Flow visualization of shock/water column interactions

The breakup of a liquid droplet induced by a high speed gas stream is a typical multiphase flow problem. The shock/droplet interaction is the beginning stage of the droplet breakup. Therefore, investigation of the shock/droplet interactions would be a milestone for interpreting the mechanism of the droplet breakup. In this study, a compressible multiphase solver with a five-equation model is successfully developed to study shock/water column interactions. For code validation, interface-only, gas–gas shock tube, and gas–liquid shock tube problems are first computed. Subsequently, a planar shock wave interacting with a water column is simulated. The transmitted wave and the alternative appearances of local high- and low-pressure regions inside the water column are observed clearly. Finally, a planar shock wave interacting with two water columns is investigated. In this work, both horizontal and vertical arrangements of two water columns are studied. It is found that different arrangements can result in the diversity of the interacting process. The complex flow structures generated by shock/water column interactions are presented by flow-visualization techniques.      

Study of the shock-induced acceleration of hexane droplets

An experimental study of the interaction of a shock wave with a hexane droplet is presented. The main goal of the experiments was to record images of the process and measure basic parameters describing movement, dispersion and evaporation of the droplets engulfed by a shock wave propagating in air. A shock tube with a visualization section was used for this research. Photography of the process allowed one to measure the positions, velocities and sizes of mist clouds created by the interaction processes. Analysis of the pictures shows that there is no qualitative difference between cases for different size droplets, but shock Mach number had a significant effect on the process. Quantitative analysis shows that under certain conditions, a catastrophic breakup mechanism of dispersion occurred. The droplets are shattered into a mist cloud before they achieve mechanical equilibrium with the surrounding gas. The approximate time for the complete dispersion and acceleration of the fuel droplet varies from 300 to 500 μs, and depends both on the droplet diameter and shock velocity. The dispersion time is controlled principally by the droplet diameter, and to a lesser extent, the shock Mach number. This paper is based on work that was presented at the 20th International Colloquium on the Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Systems, Montreal, Canada, July 31–August 5, 2005.     

A unified spray model for engine spray simulation using dynamic mesh refinement

This study is based on dynamic mesh refinement and uses spray breakup models to simulate engine spray dynamics. It is known that the Lagrangian discrete particle technique for spray modeling is sensitive to gird resolution. An adequate spatial resolution in the spray region is necessary to account for the momentum and energy coupling between the gas and liquid phases. This study uses a dynamic mesh refinement algorithm that is adaptive to spray particles to increase the accuracy of spray modeling. On the other hand, the accurate prediction of the spray structure and drop vaporization requires accurate physical models to simulate fuel injection and spray breakup. The present primary jet breakup model predicts the initial breakup of the liquid jet due to the surface instability to generate droplets. A secondary breakup model is then responsible for further breakup of these droplets. The secondary breakup model considers the growth of the unstable waves that are formed on the droplet surface due to the aerodynamic force. The simulation results are compared with experimental data in gasoline spray structure and liquid penetration length. Validations are also performed by comparing the liquid length of a vaporizing diesel spray and its variations with different parameters including the orifice diameter, injection pressure, and ambient gas temperature and density. The model is also applied to simulate a direct-injection gasoline engine with a realistic geometry. The present spray model with dynamic mesh refinement algorithm is shown to predict the spray structure and liquid penetration accurately with reasonable computational cost.     

Numerical investigation of turbulent-jet primary breakup using one-dimensional turbulence

Primary breakup to form droplets at liquid surfaces is an important fundamental process to study as it determines the initial properties of the dispersed phase, which affect mixing rates, secondary breakup, droplet collisions, and flow separation within the dispersed flow region. Primary breakup can be regarded as one of the least developed model components for simulating and predicting liquid jet breakup. However, it is of paramount importance in many technical applications, e.g. fuel injection in engines and spray painting. This paper presents a numerical investigation of primary breakup of a turbulent liquid jet in still air at standard conditions using the one-dimensional turbulence (ODT) modeling framework. ODT is a stochastic model that simulates turbulent flow evolution along a notional 1D line of sight by applying instantaneous maps to represent the effect of individual turbulent eddies on property profiles. An important feature of ODT is the resolution of all relevant scales, both temporal and spatial. The restriction to one spatial dimension in ODT permits affordable high resolution of interfacial and single-phase property gradients, which is key to capturing the local behavior of the breakup process and allows simulations at high Reynolds and Weber numbers that are currently not accessible to direct numerical simulations (DNS).This paper summarizes our extensions of the ODT model to simulate geometrically simple jet breakup problems, including representations of Rayleigh wave breakup, turbulent breakup, and shear-driven breakup. Each jet breakup simulation consists of a short temporal channel section to initialize a turbulent velocity profile at the nozzle exit followed by an adjacent jet section. The simulations are carried out for jet exit Reynolds number of 11,500, 23,000, 46,000 and 92,000 while the Weber number is varied within the range 10²–10⁷. We present results on breakup statistics including spatial locations of droplet release, droplet sizes and liquid core length. The results on primary breakup are compared to experimental results and models.     

超声速气流中雾化燃料喷射的三维数值研究

首次用双流体模型对雾化燃料在扩张形超燃室中沿九喷嘴顺流喷射的混合问题进行了数值研究。气相用迎风 TVD格式求解三维全 Navier- Stokes方程 ,液相用预估、校正 NND格式求解三维 Euler方程。相间相互作用的常微分方程用预估、校正Runge- Kutta法求解。用三维 Poisson方程生成网格。结果表明 :气相较液相的扩散效果好 ,小直径液滴的扩散效果好。相间速度滑移、改变气相喷射压力和喷射速度对液相扩散的贡献不大 ,但调整喷射角度会明显地增强液相的扩散、混合 ,本文结果未出现阻塞。     

Experimental study of planar shock wave interactions with dense packed sand wall

A dense packed sand wall is impacted by a planar shock wave in a horizontal shock tube to study the shock-sand wall interaction. The incident shock Mach number ranges from 2.18 to 2.38. A novel device for actively rupturing diaphragm is designed for the driver section of the shock tube. An apparatus for loading particles is machined by the electrical discharge cutting technique to create a dense packed particle wall. High-speed schlieren imaging system and synchronized pressure measurement system are used together to capture the wave structures and particle cloud velocity. The dynamic evolution model from dense packed particles to dense gas–solid cloud at the initial driving stage is established. The blockage and permeation effects of the sand wall work together and influence each other. The high pressure gas behind the incident shock wave blocked by the sand wall pushes the upstream front of the wall forward like a piston. Meanwhile, the high speed gas permeating through the sand wall drags the sands of the most downstream layer forward. The incident shock strength, initial sand wall thickness and particle diameter are varied respectively to investigate the shock attenuation and the wall acceleration. Increasing the sands diameter or mixing in small diameter sands can significantly attenuate the incident shock. The smaller particles or the particles in thinner wall can be dispersed into a larger range in the process of transform from dense packed particles to dense gas–solid cloud. Moreover, the stronger incident shock can disperse the particles into a larger region.     

Application of maximum entropy method for droplet size distribution prediction using instability analysis of liquid sheet

This paper describes the implementation of the instability analysis of wave growth on liquid jet surface, and maximum entropy principle (MEP) for prediction of droplet diameter distribution in primary breakup region. The early stage of the primary breakup, which contains the growth of wave on liquid–gas interface, is deterministic; whereas the droplet formation stage at the end of primary breakup is random and stochastic. The stage of droplet formation after the liquid bulk breakup can be modeled by statistical means based on the maximum entropy principle. The MEP provides a formulation that predicts the atomization process while satisfying constraint equations based on conservations of mass, momentum and energy. The deterministic aspect considers the instability of wave motion on jet surface before the liquid bulk breakup using the linear instability analysis, which provides information of the maximum growth rate and corresponding wavelength of instabilities in breakup zone. The two sub-models are coupled together using momentum source term and mean diameter of droplets. This model is also capable of considering drag force on droplets through gas–liquid interaction. The predicted results compared favorably with the experimentally measured droplet size distributions for hollow-cone sprays.     

Modeling droplet dispersion and interphase turbulent kinetic energy transfer using a new dual-timescale Langevin model

Dispersion of spray droplets and the modulation of turbulence in the ambient gas by the dispersing droplets are two coupled phenomena that are closely linked to the evolution of global spray characteristics, such as the spreading rate of the spray and the spray cone angle. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent gas flows laden with sub-Kolmogorov size particles, in the absence of gravity, report that dispersion statistics and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) evolve on different timescales. Furthermore, each timescale behaves differently with Stokes number, a non-dimensional flow parameter (defined in this context as the ratio of the particle response time to the Kolmogorov timescale of turbulence) that characterizes how quickly a particle responds to turbulent fluctuations in the carrier or gas phase. A new dual-timescale Langevin model (DLM) composed of two coupled Langevin equations for the fluctuating velocities, one for each phase, is proposed. This model possesses a unique feature that the implied TKE and velocity autocorrelation in each phase evolve on different timescales. Consequently, this model has the capability of simultaneously predicting the disparate Stokes number trends in the evolution of dispersion statistics, such as velocity autocorrelations, and TKE in each phase. Predictions of dispersion statistics and TKE from the new model show good agreement with published DNS of non-evaporating and evaporating droplet-laden turbulent flow.     

Breakup and atomization characteristics of mono-dispersed diesel droplets in a cross-flow air stream

This paper describes the microscopic and macroscopic breakup characteristics, as well as the velocity and size distributions, of mono-dispersed droplets in relation to the breakup regimes. For this experiment, a droplet generator equipped with a piezo stack produced mono-dispersed droplets. The droplet-breakup phenomenon due to the cross-flow was captured in microscopic and macroscopic views by using the following: a spark lamp, a Nd:YAG laser, a long distance microscope and a CCD camera as a function of the Weber number. Along with the analysis of the images, the droplet size and velocity distributions were measured in the near nozzle region by a phase Doppler particle analyzer system at bag, stretching and thinning, and catastrophic breakup regimes. The results of this study showed the size and velocity distributions of disintegrated droplets at the bag, stretching and thinning, and catastrophic breakup regimes. In the bag breakup regime, the droplets separated into small and large droplets during breakup. Alternatively, the droplets disintegrated at a shorter duration and formed a cloud, similar to a fuel spray injected through an injector, in the stretching and thinning and catastrophic breakup regimes.     

3D Velocimetry and droplet sizing in the Ranque–Hilsch vortex tube

The Ranque–Hilsch vortex tube (RHVT) is a device currently used to generate local cooling. In general, the fluid that is injected into the RHVT is a single-phase gas. In this study, however, we have added a dispersed phase (water droplets) to the gas (nitrogen). By means of phase Doppler particle analysis, three velocity components, their higher order moments, and sizes of droplets were measured, showing high intensity velocity fluctuations in the core region of the main vortex. The frequency spectrum of the velocity is presented and reveals that wobbling of the vortex axis is the cause of the high intensity fluctuations. The wobbling motion reduces the influence of the droplet size on the radial droplet velocity.     

Shock–Free Breakup of Droplets. Temporal Characteristics

In the present paper, we consider the shock–free breakup of droplets in their encounter with a layer (sheet) of a moving gas in the absence of pressure perturbations when the droplets are affected by a short U–shaped pulse of aerodynamic forces. Under a high pressure of the ambient gas medium p₀ = 20—80 bar, the droplets (ethanol or liquid oxygen) have a chance to break up after stay in a thing (2—5 mm thick) gas layer (jet) moving with a velocity of 1—10 m/sec. A distinctive feature of the process is that the characteristic time of droplet deformation and the period of natural oscillations coincide with the residence time for the droplets in the region of their interaction with the gas stream. Empirical formulas are proposed for determination of the total breakup time and the duration of the droplet disintegration stage in shock–free breakup.     

Large eddy simulation of droplet dispersion for inhomogeneous turbulent wall flow

A large eddy simulation (LES) coupled with a Lagrangian stochastic model has been applied to the study of droplet dispersion in a turbulent boundary layer. Droplets are tracked in a Lagrangian way. The velocity of the fluid particle along the droplet trajectory is considered to have a large-scale part and a small-scale part given by a modified three-dimensional Langevin model using the filtered subgrid scale (SGS) statistics. An appropriate Lagrangian correlation timescale is considered in order to include the influences of gravity and inertia. Two-way coupling is also taken into account. The inter-droplet collision has been introduced as the main mechanism of secondary breakup. A stochastic model for breakup has been generalized for coalescence simulation, thereby two phenomena, coalescence and breakup are simulated in the framework of a single stochastic model. The parameters of this model, selectively for coalescence and for breakup, are computed dynamically by relating them to the local resolved properties of the dispersed phase compared to the main fluid. The model is validated by comparison with an agglomeration model and with experimental results on secondary breakup. The LES coupled with Lagrangian particle tracking and the model for droplet coalescence and breakup is applied to the study of the atmospheric dispersion of wet cooling tower plumes. The simulations are done for different droplet size distributions and volume fractions. We focused on the influence of these parameters on mean concentration, concentration variance and mass flux profiles.     

稠密气固两相流各向异性颗粒相矩方法

基于气体分子动力学和颗粒动理学方法,考虑颗粒速度脉动各向异性,建立颗粒相二阶矩模型.应用初等输运理论,对三阶关联项进行模化和封闭.考虑颗粒与壁面之间的能量传递和交换,建立颗粒相边界条件模型.采用Koch等计算方法模拟气固脉动速度关联矩.考虑气体-颗粒间相互作用,建立稠密气体-颗粒流动模型.数值模拟提升管内气固两相流动特性,模拟结果表明提升管内颗粒相湍流脉动具有明显的各向异性.预测颗粒速度、浓度和颗粒脉动速度二阶矩与Tartan等实测结果相吻合.模拟结果表明轴向颗粒速度脉动强度约为平均颗粒相脉动强度的1.5倍,轴向颗粒脉动能大约是径向颗粒脉动能3.0倍.     

PTV investigation of phase interaction in dispersed liquid–liquid two-phase turbulent swirling flow

An investigation of dispersed liquid–liquid two-phase turbulent swirling flow in a horizontal pipe is conducted using a particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) technique and a shadow image technique (SIT). Silicone oil with a low specific gravity is used as immiscible droplets. A swirling motion is given to the main flow by an impeller installed in the pipe. Fluorescent tracer particles are applied to flow visualization. Red/green/blue components extracted from color images taken with a digital color CCD camera are used to simultaneously estimate the liquid and droplet velocity vectors. Under a relatively low swirl motion, a large number of droplets with low specific gravity tend to accumulate in the central region of the pipe. With increasing droplet volume fraction, the liquid turbulence intensity in the axial direction increases while that in the wall-normal direction decreases in the central region of the pipe. In addition, the turbulence modification in the present flow is strongly dependent on the droplet Reynolds number; however, the interaction of droplet-induced turbulences is significant due to vortex shedding, particularly at high droplet Reynolds numbers and higher droplet volume fraction.     

Attenuation of a shock wave passing through a cloud of water droplets

The mitigation of a planar shock wave caused by a cloud of calibrated water droplets was studied both experimentally and numerically. Experiments were carried out, with different shock wave Mach numbers ranging from 1.1 to 1.8, in a vertical shock tube coupled with a droplet generator which produced a well-characterized cloud of droplets of 120, 250 and 500 μm in diameter. By exploiting such an experimental set-up, we successfully measured the attenuation of a normal shock wave when passing through the water droplet cloud. This series of experiments allowed to identify the main parameters of this investigation and a clear dependence between the attenuation of the shock wave and terms governing the regimes of droplet breakup has been found. On the other hand, to support this experimental approach, 1D unsteady calculations were performed in similar configurations. Although the mathematical model based on an Eulerian/Eulerian approach was actually incomplete, the first comparisons between the experiments and the simulations were rather interesting and pointed out the need to improve the physical model, by taking into account the fragmentation and the vaporization of the droplets submitted to the shock wave as well as the size distribution of the water spray.     

An Eulerian–Lagrangian hybrid model for the coarse-grid simulation of turbulent liquid jet breakup

In this paper we present a numerical model for the coarse-grid simulation of turbulent liquid jet breakup using an Eulerian–Lagrangian coupling. To picture the unresolved droplet formation near the liquid jet interface in the case of coarse grids we considered a theoretical model to describe the unresolved flow instabilities leading to turbulent breakup. These entrained droplets are then represented by an Eulerian–Lagrangian hybrid concept. On the one hand, we used a volume of fluid method (VOF) to characterize the global spreading and the initiation of droplet formation; one the other hand, Lagrangian droplets are released at the liquid–gas interface according to the theoretical model balancing consolidating and disruptive energies. Here, a numerical coupling was required between Eulerian liquid core and Lagrangian droplets using mass and momentum source terms. The presented methodology was tested for different liquid jets in Rayleigh, wind-induced and atomization regimes and validated against literature data. This comparison reveals fairly good qualitative agreement in the cases of jet spreading, jet instability and jet breakup as well as relatively accurate size distribution and Sauter mean diameter (SMD) of the droplets. Furthermore, the model was able to capture the regime transitions from Rayleigh instability to atomization appropriately. Finally, the presented sub-grid model predicts the effect of the gas-phase pressure on the droplet sizes very well.     

Numerical investigation of unsteady shock waves in vapor-gas-droplet mixtures

The results of mathematical modeling of the evolution of unsteady shock waves in two-phase mixtures of inert gas, vapor and suspended liquid droplets with allowance for dynamic, thermal and mass phase interaction processes are presented. The influence of interphase mass transfer effects (droplet breakdown and evaporation, vapor condensation) on the structure of unsteady shock waves in vapor-gas-droplet mixtures is analyzed. The important influence of phase mass transfer and, in particular, droplet breakdown as a result of surface layer stripping by the gas flow on the distribution of the parameters of the carrier and dispersed components of the mixture behind the shock front is demonstrated. The effect of the principal governing parameters of the two-phase mixture on the unsteady shock wave propagation process is analyzed.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No.4, pp. 67–75, July–August, 1992.