Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Heat Exchange between Underexpanded High-Enthalpy Air Jets and Cylindrical Models

Experiments on heat transfer in supersonic underexpanded high-enthalpy air jets are conducted on the VGU-4 induction plasmatron at the pressure in the compression chamber of 8.5 hPa. At the air flow rate of 3.6 g/s and the high-frequency generator powers of 45 kW(regime 1) and 64 kW (regime 2) the heat fluxes to the copper surface at the stagnation point of watercooled cylindrical models along the axes of dissociated air jets are measured. The models, 30 mm in diameter, could have a flat face or a hemispherical nose. In the same regimes, the stagnation pressures are measured using the Pitot tube in the shape of a cylinder, 30 mm in diameter, having either a flat face or a hemispherical bluntness with a receiving hole, 14 mm in diameter. For the experimental conditions calculations of flows in the plasmatron discharge channel and supersonic underexpanded jets issuing from the discharge channel are performed within the framework of the Navier–Stokes and Maxwell equations. The heat fluxes to the experimental models are computed and compared with the experimental data.     

Experimental simulation of heat transfer in an HF-plasmatron with lengthened segmented discharge channel

Subsonic and supersonic air induction plasma flows in a VGU-4 100 kW plasmatron with segmented water-cooled cylindrical nozzle with the outlet cross-section 40 mm in diameter are investigated experimentally. The enthalpy on the axis of flow is measured in subsonic air jets. The heat fluxes are measured at the stagnation flow point on a cylindrical water-cooled model 50 mm in diameter located in subsonic air and nitrogen jets. The effect of the generator power, nozzle length, and pressure in the plasmatron pressure chamber on the distributions of the heat flux and the pressure at the stagnation point on the surface of cylindrical models 20 mm in diameter with a plane and hemispheric nose is investigated along the axis of underexpanded dissociated air jets.     

Numerical simulation of flows in a high-frequency induction plasmatron and of heat transfer in underexpanded air jets

Some results of numerical simulation of flows in the discharge channel of the IPG-4 induction plasmatron installed at the Institute for Problems in Mechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IPM RAS) and in underexpanded jets of dissociated and partially ionized air from sonic nozzles are discussed. These results are in good agreement with experimental data on heat fluxes and on the pressure at the stagnation point of a blunt cylindrical body. These experimental data were obtained at the IPM RAS Laboratory for Interaction of Plasma and Radiation with Materials.     

Similarity between the heat transfer to a model in an underexpanded dissociated-air jet of a high-frequency plasmatron and to a sphere in a high-velocity flow in the terrestrial atmosphere

On the basis of the local heat transfer modeling concept the parameters of supersonic flow past a cylindrical flat-faced model, 0.01m in radius, in an underexpanded dissociate-air jet of the VGU-4 high-frequency plasmatron are recalculated to the conditions of sphere entry in the terrestrial atmosphere. The heat transfer parameters, similar in the experiment and the atmospheric entry, are determined.     

Component desorption effect on the material catalyticity in high-temperature multicomponent gases

The distinctive features of the formation of the catalyticity of materials with respect to atom recombination on the material surface are investigated for mixtures of different high-temperature gases under conditions of hypersonic atmospheric flight or bench setups. It is shown that in general the catalyticity constants (heterogenous recombination probabilities) of individual components determined experimentally in dissociated flows of “pure” gases are improperly used for calculating the heat fluxes to material surfaces in multicomponent gas flows, owing to differences in the occupation of the surface by atoms in pure gases and mixtures. This effect must be taken into account in interpreting the experimental data which so far have been the only source of information on material catalyticity in gas mixtures. Otherwise, the results of calculations of the heat transfer to hypersonic flight vehicles could turn out to be invalid. Examples of the possible effect of ignoring this factor on the calculated heat fluxes are presented.     

Numerical simulation of thermally and chemically nonequilibrium flows and heat transfer in underexpanded induction plasmatron jets

The results of numerical simulation are presented for thermally and chemically nonequilibrium air plasma flows in a plasmatron discharge channel and underexpanded dissociated and partially ionized air jets flowing past a cylindrical model with a blunt leading edge and cooled copper surface under the experimental conditions realized in a VGU-4 100 kW induction plasmatron (Institute for Problems in Mechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences) (see, for example, [1, 2]). The nonequilibrium excitation of the vibrational degrees of freedom of the molecules in the modal approximation and the difference between the electron and translational heavy-particle temperatures are taken into account in the calculations. The calculated data on the heat transfer and pressure at the stagnation point are compared with the results obtained within the framework of the thermally equilibrium model. Comparison with the experimental data obtained in the Institute for Problem in Mechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Laboratory for interaction between plasma and radiation and materials) and kindly provided for comparison purposes gives satisfactory agreement.     

Flow and Heat Transfer in Underexpanded Air Jets Issuing from the Sonic Nozzle of a Plasma Generator

We present the results of an experimental investigation and numerical simulation of the gasdynamic structure of underexpanded dissociated-air jets and the heat transfer in these strongly nonequilibrium flows under the test conditions realized in the 100-kW electrodeless VGU-4 plasma generator of the Institute for Problems in Mechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IPM RAS). The flow and heat transfer analysis is carried out on the basis of measurements of the static pressure in the plenum chamber, at the sonic nozzle exit, and on the low-pressure chamber wall, the stagnation pressure on the jet axis using a Pitot tube, and the heat transfer at the stagnation points of water-cooled models placed along the jet axis. The numerical simulation, based on complete Navier-Stokes equations, includes the calculation of (1) equilibrium air plasma flows in the discharge channel of the VGU-4 plasma generator; (2) underexpanded nonequilibrium dissociated-air jet outflow into the ambient space; and (3) axisymmetric jet flow past cylindrical models.     

Flows of Supersonic Underexpanded Jets on the Range of Moderate Reynolds Numbers

The results of an experimental investigation of the gasdynamic structure of supersonic underexpanded air jets flowing out of a sonic nozzle into a low-pressure medium are presented. This setting of the experimentmakes it possible to achieve high values of the nozzle-to-ambient pressure ratio at moderate outflow Reynolds numbers characteristic of underexpanded jets issuing from micronozzles. The data on the supersonic core length, the laminar-turbulent transition location, and the jet flow characteristics are obtained. The results are compared with those obtained in microjets flowing out of sonic nozzles. Emphasis is placed on the earlier discovered effect of inverse transition of a turbulent jet into the laminar flow regime with increase in the Reynolds number.     

Numerical analysis of simulation accuracy for hypersonic heat transfer in subsonic jets of dissociated nitrogen

One-dimensional problems of the flow in a boundary layer of finite thickness on the end face of a model and in a thin viscous shock layer on a sphere are solved numerically for three regimes of subsonic flow past a model with a flat blunt face exposed to subsonic jets of pure dissociated nitrogen in an induction plasmatron [1] (for stagnation pressures of (10⁴–3·10⁴) N/m² and an enthalpy of 2.1·10⁷ m²/sec²) and three regimes of hypersonic flow past spheres with parameters related by the local heat transfer simulation conditions [2, 3]. It is established that given equality of the stagnation pressures, enthalpies and velocity gradients on the outer edges of the boundary layers at the stagnation points on the sphere and the model, for a model of radius R_m=1.5·10^–2 m in a subsonic jet the accuracy of reproduction of the heat transfer to the highly catalytic surface of a sphere in a uniform hypersonic flow is about 3%. For surfaces with a low level of catalytic activity the accuracy of simulation of the nonequilibrium heat transfer is determined by the deviations of the temperatures at the outer edges of the boundary layers on the body and the model. For this case the simulation conditions have the form: dU_e/dx=idem, p₀=idem, T_e=idem. At stagnation pressuresP ₀2·10⁴ N/m² irrespective of the catalycity of the surface the heat flux at the stagnation point and the structure of the boundary layer near the axis of symmetry of models with a flat blunt face of radius R_m1.5·10^–2 m exposed to subsonic nitrogen jets in a plasmatron with a discharge channel radius R_c=3·10^–2 m correspond closely to the case of spheres in hypersonic flows with parameters determined by the simulation conditions [2, 3].Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 135–143, March–April, 1990.     

Local heat transfer from a hot plate to a water jet

Jet impingement boiling is very efficient in cooling of hot surfaces as a part of the impinging liquid evaporates. Because of its importance to many cooling procedures, investigations on basic mechanisms of jet impingement boiling heat transfer are needed. Until now, most of the experimental studies, carried out under steady-state conditions, used a heat flux controlled system and were limited by the critical heat flux (CHF). The present study focuses on steady-state experiments along the entire boiling curve for hot plate temperatures of up to 700°C. A test section has been built up simulating a hot plate. It is divided into 8 independently heated modules of 10 mm length to enable local heat transfer measurements. By means of temperature controlled systems for each module local steady-state experiments in the whole range between single phase heat transfer and film boiling are possible. By solving the two dimensional inverse heat conduction problem, the local heat flux and the corresponding wall temperature on the surface of each module can be computed. The measurements show important differences between boiling curves measured at the stagnation line and those obtained in the parallel flow region. At the stagnation line, the transition boiling regime is characterised by very high heat fluxes, extended to large wall superheats. Inversely, boiling curves in the parallel flow region are very near to classical ones obtained for forced convection boiling. The analysis of temperature fluctuations measured at a depth of 0.8 mm from the boiling surface enables some conclusions on the boiling mechanism in the different boiling regimes.     

Numerical study of the interaction of a supersonic gaseous jet with a planar target

Various regimes of interaction of an axisymmetric supersonic underexpanded jet of a gas with both a finite and an infinite planar target are studied numcrically. The model of an idcal perfect gas and one variant of Godunov's highly accurate scheme are used. The calculated and experimental frequency spectra of pressure oscillations in the center of the target are compared: their good agreement is obscrved. Institute of Numerical Simulation. Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences. 660036 Krasuoyarsk. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 106–111, July–August, 2000.     

Flow structure at the initial section of a supersonic jet exhausting from a nozzle with chevrons

The spatial structure of the flow in a supersonic underexpanded jet exhausting from a convergent nozzle with vortex generators (chevrons) at the exit is experimentally studied. Exhaustion of a supersonic underexpanded jet from a nozzle with chevrons at the nozzle exit is numerically simulated with the use of the Fluent commercial software package. The experimental and numerical data are demonstrated to be in reasonable agreement. The influence of chevrons on the process of gas mixing is estimated.     

On the possibility of blowing a gas jet into a supersonic flow without formation of a three-dimensional boundary-layer separation zone

We consider the flow formed by the interaction of a supersonic flow and a transverse sonic or supersonic jet blown at right angles to the direction of the main flow through a nozzle whose exit section is in a flat wall. When a gas jet is blown through a circular opening [1] the pressure rises in front of the jet because of the stagnation of the oncoming flow. This leads to separation of the boundary layer formed on the wall in front of the blowing nozzle. The resulting three-dimensional separation zone leads to a sharp increase in the pressure and the heat fluxes to the wall in front of the blowing nozzle, which is undesirable in many modern applications. The aim of the present investigation was to find a shape of the exit section of the blowing nozzle for which there is no three-dimensional separation zone of the boundary layer in front of the blowing nozzle.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 162–165, May–June, 1979.     

Imaging of an underexpanded nozzle flow by UV laser Rayleigh scattering

 Rayleigh scattering of ultra-violet laser light is applied as a diagnostic tool to record gas density distributions in a supersonic nozzle flow. The output beam of a pulsed ArF excimer laser (λ=193.4 nm) is focussed into a thin light sheet radially intersecting a dry air flow emanating from a circular nozzle. An intensified CCD camera is used to record the Rayleigh scattered light in a direction perpendicular to the light sheet. Since the Rayleigh scattering intensity is directly proportional to the local gas density, this results in two-dimensional gas density distribution maps of radial slices through the flow. Images of the flow density are presented for stagnation pressures between 0.2 and 0.7 MPa (0.1 MPa ≡1 bar), showing the transition from subsonic to supersonic flow and, at higher pressures, the formation of a Mach disk. Density maps can be recorded with single laser pulses, effectively freezing the flow structure on a 20 ns time scale. The diamond pattern, characteristic for underexpanded supersonic nozzle flows, is quantitatively monitored, with the experimental results being in reasonable agreement with predictions from a simplified theoretical model. Received: 25 September 1996/Accepted: 19 May 1997     

Effect of Condensation on the Length of Strongly Underexpanded Jets Exhausting Into a Rarefied Submerged Space

Exhaustion of supersonic argon and nitrogen jets through sonic and supersonic nozzles into a rarefied submerged space at high stagnation pressures is studied experimentally. The shapes and lengths of the jets are visualized by means of detecting radiation excited in the considered flow by an electron beam. Dependences of the geometric parameters of the jets on exhaustion and clusterization conditions at low Reynolds numbers based on the reference length of the jet are obtained. It is found that the coefficient of proportionality between the length of the first “barrel” of the supersonic jet and the degree of jet expansion increases with an increase in the stagnation pressure. Empirical dependences of the proportionality coefficient on the size of clusters formed in supersonic flows are derived for the first time.     

Microscale heat transfer in an evaporating moving extended meniscus

The evaporative heat flux distribution in the leading edge region of a moving evaporating thin liquid film of pentane on quartz was obtained by analyzing the measured thickness profile for thicknesses, δ < 2 μm. The profiles in a constrained vapor bubble were obtained using image analyzing interferometry. Although the evaporating meniscus appeared to be benign (i.e., without additional observed motion beyond creeping), high heat fluxes were obtained. Significantly higher heat fluxes are possible. The interfacial slope, curvature, interfacial shear stress, and liquid pressure profiles were also obtained. Results obtained using a continuum model were consistent with those obtained using a control volume model. The measured pressure field profile of the isothermal extended meniscus agreed with the constant pressure field predicted by the augmented Young–Laplace model. For the non-isothermal case, measured thickness gradients lead to disjoining pressure and curvature gradients for fluid flow and evaporation. The experimental results demonstrate that disjoining pressure at the contact line controls fluid flow within an evaporating completely wetting thin curved film and is, therefore, a useful boundary condition. However, in small interfacial systems, non-idealities can have a dramatic effect.     

Determination of the Effective Probabilities of Catalytic Reactions on the Surfaces of Heat Shield Materials in Dissociated Carbon Dioxide Flows

The effect of heterogeneous catalysis on the heat transfer to cold and heated surfaces in subsonic dissociated carbon dioxide jet flows is studied experimentally, using a 100 kW inductive plasma generator, and simulated numerically. The effective probabilities of the heterogeneous reactions CO + O → CO₂ and O + O → O₂ on molybdenum (T_w=300 K) and quartz (T_w=470–620 K) surfaces, the Buran heat shield tile coating (T_w = 1470—1670 K), and two oxidation-resistant carbon-carbon coating materials (T_w=1420—1840 K) are determined by comparing the experimental and calculated data on the heat fluxes at the stagnation point of models at a pressure of 0.1 atm.     

Two-phase pressure drop and flow visualization of FC-72 in a silicon microchannel heat sink

The rapid development of two-phase microfluidic devices has triggered the demand for a detailed understanding of the flow characteristics inside microchannel heat sinks to advance the cooling process of micro-electronics. The present study focuses on the experimental investigation of pressure drop characteristics and flow visualization of a two-phase flow in a silicon microchannel heat sink. The microchannel heat sink consists of a rectangular silicon chip in which 45 rectangular microchannels were chemically etched with a depth of 276 μm, width of 225 μm, and a length of 16 mm. Experiments are carried out for mass fluxes ranging from 341 to 531 kg/m² s and heat fluxes from 60.4 to 130.6 kW/m² using FC-72 as the working fluid. Bubble growth and flow regimes are observed using high speed visualization. Three major flow regimes are identified: bubbly, slug, and annular. The frictional two-phase pressure drop increases with exit quality for a constant mass flux. An assessment of various pressure drop correlations reported in the literature is conducted for validation. A new general correlation is developed to predict the two-phase pressure drop in microchannel heat sinks for five different refrigerants. The experimental pressure drops for laminar-liquid laminar-vapor and laminar-liquid turbulent-vapor flow conditions are predicted by the new correlation with mean absolute errors of 10.4% and 14.5%, respectively.     

Flow and acoustic features of a supersonic tapered nozzle

The acoustic and flow characteristics of a supersonic tapered jet were measured for free and shrouded flow configurations. Measurements were performed for a full range of pressure ratios including over- and underexpanded and design conditions. The supersonic tapered jet is issued from a converging-diverging nozzle with a 31 rectangular slotted throat and a conical diverging section leading to a circular exit. The jet was compared to circular and rectangular supersonic jets operating at identical conditions. The distinct feature of the jet is the absence of screech tones in the entire range of operation. Its near-field pressure fluctuations have a wide band spectrum in the entire range of measurements, for Mach numbers of 1 to 2.5, for over- and underexpanded conditions. The free jet's spreading rate is nearly constant and similar to the rectangular jet, and in a shroud, the pressure drop it is inducing is linearly proportional to the primary jet Mach number. This behavior persisted in high adverse pressure gradients at overexpanded conditions, and with nozzle divergence angles of up to 35°, no inside flow separation was observed.     

The blunt-body problem in a nonuniform hypersonic viscous gas flow

The laws of heat transfer associated with the interaction of underexpanded supersonic gas jets and obstacles or blunt bodies have been investigated, for example, in [1–3]. Similar problems of nonuniform flow occur when bodies move in the wake behind other bodies; however, in this case the laws of heat transfer have so far received little attention [4–8]. It has been established that for a certain Reynolds number and flow nonuniformity parameters a zone of reverse-circulatory flow develops near the front of the blunt body. However, the conditions of transition to separated flow have not been determined. This paper presents a self-similar solution of the equations of the viscous shock layer near the stagnation line in supersonic flow past an axisymmetric blunt body located behind another body. On the basis of this solution a separationless flow criterion is proposed. The effect of the nonuniformity and the Reynolds number on the shock standoff distance, the convective heat flux and the friction drag of the blunt body is investigated. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 120–125, November–December, 1986. In conclusion the authors wish to thank I. G. Eremeitsev for useful suggestions and G. A. Tirskii for discussing their work.