuante en fin de compression après injection beaucoup plus faible que dans la situation de compression du vortex seul. Cette donnée est importante en ce qui concerne la combustion. Enfin, nous avons proposé l'utilisation de la Décomposition Orthogonale en modes Propres (POD) avec une approche globale sur la phase de compression ceci afin de disposer d'une base commune à l'ensemble des champs instantanés de cette phase. Une interpolation des champs est donc nécessaire pour unifier en taille tous les champs utilisés dans la décomposition. Le schéma linéaire apparaît comme celui permettant de minimiser les pertes d'énergie par l'interpolation. Cette analyse POD confirme les conclusions apportée auparavant en ce qui concerne les transferts d'énergie entre échelles et apparaît comme un outil efficace et prometteur dans l'étude des phénomènes transitoires comme celui ci.

This thesis explores the effects of operating parameters on the location and shape of lifted flames in a Low Swirl Burner (LSB). In addition, it details the development and analysis of a CH PLIF imaging system for visualizing flames in lean combustion systems. The LSB is studied at atmospheric pressure using LDV and CH PLIF. CH* chemiluminescence is used for high pressure flame imaging. A four-level model of the fluorescing CH system is developed to predict the signal intensity in hydrocarbon flames. Results from imaging an atmospheric pressure laminar flame are used to validate the behavior of the signal intensity as predicted by the model. The results show that the fluorescence signal is greatly reduced at high pressure due to the decreased number of CH molecules and the increased collisional quenching rate. This restricts the use of this technique to increasingly narrow equivalence ratio ranges at high pressures. The limitation is somewhat alleviated by increasing the preheat temperature of the reactant mixture. The signal levels from high hydrogen-content syngas mixtures doped with methane are found to be high enough to make CH PLIF a feasible diagnostic to study such flames. Finally, the model predicts that signal levels are unlikely to be significantly affected by the presence of strain in the flow field, as long as the flames are not close to extinction. The results from the LSB flame investigation reveal that combustor provides reasonably robust flame stabilization at low and moderate values of combustor pressure and reference velocities. However, at very high velocities and pressures, the balance between the reactant velocity and the turbulent flame speed shifts in favor of the former resulting in the flame moving downstream. The extent of this movement is small, but indicates a tendency towards blow off at higher pressures and velocities that may be encountered in real world gas turbine applications. There is an increased tendency of relatively fuel-rich flames to behave like attached flames at high pressure. These results raise interesting questions about turbulent combustion at high pressure as well as provide usable data to gas turbine combustor designers by highlighting potential problems.

Lean premixed combustors are highly susceptible to combustion instabilities, caused by the coupling between heat release fluctuations and combustor acoustics. In order to predict the conditions under which these instabilities occur and their limit cycle amplitudes, understanding of the amplitude dependent response of the flame to acoustic excitation is required. Extensive maps of the flame response were obtained as a function of perturbation amplitude, frequency, and flow velocity. These maps illustrated substantial nonlinearity in the perturbation velocity - heat release relationship, with complex topological dependencies that illustrate folds and kinks when plotted in frequency-amplitude-heat release space. A detailed analysis of phase locked OH PLIF images of acoustically excited swirl flames was used to identify the key controlling physical processes and qualitatively discuss their characteristics. The results illustrate that the flame response is not controlled by any single physical process but rather by several simultaneously occurring processes which are potentially competing, and whose relative significance depends upon forcing frequency, amplitude of excitation, and flame stabilization dynamics. An in-depth study on the effect of acoustic forcing on the turbulent flame properties was conducted in a turbulent Bunsen flame using PIV measurements. The results showed that the flame brush thickness and the local consumption speed were modulated in the presence of acoustic forcing. These results will not only be a useful input to help improve combustion dynamics predictions but will also help serve as validation data for models.

A recently-developed experimental technique based on the sublimation of naphthalene, which enables imaging of the dispersion of a passive scalar using planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF), is applied to a Mach 5 turbulent boundary layer and a NASA Orion capsule flowfield. To enable the quantification of naphthalene PLIF images, quantitative fluorescence and quenching measurements were made in a temperature- and pressure-regulated test cell. The test cell measurements were of the naphthalene fluorescence lifetime and integrated fluorescence signal over the temperature range of 100 K to 525 K and pressure range of 1 kPa to 40 kPa in air. These data enabled the calculation of naphthalene fluorescence yield and absorption cross section over the range of temperatures and pressures tested, which were then fit to simple functional forms for use in the calibration of the PLIF images. Quantitative naphthalene PLIF images in the Mach 5 boundary layer revealed large-scale naphthalene vapor structures that were regularly ejected out to wall distances of approximately y/δ = 0.6 for a field of view that spanned 3δ to 5δ downstream of the trailing edge of the naphthalene insert. The magnitude of the calculated naphthalene mole fraction in these structures at y/δ = 0.2 ranged from approximately 1-6% of the saturation mole fraction at the wind tunnel recovery temperature and static pressure. An uncertainty analysis showed that the uncertainty in the inferred naphthalene mole fraction measurements was ± 20%. Mean mole fraction profiles collected at different streamwise locations were normalized by the mole fraction measured at the wall and a characteristic height of the scalar boundary layer, causing the profiles to collapse into one “universal” mole fraction profile. Two-dimensional fields of naphthalene mole fraction were also obtained simultaneously with velocity by using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and PLIF. The images show large-scale naphthalene vapor structures that coincide with regions of relatively low streamwise velocity. The covariance of naphthalene mole fraction with velocity indicates that an ejection mechanism is transporting low-momentum, high-scalar-concentration fluid away from the wall, resulting in the protrusions of naphthalene vapor evident in the instantaneous PLIF images. Lastly, naphthalene PLIF was used to visualize the dispersion of gas-phase ablation products on a scaled Orion capsule model at four different angles of attack at Mach 5. High concentrations of scalar were imaged in the capsule recirculation region. Additionally, intermittent turbulent structures were visualized on the heat shield surface, particularly for the 12° and 52° AoA cases.

A new technique is developed that uses planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging of sublimated naphthalene to image the transport of ablation products in a hypersonic boundary layer. The primary motivation for this work is to understand scalar transport in hypersonic boundary layers and to develop a database for validation of computational models. The naphthalene is molded into a rectangular insert that is mounted flush with the floor of a Mach 5 wind tunnel. The distribution of naphthalene in the boundary layer is imaged by using PLIF, where the laser excitation is at 266 nm and the fluorescence is collected in the range of 320 to 380 nm. To investigate the use of naphthalene PLIF as a quantitative diagnostic technique, a series of experiments is conducted to determine the linearity of the fluorescence signal with laser fluence, as well as the temperature and pressure dependencies of the signal. The naphthalene fluorescence at 297 K is determined to be linear for laser fluence that is less than about 200 J/m². The temperature dependence of the naphthalene fluorescence signal is found at atmospheric pressure over the temperature range of 297K to 525K. A monotonic increase in the fluorescence is observed with increasing temperature. Naphthalene fluorescence lifetime measurements were also made in pure-air and nitrogen environments at 300 K over the range 1 kPa to 40 kPa. The results in air show the expected Stern-Volmer behavior with decreasing lifetimes at increasing pressure, whereas nitrogen exhibits the opposite trend. Preliminary PLIF images of the sublimated naphthalene are acquired in a Mach 5 turbulent boundary layer. Relatively low signal-to-noise-ratio images were obtained at a stagnation temperature of 345 K, but much higher quality images were obtained at a stagnation temperature of 380 K. The initial results indicate that PLIF of sublimating naphthalene may be an effective tool for studying scalar transport in hypersonic flows. / text

No description available.

Pour mieux comprendre la combustion en mode stratifié, la propagation de flammes au sein de stratifications de richesse laminaire ou turbulente a été étudiée par des mesures simultanées de richesse et de vitesse effectuées par couplage de la PIV et de la PLIF. L'accent a été mis sur le développement de méthodes permettant d'améliorer la qualité des mesures locales. En particulier, un nouvel algorithme de PIV permettant la mesure locale de la vitesse des gaz frais véritablement à l'entrée de la zone de préchauffage a été développé. Pour améliorer la résolution,les mailles de calcul s'adaptent localement à la topologie de la flamme, pour tenir compte de la forme du front de flamme et de l'expansion des gaz. L'analyse statistique des mesures conditionnée sur la richesse locale a permis de caractériser les propriétés de la flamme soumise à une stratification de richesse dans un écoulement laminaire et turbulent, en particulier en mettant en évidence un effet mémoire.

An experimental investigation of the mean scalar concentration field of jets into a uniform counterflow stream using planar laser induced fluorescence is presented. The centerline decay and radial spreading of the mean concentration field of the jet were investigated. Jet to counterflow velocity ratios ranging between 4 to 19 were used for two different jet diameters. Universal forms for the centerline concentration decay, and radial concentration profiles of the jet are presented. Scaling factors of the centerline concentration decay are introduced. The jet growth rate was found to be divided into two regions: the linear growth region and the power law growth region. The effects of inlet yaw angles on the penetration length, axial concentration decay and similarity region of the counterflowing jet are presented. A minimal effect of the tested inlet yaw angles on the concentration field was observed. Empirical expressions to predict the centerline concentration decay are given.

This thesis describes experiments to investigate high-altitude relight of a lean direct injection (LDI) combustor. The features that make LDI technology less polluting in terms of NOx compared to conventional combustors are expected to impede relight performance. Therefore an improved understanding of ignition behaviour is required to ensure that stringent relight requirements can be satisfied. Realistic operating conditions are simulated in a ground-based test facility. The application of laser diagnostics presents particular difficulties due to the large quantities ofliquid fuel that impinge on the combustor walls during relight. Advances are made in the application of planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) to monitor fuel placement in a combustor under these conditions. A novel apparatus is developed to deliver a laser sheet to the combustion chamber while protecting all optical surfaces from contamination. The PLIF images are compared with the cold flow field obtained from CFD modelling. These results indicate that fuel becomes trapped inside the central recirculation zone in highconcentrations. High-speed flame imaging performed simultaneously with the PLIF measurements provides important insights into the motion and breakup of flame during relight. An algorithm developed to track the flame activity reveals that the initial spark kernel is convected downstream, before breaking apart and moving upstream towards a recovery origin close to the fuel injector. Analysis of many ignition events has revealed several distinct modes of ignition failure.