Recent advances in laser-based diagnostics for gaseous flows

Laser-based diagnostic techniques offer unique capabilities for experimentation on gaseous flows. In this paper, we overview recent progress of two concepts: spectrally resolved absorption and planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging. The absorption measurements utilize tunable diode lasers (TDLs) as light sources. Recent TDL applications include a wavelength-multiplexed system for rapid temperature sensing for use in combustion control, and absorption probes for time-resolved measurements of temperature, velocity and species concentrations in a hypersonic shock tunnel. Recent PLIF work includes applications to supersonic, exothermic flowfields relevant to ram accelerators, and development of a method for imaging temperature in air flows using acetone seeding.     

Hyperpolarized 83Kr MRI of lungs

Hyperpolarized (hp) ⁸³Kr (spin I = 9/2) is a promising gas-phase contrast agent that displays sensitivity to the surface chemistry, surface-to-volume ratio, and surface temperature of the surrounding environment. This proof-of-principle study demonstrates the feasibility of ex vivo hp ⁸³Kr magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of lungs using natural abundance krypton gas (11.5% ⁸³Kr) and excised, but otherwise intact, rat lungs located within a custom designed ventilation chamber. Experiments comparing the ⁸³Kr MR signal intensity from lungs to that arising from a balloon with no internal structure inflated to the same volume with krypton gas mixture suggest that most of the observed signal originated from the alveoli and not merely the conducting airways. The ⁸³Kr longitudinal relaxation times in the rat lungs ranged from 0.7 to 3.7 s but were reproducible for a given lung. Although the source of these variations was not explored in this work, hp ⁸³Kr T₁ differences may ultimately lead to a novel form of MRI contrast in lungs. The currently obtained 1200-fold signal enhancement for hp ⁸³Kr at 9.4 T field strength is found to be 180 times below the theoretical upper limit.     

高速动能弹温度场数值模拟

随着兵器发射技术和空气动力学技术的发展,动能弹的发射初速和飞行状态正从超声速向高超声速发展,由此产生了气动热问题.准确预测动能弹温度场是其气动力和热防护设计的关键技术.采用CFD预测温度场的方法,包括平衡流流动控制方程及差分格式,构造平衡流通量Jacob矩阵,在差分格式矢通量分裂过程中嵌入平衡流真实气体模型模拟温度场,获得平衡流气体状态方程.对典型高速动能弹热环境进行验证,考察方法的合理性.对设计的一种新型高超声速动能弹温度场进行数值模拟,为其气动设计及热防护提供了较可靠的数据.     

Recent contribution in color interferometry and applications to high-speed flows

Recent improvements brought to color interferometry for analyzing high-speed flows are described through different applications. First, the optical technique based on differential interferometry using a polarized white light and one or two Wollaston prisms allows to record high-speed interferograms of the flow downstream of a circular cylinder. Then, this technique has been applied to axisymmetric flows for studying an interaction between a supersonic hot jet and a coaxial supersonic flow. Another application concerns the study of hypersonic flows using Wollaston prisms with a large birefringence angle. Finally, the analysis of gaseous mixture and the evolution of two-gases interface submitted to an acceleration is presented. Interferograms analysis is made from a modeling of interference fringes versus the optical path difference which allows to easily extract quantitative information of the gas density. In order to obtain absolute measurements of the gas density, real-time holographic interferometry has been developed using a three-color laser source and a panchromatic holographic plate. The technique generates the achromatic white fringe which makes the zero order of interference fringes easy to identify. An application is presented in a 2D subsonic wind tunnel, in which the unsteady wake flow past a cylinder is recorded at high framing rate. In this optical setup, transmission holograms are used. As a conclusion, an approach is proposed to analyze the 3D flows from real-time color holographic interferometry using reflection holograms and the problems to solve are described.     

Optimal conditions for third-harmonic generation in gas mixtures

The authors consider the effect of the buffer gas nonlinear susceptibility on the third-harmonic generation efficiency in gas mixtures. Experiments were performed in mixtures of krypton with xenon, argon and nitrogen at the wavelength of hydrogen Lyman-α. The optimal compositions for these mixtures were found and the gain in the generation power against the pure gas was estimated.     

A model for supersonic and hypersonic impactors for nanoparticles

In this study the performance of supersonic and hypersonic impactors for collection efficiency of nanoparticles (in the size range of 2–100 nm) under various operating conditions is analyzed. Axisymmetric forms of the compressible Navier–Stokes and energy equations are solved and the airflow and thermal condition in the impactor are evaluated. A Lagrangian particle trajectory analysis procedure is used and the deposition rates of different size particles under various operating conditions are studied. For dilute particle concentrations, the assumption of one-way interaction is used and the effect of particles on gas flow field is ignored. The importance of drag, lift and Brownian forces on particle motions in supersonic impactors is discussed. Sensitivity of the simulation results to the use of different assumptions for the Cunningham correction coefficient is studied. It is shown that accurate evaluation of the gas mean free path and the Cunningham correction factor is important for accurate simulation of nano-particle transport and deposition in supersonic/hypersonic impactors. The computer simulation results are compared favorably with the available experimental data.     

气动光学效应湍流脉动模型系数修正

以光学窗口的气动光学效应研究为背景,研究影响光学传输预测的流场湍流脉动量预测.选取平板、压缩拐角、凹腔流动模型,采用大涡模拟（LES）方法研究超声速湍流脉动工程预测模型的系数修正.结果表明：LES方法能够获得无激波干扰、强激波干扰及底部大分离条件下,湍流密度脉动的定量分布,并据此给出脉动工程模型的系数修正,结果已经应用于型号飞行器的光学窗口气动光学效应预测.     

Investigation of sampling-probe distorted temperature fields with X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy

Flame-sampling experiments, especially in conjunction with laminar low-pressure premixed flames, are routinely used in combustion chemistry studies to unravel the identities and quantities of key intermediates and their pathways. In many instances, however, an unambiguous interpretation of the experimental and modeling results is hampered by the uncertainties about the probe-induced, perturbed temperature profile. To overcome this limitation, two-dimensional perturbations of the temperature field caused by sampling probes with different geometries have been investigated using synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. In these experiments, which were performed at the 7-BM beamline of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at the Argonne National Laboratory, a continuous beam of hard X-rays at 15?keV was used to excite krypton atoms that were added in a concentration of 5?vol.-% to the unburnt gas mixture and the resulting krypton fluorescence at 12.65?keV was subsequently collected. The highly spatially resolved signal was converted into the local flame temperature to obtain temperature fields at various burner-probe separations as functions of the distance to the burner surface and the radial distance from the centerline. Multiple measurements were performed with different probe geometries and because of the observed impact on the temperature profiles the results clearly revealed the need to specify the sampling probe design to enable quantitative and meaningful comparisons of modeling results with flame-sampled mole fraction data.     

Theory of aerodynamic heating from molecular collision analysis

An aerodynamic heating model is derived from molecular collision analysis, in which the rising temperature of a hypersonic flying object as a function of the flying speed in a classical dense monoatomic gas environment is set up. The model predicts that the rising temperature of the hypersonic flying object is independent of the gas density but depends linearly on the gas atomic mass. A nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulation is carried out to verify the theoretical model. Also, through analyzing the vibrational density of states in the flying objects, it is found that the excited phonon frequency is near the collision frequency, uncovering that the phonons are mainly excited by the face colliding gas atoms. Our study provides a new insight into understanding the intrinsic mechanism of aerodynamic heating and helps to develop the temperature-controllable hypersonic flying vehicle.     

Méthode d’épuration des gaz rares au moyen de décharges électriques de haute fréquence

Raw krypton and xenon gases obtained from the distillation of air contain impurities such as CF₄ and CH₄, which preclude their use in many applications. These impurities can be abated by having the gas circulating through a microwave-sustained electric discharge. The use of this technique for production proves to be beneficiai in terms of energy consumption, reduction of gas losses, easiness and safety of operation. Plasma purification is therefore an useful extension of the range of available technologies for the design of high performance pure krypton/xenon production plants. It further demonstrates the feasibility and interest of achieving selective chemistry in a plasma that is not in thermodynamic equilibrium.     

Anomalous atomic hydrogen shock pattern in a supersonic plasma Jet

A two-photon laser-induced fluorescence study on the transport of ground-state atomic hydrogen in a supersonic plasma jet, generated from an Ar-H (2) mixture, reveals an unexpected shock pattern. Whereas both the axial-velocity profile and the temperature profile of hydrogen atoms along the jet centerline can be interpreted in terms of a supersonic expansion of an Ar-H gas mixture, the H-atom density profiles do not satisfy the well established Rankine-Hugoniot relation leading to a nonconservation of the forward flux. The experimental results show that H atoms escape from the supersonic expansion by a diffusion process due to strong density gradients between the core of the jet and its vicinity.     

双锥/双楔流动中的高温气体效应仿真模拟

在高超声速飞行和再入地球大气过程中, 气体分子的振动、电子态激发, 伴随离解、电离反应, 从而产生高温真实气体效应。不同数值方法对高温真实气体效应的模化会造成气体热物性参数的差异, 从而对流场模拟引入不确定度。以高超声速的双锥/双楔流动为例, 通过计算流体力学方法和直接模拟Monte Carlo (DSMC)方法, 研究高温真实气体模型对复杂干扰流动的预测能力。结果表明, 有别于量热完全气体, 若考虑真实物理过程的热化学非平衡过程带来气体热力学性质、输运特性的变化, 会导致激波角、边界层厚度、分离区尺寸等流动结构的改变。因此, 在研究高超声速模拟中应注意数值模型的正确应用。      

Steady-state free precession with hyperpolarized 3He: experiments and theory

The magnetization response of hyperpolarized 3He gas to a steady-state free precession (SSFP) sequence was simulated using matrix product operators. The simulations included the effects of flip angle (alpha), sequence timings, resonant frequency, gas diffusion coefficient, imaging gradients, T1 and T2. Experiments performed at 1.5 T, on gas phantoms and with healthy human subjects, confirm the predicted theory, and indicate increased SNR with SSFP through use of higher flip angles when compared to optimized spoiled gradient echo (SPGR). Simulations and experiments show some compromise to the SNR and some point spread function broadening at high alpha due to the incomplete refocusing of transverse magnetization, caused by diffusion dephasing from the readout gradient. Mixing of gas polarization levels by diffusion between slices is also identified as a source of signal loss in SSFP at higher alpha through incomplete refocusing. Nevertheless, in the sample experiments, a SSFP sequence with an optimized flip angle of alpha=20 degrees, and 128 sequential phase encoding views, showed a higher SNR when compared to SPGR (alpha=7.2 degrees) with the same bandwidth. Some of the gas sample experiments demonstrated a transient signal response that deviates from theory in the initial phase. This was identified as being caused by radiation damping interactions between the large initial transverse magnetization and the high quality factor (Q=250) birdcage resonator. In 3He NMR experiments, performed without imaging gradients, diffusion dephasing can be mitigated, and the effective T2 is relatively long (1 s). Under these circumstances the SSFP sequence behaves like a CPMG sequence with sinalpha/2 weighting of SNR. Experiments and simulations were also performed to characterize the off-resonance behaviour of the SSFP HP 3He signal. Characteristic banding artifacts due to off-resonance harmonic beating were observed in some of the in vivo SSFP images, for instance in axial slices close to the diaphragm where B0 inhomogeneity is highest. Despite these artifacts, a higher SNR was observed with SSFP in vivo when compared to the SPGR sequence. The trends predicted by theory of increasing SSFP SNR with increasing flip angle were observed in the range alpha=10-20 degrees without compromise to image quality through blurring caused by excessive k-space filtering.     

Microwave discharge on the surface of a dielectric antenna

A microwave discharge initiated by a surface wave on a dielectric body placed in a supersonic air flow is studied. The discharge is shown to represent a thin plasma layer that uniformly covers the antenna surface. In experiments, the discharge propagation velocity may be as high as 100 km/s, which is several orders of magnitude higher than the velocity of sound in air. The peak pulse power necessary to excite the discharge in a wide range of air pressures (from 10⁻³ to 10³ Torr) is no higher than 100 kW. It is shown that the gas temperature may rise to 1000–2000 K, rapidly increasing (with a rate of ≈50 K/μs) at the early stage of discharge evolution. The discharge of this type may find applications in super-and hypersonic plasma aerodynamics (such as control of the flow near the surface of a body moving in a dense atmosphere, reduction of surface friction, optimization of ignition and combustion conditions for supersonic flows of gaseous fuel, etc.). It may also be used to advantage in development of new-generation plasma sources for micro-and nanoelectronics purposes (plasma treatment of surfaces, etching, and film deposition).     

高超声速三维热化学非平衡电离流动计算研究

研究发展了一种计算高超声速三维热化学非平衡电离流动的数值方法。真实气体热力学状态是通过平动-转动温度和电子-振动温度来模拟。对零攻角轴对称钝锥体和有攻角钝锥体的高超声速电离流动,采用隐式有限体积法NND格式,数值求解NS方程。     

Supersonic CO2 laser excited by RF discharge in closed cycle

A supersonic gas flow having a Mach number of 2 has been realized in a closed-cycle radio-frequency (RF)-discharge-excited supersonic CO₂ laser system. Stable RF discharge at a high CO₂ gas concentration has become possible using supersonic gas flow and RF discharge generated between dielectric electrodes. As a result, high RF input power density has been obtained. In addition, a high small-signal gain has been obtained in the supersonic section through decreases in gas pressure and gas temperature due to supersonic gas flow.This revised version was published online in August 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

超声速气流中的爆震推进理论与研究进展

爆震燃烧近似为等容燃烧,理论上其热循环效率高于基于等压燃烧的爆燃燃烧,在超声速推进系统中具有潜在的应用价值.通过总结超声速气流中的爆震推进理论与研究进展,分析其需要解决的关键科学与技术问题,指导未来高超声速发动机的基础研究.文章重点总结了适用于高超声速飞行的斜爆震发动机、超声速脉冲爆震冲压发动机的基础研究进展.其中对斜爆震发动机的应用模式、相关实验研究思路及方法、数值仿真现状进行了总结分析.对超声速脉冲爆震冲压发动机的基础理论研究现状和目前研究的难点进行了梳理.基于爆震燃烧的超燃冲压发动机具有推进系统自增压、燃烧效率高、推力性能好、推进效率高、燃烧室长度短、结构重量轻等优势,文章总结了该发动机当前的发展进程和最新的研究进展,并对其未来的发展方向以及存在的技术问题进行了分析.      

激光诱导荧光聚焦纹影系统及超声速燃烧流场应用

纹影是一种常用的流动显示技术,广泛应用于可压缩流动显示及超声速燃烧流场实验.然而,在变Mach数超声速燃烧实验中,燃烧室总温随来流Mach数变化.受准稳态/非定常温度变化影响,光学玻璃窗口的折射率发生显著改变,影响基于密度梯度的纹影成像质量.同时,普通纹影为光程体积沿程积分,难以同二维燃烧场成像信息进行直接比较以开展燃烧与流动耦合研究.聚焦纹影技术可抑制燃烧室内高温引起的玻璃窗口折射率变化,并实现毫米级的急剧聚焦深度,获得二维流场结构,同时配合纳秒级脉宽Nd:YAG激光光源可冻结高超声速流场.在传统聚焦纹影系统基础上发展了激光诱导荧光聚焦纹影系统并应用于变Mach数超声速燃烧实验,创新点在于使用激光诱导荧光染料,以荧光作为光源消除原本激光光源中的相干噪声,同时发展了边缘增强图像处理方法.实验结果表明激光诱导荧光聚焦纹影系统及边缘增强图像处理方法能够有效消除激光光源相干噪声,捕捉二维超声速燃烧流场结构.      

Stability of supersonic boundary layer under the influence of heavy gas injection: experimental study

Experiments were performed on the influence of distributed injection of a heavy gas (elegas SF₆) into the near-wall region of the supersonic (freestream Mach number М_∞ = 2) boundary layer on its stability in relation to natural disturbances. Heavy gas injection for the case of linear development of disturbance field results in boundary layer stabilization. It was experimentally proved that the elegas injection can suppress disturbances at the frequencies higher than 15 kHz for the tested range of the streamwise coordinate.     

可调谐二极管激光吸收光谱诊断技术:原理和应用

可调谐二极管激光吸收光谱技术是一种非接触的光谱诊断技术, 已经广泛应用于高温气动研究中.文章对吸收光谱的发展和应用于高温反应环境温度和组分浓度的测量进行了回顾.对不同的吸收测量策略以及相应的系统组成进行了详细介绍, 最后介绍了应用吸收光谱技术研究超声速燃烧火星再入以及空间推进系统的详细结果.