Transition from symmetric to asymmetric scaling function before drop pinch-off

The drop pinch-off at a nozzle is studied experimentally for a glycerin-water mixture in surrounding air. The neck diameter of the fluid shrinks with constant velocity. After a distinct transition point, the shrink velocity switches to a smaller value. Before that transition point, the shape of the neck can well be described by a symmetric scaling function, as obtained from Stokes-flow theory of drop formation. This function gives way to an asymmetric scaling function in the final stage before pinch-off.     

Structure of Liquid‐Sheet Sprays

Spray characteristics and their spatial distribution have been investigated experimentally for sprays generated by the breakup of thin liquid sheets in co‐flowing air streams. The spray characteristics such as droplet mean and fluctuation velocity and Sauter mean diameter have been measured by using phase Doppler anemometry under various liquid and air flow conditions at the nozzle exit. The results show that at a given spray cross section the droplet axial mean velocity has a maximum value at the spray center, and decreases towards the edge of the spray; whereas the Sauter mean diameter has a minimum value at the center and increases monotonically towards the spray periphery. Data analysis indicates that sufficiently downstream of the nozzle exit the droplet mean velocity attains a jet‐like self‐similar distribution in the transverse direction, and such universal distribution is also observed for the turbulent fluctuation velocity and turbulent intensity, although it is achieved further downstream compared to the mean velocity profile. The Sauter mean diameter at the spray center has a complex variation in the downstream direction due to secondary atomization at high air velocity near the nozzle exit and droplet entrainment, migration and possible coalescence farther downstream.     

Detailed simulation of primary atomization mechanisms in Diesel jet sprays (isolated identification of liquid jet tip effects)

In this study, the atomization characteristics of Diesel jet front tip have been investigated to elucidate the physical mechanisms by detailed numerical simulation. The computations are carried out with the finest grid resolutions ever that can resolve the final droplet generation by surface tension. The numerical methods are based on level-set interface tracking. The methods were validated by test cases and the grid resolution survey shows that the resolutions for the present study are sufficient. The present flow setup excludes nozzle disturbances to investigate how the disturbances from the liquid jet front would lead to atomization where the liquid jet impacts against the quiescent gas. The liquid jet front becomes an umbrella-like shape. From the front umbrella tip edge, ligament breakup first occurs. Ligament breakup is strongly correlated with the gas motion in the vicinity. The gas region behind the front is highly disturbed by atomization. By the gas recirculation motion here, air and some droplets are entrained and mixed. Also, the disturbances are fed back to the front umbrella by this motion and become synchronized with the breakup. Droplet pinch-off is mainly in the short-wave mode, but some ligaments are elongated by local gas stretch to finally have a long-wave mode shape, namely a mode shift occurs. The above findings of liquid jet front umbrella formation, atomization at the umbrella edge, mixing and atomization loop in the recirculation flow region and droplet generation mode give an insight to the modeling of droplet generation in actual sprays.     

Contributions to the acoustic excitation of bubbles released from a nozzle

It has recently been demonstrated that air bubbles released from a nozzle are excited into volume mode oscillations by the collapse of the neck of air formed at the moment of bubble detachment. A pulse of sound is caused by these breathing mode oscillations, and the sound of air-entraining flows is made up of many such pulses emitted as bubbles are created. This paper is an elaboration on a JASA-EL paper, which examined the acoustical excitation of bubbles released from a nozzle. Here, further details of the collapse of a neck of air formed at the moment of bubble formation and its implications for the emission of sound by newly formed bubbles are presented. The role of fluid surface tension was studied using high-speed photography and found to be consistent with a simple model for neck collapse. A re-entrant fluid jet forms inside the bubble just after detachment, and its role in acoustic excitation is assessed. It is found that for slowly-grown bubbles the jet does make a noticeable difference to the total volume decrease during neck collapse, but that it is not a dominant effect in the overall acoustic excitation.     

A Predictive Model for the Initial Droplet Size and Velocity Distributions in Sprays and Comparison with Experiments

The distribution of sizes and velocities of droplets initially formed in sprays is an important piece of information needed in the spray modelling, because it defines the initial condition of the spray droplets in the predictive calculations of the downstream two‐phase flow fields. A predictive model for the initial droplet size and velocity distributions in sprays is formulated in this study. The present model incorporates both the deterministic and the stochastic aspect of spray formation process. The deterministic aspect takes into account of the unstable wave motion before the liquid bulk breakup through the linear and nonlinear instability analysis, which provides information for the liquid bulk breakup length, the mass‐mean diameter and a prior distribution for the droplet sizes corresponding to the unstable wave growth of various wavelengths. The stochastic aspect deals with the final stage of droplet formation after the liquid bulk breakup by statistical means through the maximum entropy principle based on Bayesian entropy. The two sub‐models are coupled together by the various source terms signifying the liquid‐gas interaction, the mass mean diameter and the prior distribution based on the instability analysis. The initial droplet size and velocity distributions are measured experimentally by phase‐Doppler interferometry for sprays generated by a planar research nozzle and a practical gas turbine airblast nozzle. For the two nozzles, the liquid bulk sheet is formed before its breakup in a coflowing air stream. It is found that the model predictions are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data for all the cases measured. Hence the present model may be applied to a variety of practical sprays to specify the initial conditions for the spray droplets formed in practical spray systems.     

Effects of fuel viscosity on the primary breakup dynamics of a high-speed liquid jet with comparison to X-ray radiography

One of the major concerns in combustion engines is the sensitivity of engine performance to fuel properties. Recent works have shown that even slight differences in fuel properties can cause significant changes in performance and emission of an engine. In order to design the combustion engines with multi-fuel flexibilities, the precise assessment of fuel sensitivity on liquid jet atomization process is a prerequisite since the resulting fuel/air mixture is critical to the subsequent combustion process. The present study is focusing on the effect of physical fuel properties, mostly viscosity difference, on the breakup process of the liquid jet injected into still air. Two different jet fuels, CAT-A2 and CAT-C3, are considered here as surrogates for a fossil-based fuel and a bio-derived high-viscosity alternative fuel. The simulations are performed using the volume-of-fluid (VoF) interface tracking method coupled to Lagrangian particle method in order to capture the breakup instabilities of jets and the resulting droplets. The investigations take the actual geometry of the injector into account to resolve the unsteady flow phenomena inside the nozzle that impact the turbulence transition and atomization. The simulation results are compared to the experimental measurement using X-ray radiography. Both simulation and X-ray measurements consistently describe the effects of different fuels on the fundamental properties of atomization including the breakup length, transverse liquid volume fraction and the droplet sauter-mean-diameter. The application of a Detailed Numerical Simulation approach complemented by unique X-ray diagnostics is novel and providing new understanding and research directions in engine spray dynamics.     

Comparison of the Optical Connectivity Method to X-Ray spray measurements in the near field of a diesel injector

For diesel sprays, the primary breakup processes are only rarely understood due to the high optical density and the resulting difficulties to measure them with extremely high spatial and sufficient temporal resolution. The Optical Connectivity Method (OCM) has been proposed in the last years to allow the determination of the breakup length of the connected liquid core, thus giving a measurement quantity of the primary breakup. In this work, an improved optical setup of the OCM is applied to a three-hole test injector nozzle where several measurement techniques are compared currently under well-defined conditions up to 100?MPa injection pressure. In this work, the direct comparison with X-Ray measurements done at the Advanced Photon Source of the Argonne National Laboratory will be described. This allows an evaluation of the OCM technique and a comparison of the different measurement quantities in the first 500?µm range of the spray. The structure of the spray is measured by X-Ray phase contrast imaging and the fuel mass distribution is measured by X-Ray absorption imaging. A detailed comparison of the two X-Ray techniques and the OCM technique has been possible for the first time. It is found that the measurement data of the spray near field are very congruent with all three methods. Due to this comparison, the measurement of the non-perturbed length, which describes the distance from the nozzle orifice up to the point where the formation of surface disturbances is starting, by the OCM is validated for the first time. Within this non-perturbed length of the spray, the OCM signal is weak before it starts to illuminate from the scattering of the perturbed surface. Thus, the OCM technique can deliver two characteristic length scales, the non-perturbed length and the breakup length, characterizing the primary spray breakup.     

Acoustic properties of heated twin jets

A thorough experimental study of the noise characteristics of twin jets is presented in this paper. Twin round jets are investigated at typical jet engine conditions: that is, with heated high velocity flow. By varying the nozzle to nozzle spacing, it is possible to discriminate between the effects of turbulent mixing and acoustic shielding. As a result of this investigation, it was established that the turbulent mixing effects (both interaction noise generation and mixing suppression) occur for closely spaced nozzles. While acoustic shielding occurs at all nozzle spacings, it plays the dominant role at wide nozzle spacings. The levels of this acoustic shielding afforded by an adjacent jet can be sufficient to cause a nearly complete masking of the noise of the shielded jet. A significant discovery of this investigation was the importance of the layer of cooler, slower moving ambient air that exists between the twin jet plumes. This inter-jet layer causes acoustic refraction and reflection, and as the nozzle separation increases, the layer extends to shield more of the jet noise sources.     

The Acoustic Performance of 3D Printed Multiple Jet Nozzles with Different Configurations

This work investigated multiple jet nozzles with various geometrical shape, number of exits, and material on reducing noise radiated from jet flows. Nozzles are categorized in two groups with few and many exit numbers, each with various exit shapes, slot and circular, and geometry. Firstly, nozzles are designed and then fabricated by a 3D printer, Form Labs, Form2USA, with polymeric resin. Also, the nozzle with the most noise reduction made of stainless steel. Noise and air thrust were measured at three air pressure gauges, 3, 5, 7 BAR and directions from nozzle apex, 30°, 90°, 135°. Nozzles with slot exit shape made of both plastic and stainless steel revealed the most noise reduction among all nozzles with few exit numbers, nearly 11–14 dB(A) and 11.5–15 dB(A), respectively. On average, slotted nozzle noise reduction was nearly 5–6 dB(A) more than finned nozzle. However, nozzles with more exit numbers, finned and finned-central exit, illustrated much more noise reduction than nozzles with few exit numbers, by almost 16–18 dB(A), they represented similar sound. All tested nozzles and open pipe demonstrated equal air thrust at each pressure gauges. The nozzles with slotted exit shape, either plastic or stainless steel, can provide reasonable noise reduction in comparison to other configuration with few exit numbers. In contrast, nozzles with more exit numbers demonstrated the most noise reduction.     

Process modeling gas atomization of close-coupled ring-hole nozzle for 316L stainless steel powder production

The paper aims at modeling and simulating the atomization process of the close-coupled ring-hole nozzle in vacuum induction gas atomization(VIGA) for metallic powder production. First of all, the primary atomization of the ring-hole nozzle is simulated by the volume of fluid(VOF) coupled large eddy simulation(LES) model. To simulate the secondary atomization process, we use the method of selecting the droplet sub-model and the VOF model. The results show that the ring-hole nozzle forms a gas recirculation zone at the bottom of the delivery tube, which is the main reason for the formation of an annular liquid film during the primary atomization. In addition, the primary atomization process of the ring-hole nozzle consists of three stages: the formation of the serrated liquid film tip, the appearance and shedding of the ligaments, and the fragmentation of ligaments. At the same time, the primary atomization mainly forms spherical droplets and long droplets, but only the long droplets can be reserved and proceed to the secondary atomization. Moreover,increasing the number of ring holes from 18 to 30, the mass median diameter(MMD, d50) of the primary atomized droplets decreases first and then increases, which is mainly due to the change of the thickness of the melt film. Moreover, the secondary atomization of the ring-hole nozzles is mainly in bag breakup mode and multimode breakup model, and bag breakup will result in the formation of hollow powder, which can be avoided by increasing the gas velocity.     

液体横向射流在气膜作用下的破碎过程

为了研究液体横向射流在气膜作用下的破碎过程,采用背景光成像技术及VOF TO DPM方法进行了实验研究和仿真研究,模拟介质为水和空气.研究结果表明,液体射流在气膜作用下主要存在两种破碎过程:柱状破碎和表面破碎.Rayleigh-Taylor(R-T)不稳定性产生的表面波是液体射流发生柱状破碎的主要原因,气流穿透表面波的波谷导致射流柱破碎,破碎后的液丝沿流向逐渐发展呈带状分布.Kelvin-Helmholtz(K-H)不稳定性产生的表面波是液体射流发生表面破碎的主要原因,液丝和液滴从射流表面剥离.局部动量比对液体横向射流的破碎过程具有重要影响,当局部动量比较低时,液体射流的破碎由K-H不稳定性主导;随着局部动量比的增大液体射流的破碎逐渐由R-T不稳定性主导.液体射流的破碎长度及穿透深度均随局部动量比的增大而增大.     

Gas jet as a waveguide for air-coupled ultrasound

The directional characteristics of an ultrasonic signal have been studied during propagation within an axial gas jet. The effects of nozzle shape, nozzle diameter, and variations in jet velocity, temperature and gas composition have been investigated. At high flow velocities of an air jet, divergence of the ultrasonic beam was observed. This was attributed to the effects of refraction, caused by increased acoustic velocities in the direction of the flow. An effective waveguide was also demonstrated by cooling the air jet to below ambient temperatures, so that the acoustic velocity in the air jet was lower than that in the surrounding atmosphere. This could also be achieved by using carbon dioxide mixed with air, whereas the use of helium led to increased divergence. The result is likely to be of use in air-coupled ultrasonic materials inspection.     

Effect of stagnation temperature on the supersonic axisymmetric minimum length nozzle conception with application for air

When the stagnation temperature of a perfect gas increases, the specific heats and their ratio do not remain constant any more and start to vary with this temperature. The gas remains perfect; its state equation remains always valid, except, it is named in more by calorically imperfect gas. The aim of this work is to trace the profiles of the supersonic axisymmetric Minimum Length Nozzle to have a uniform and parallel flow at the exit section, when the stagnation temperature is taken into account, lower than the dissociation threshold of the molecules, and to have for each exit Mach number and stagnation temperature shape of nozzle. The method of characteristics is used with the algorithm of the second order finite differences method. The form of the nozzle has a point of deflection and an initial angle of expansion. The comparison is made with the calorically perfect gas. The application is for air.     

Characteristics and structure of inverse flames of natural gas

Characteristics and structure of nominally non-premixed flames of natural gas are investigated using a burner that employs simultaneously two distinct features: fuel and oxidiser direct injection, and inverse fuel and oxidiser delivery. At low exit velocities, the result is an inverse diffusion flame that has been noted in the past for its low NO_x emissions, soot luminosity, and narrow stability limits. The present study aimed at extending the burner operating range, and it demonstrated that the inverse flame exhibits a varying degree of partial premixing dependent on the discharge nozzle conditions and the ratio of inner air jet and outer fuel jet velocities. These two variables affect the flame length, temperature distributions, and stability limits. Temperature measurements and Schlieren visualisation show areas of enhanced turbulent mixing in the shear region and the presence of a well-mixed reaction zone on the flame centreline. This reaction zone is enveloped by an outer diffusion flame, yielding a unique double-flame structure. As the fuel–air equivalence ratio is decreasing with an increase in the inner jet velocity, the well-mixed reaction zone extends considerably. These findings suggest a method for establishing a flame of uniform high temperature by optimising the coaxial nozzle geometry and flow conditions. The normalised flame length is decreasing exponentially with the air/fuel velocity ratio. Measurements demonstrate that the inverse flame stability limits change qualitatively with varying degree of partial premixing. At the low premixing level, the flame blow-out is a function of the inner and outer jet velocities and the nozzle conditions. The flame blow-out at high degree of partial premixing occurs abruptly at a single value of the inner air jet velocity, regardless of the fuel jet velocity and almost independent of the discharge nozzle conditions.     

Flow-induced noise in a suction nozzle with a centrifugal fan of a vacuum cleaner and its reduction

Noise reduction in a vacuum cleaner with a brush nozzle for cleaning a bed blanket is investigated numerically in fluid dynamic aspects. Governing equations describing nonlinear flow fields in a suction nozzle are solved simultaneously. The components of a rotary fan, a brush drum, and a separation block are installed in the nozzle. First, flow patterns in the nozzle are analyzed and based on them, flow resistance is evaluated to find a primary noise source. Flow resistance induces the loss of a suction performance as well as noise generation. In the brush nozzle, the separation block and the rotary fan obstruct smooth air flow and result in high level of noise emission. The rotation of the fan itself affects little noise generation. From the numerical results, a method to reduce noise and maintain the suction performance is suggested. In this method, the suction performance is increased through the optimization of the separation block, which is attained by the modification of its shape. And then, the height of a fan blade is shortened, leading to the performance loss. At the cost of it, the sound power level of noise is reduced by 4-5 dB(A) and at the same time, the tonal noise and the sound quality are improved appreciably. The method has been verified by experimental tests. It is found that in the brush nozzle, flow resistance is critical in noise emission and accordingly, fluid dynamic approach to noise reduction is effective.     

Air ingestion by a buckled viscous jet of silicone oil impacting the free surface of the same liquid

As frequently observed in common life, a jet of a viscous liquid impacting on a horizontal surface does not remain straight but instead buckles and folds periodically. We report experiments with planar (ribbonlike) jets of silicone oil impacting the free surface of the same liquid and describe the way in which jet folds incorporate air. It is shown that air ingestion proceeds through different modes, each of them acting as a source of monodisperse bubbles and featuring a threshold in jet height. These sources result from the breakup of remarkable cuspidal structures, produced by the recession of air domains within liquid folds.     

射流式O2(1Δ)发生器射流破断长度测量

 实验研究了甘油－水溶液通过用不同加工方法和不同喷管长度/直径比的喷管形成射流的破断长度。射流的行为与喷管内是层流还是湍流的流动状态关系极大。当射流速度比较大时,喷管的缺陷如进口出口的毛刺和流道壁的粗糙度是诱发湍流使射流破断的主要原因。这些结果对化学氧碘激光的射流式O₂(¹Δ)发生器的喷管设计和制造提供了有价值的参考。     

高速频闪摄影在空气变形技术研究中的应用

变形纱具有较好的仿短纤纱外观,其织物仿毛、仿麻、仿丝绸性能良好。空气变形技术的研究始于五十年代美国杜邦公司,瑞士、西德、捷克等国的有关研究也发展迅速。多年来我国变形技术也有很大发展。引进了多种变形机,也仿造和研制了变形机。现在,随装饰布和服装面料的发展,对开发化纤新产品提出了新的要求,变形技术从加工中粗袋丝发展到细袋丝,其关键部件变形机的喷嘴研制已成为重要课题。近年来,从我院实际条件出发,将高速频闪摄影应用于化学纤维的空气变形加工研究,对实验喷嘴形状加工进行了研究,对摄影参数和光源使用,结合纺纱工艺进行了一系列试验,其图象记录揭示:丝条在喷嘴内的“波浪式”前进,丝条的非均匀开松,单丝的相互交缠以及丝条变形圈结的运动,在一定条件下有其一定的规律性。这对于深入分析化纤成纱变形机理、改进喷嘴结构设计和提高化纤纱的质量均有积极意义。     

Ligament-mediated spray formation

The spray formed when a fast gas stream blows over a liquid volume presents a wide distribution of fragment sizes. The process involves a succession of changes of the liquid topology, the last being the elongation and capillary breakup of ligaments torn off from the liquid surface. The coalescence of the liquid volumes constitutive of a ligament at the very moment it detaches from the liquid bulk produces larger drops. This aggregation process has its counterpart on the shape of the size distribution associated with the ligament breakup, found to be very well represented by gamma distributions. The exponential shape of the overall distribution in the spray coincides with the large excursion wing of these elementary distributions, underlying the crucial role played by the ligament dynamics in building up the broad statistics of sprays.     

The radiation field of a hypersonic nozzle flow

This paper discusses features of the spectra observed looking axially towards the throat of a hypersonic nozzle in a chock tunnel assembly. At the throat, the gas is optically opaque, whilst at the nozzle exit the gas is optically thin. In principle, the radiation field may be controlled by varying the nozzle shape and it may therefore be used for optical modelling of other radiation fields, of differing physical dimensions. Requirements for implementing this programme are discussed.