Combustion characteristics of a dual-mode scramjet combustor with cavity flameholder

Combustion characteristics of a laboratory dual-mode ramjet/scramjet combustor were studied experimentally. The combustor consists of a sonic fuel jet injected into a supersonic crossflow upstream of a wall cavity pilot flame. These fundamental components are contained in many dual-mode combustor designs. Experiments were performed with an isolator entrance Mach number of 2.2. Air stagnation temperatures were varied from 1040 to 1490 K, which correspond to flight Mach numbers of 4.3–5.4. Both pure hydrogen and a mixture of hydrogen and ethylene fuels were used. High speed imaging of the flame luminosity was performed along with measurements of the isolator and combustor wall pressures. For ramjet mode operation, two distinct combustion stabilization locations were found for fuel injection a sufficient distance upstream of the cavity. At low T₀, the combustion was anchored at the leading edge of the cavity by heat release in the cavity shear layer. At high T₀, the combustion was stabilized a short distance downstream of the fuel injection jet in the jet-wake. For an intermediate range of T₀, the reaction zone oscillated between the jet-wake and cavity stabilization locations. Wall pressure measurements showed that cavity stabilized combustion was the steadiest, followed by jet-wake stabilized, and the oscillatory case. For fuel injection close to the cavity, a hybrid stabilization mode was found in which the reaction zone locations for the two stabilization modes overlapped. For this hybrid stabilization, cavity fueling rate was an important factor in the steadiness of the flow field. Scramjet mode combustion was found to only exist in the cavity stabilized location for the conditions studied.     

Combustion characteristics in a supersonic combustor with hydrogen injection upstream of cavity flameholder

Combustion characteristics in a supersonic combustor with hydrogen injection upstream of a cavity flameholder were investigated both experimentally and numerically. The combustion was observed to be stabilized in the cavity mode around the shear layer via a dynamic balance and then spread into the main stream in the region around the jet centerplane where the flow was decelerated and turned to the main stream, supplying a favorable condition for the combustion to spread. The combustion spreading from the cavity shear layer to the main stream seemed to be dominated not only by the traditional diffusion process but also by the convection process associated with the extended recirculation flows resulting from the heat release and the interaction between the jet and the cavity shear layer. Therefore, the cavity-stabilized combustion appeared to be a strongly coupled process of flow and heat release around the cavity flameholder.     

Vortex dynamics in different combustion regions of a cavity-based scramjet

A hybrid RANS/LES study of a cavity-based scramjet was performed and reasonable agreements were found between simulation results and experimental measurements. In the current case, the flame was stabilized by the subsonic cavity shear layer and propagated downstream into the supersonic flow. The vortex dynamic in the flow, mixing, and combustion regions was comparatively investigated. The averaged vorticity in the combustion regions was lower by 55% compared to the mixing region, primarily due to dilatation as a result of the heat release. Furthermore, the combustion zone was decomposed into four regions based on premixed/diffusion flame and subsonic/supersonic combustion. Then the vorticity and its transport in the four regions were compared. The averaged vorticity in the premixed combustion regions was only slightly larger than that in the diffusion combustion regions. However, the averaged heat release rate was nearly 3 times larger in the premixed regions, leading to higher contributions of dilatation and baroclinic torque in the premixed regions, with an overall weak positive impact on the vorticity generation. In the subsonic combustion regions, the vorticity was three times larger than that in the supersonic combustion regions, despite similar heat release rates on average. It could be explained by the relatively large magnitude of dilatation and baroclinic torque in the supersonic flow. Vortex stretching and dilatation were comparable in the supersonic flame but the former became two times larger than the latter in the subsonic flame. Moreover, the baroclinic torque had larger contributions than diffusion in the supersonic flame whereas the opposite trend was found in the subsonic flame. The results highlight that the subsonic combustion regions in the cavity shear layer and near the walls significantly contribute to the vortex dynamics and mixing process, in addition to flame stabilization.     

Investigation on the flameholding mechanisms in supersonic flows: backward-facing step and cavity flameholder

Abstract  

As effective devices to extend the fuel residence time in supersonic flow and prolong the duration time for hypersonic vehicles cruising in the near-space with power, the backward-facing step and the cavity are widely employed in hypersonic airbreathing propulsive systems as flameholders. The two-dimensional coupled implicit RANS equations, the standard k-ε turbulence model, and the finite-rate/eddy-dissipation reaction model have been used to generate the flow field structures in the scramjet combustors with the backward-facing step and the cavity flameholders. The flameholding mechanism in the combustor has been investigated by comparing the flow field in the corner region of the backward-facing step with that around the cavity flameholder. The obtained results show that the numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental data, and the different grid scales make only a slight difference to the numerical results. The vortices formed in the corner region of the backward-facing step, in the cavity and upstream of the fuel injector make a large difference to the enhancement of the mixing between the fuel and the free airstream, and they can prolong the residence time of the mixture and improve the combustion efficiency in the supersonic flow. The size of the recirculation zone in the scramjet combustor partially depends on the distance between the injection and the leading edge of the cavity. Further, the shock waves in the scramjet combustor with the cavity flameholder are much stronger than those that occur in the scramjet combustor with the backward-facing step, and this causes a large increase in the static pressure along the walls of the combustor.     

Energy coupling mechanism for pulse detonation ignition of a scramjet cavity

The effect of detonation decoupling on the ignition capability of a pulse detonation igniter in a scramjet cavity is investigated. It was observed that a strongly coupled detonation is required for igniting a fueled cavity and the ignition capability rapidly decays for a weak or slightly decoupled detonation. The pulse detonation igniter pressure and wave speed were measured at subatmospheric pressure to characterize the pressure and fill characteristics dependence on backpressure. Temperatures measurements using 100 kHz H₂O absorption measurements showed an increase in peak temperature for critically filled conditions but a decrease in bulk fluid temperature with decreasing fill time. Simultaneous schlieren and chemiluminescence measurements demonstrate that a fully coupled detonation entrains greater quantities of high-temperature and reacting fluid in the vortex formed on the edges of the detonation plume, enhancing the mixing and spreading of products into the cavity. This shedding of high-temperature intermediate species is the primary mechanism governing successful ignition in the scramjet cavity.     

LES of supersonic combustion in a scramjet engine model

In this study, Large Eddy Simulation (LES) has been used to examine supersonic flow and combustion in a model scramjet combustor. The LES model is based on an unstructured finite volume discretization, using total variational diminishing flux reconstruction, of the filtered continuity, momentum, enthalpy, and passive/reactive scalar equations, used to describe the combustion process. The configuration used is similar to the laboratory scramjet at the Institute for Chemical Propulsion of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and consists of a one-sided divergent channel with a wedge-shaped flameholder at the base of which hydrogen is injected. Here, we investigate supersonic flow with hydrogen injection and supersonic flow with hydrogen injection and combustion. For the purpose of validation, the LES results are compared with experimental data for velocity and temperature at different cross-sections. In addition, qualitative comparisons are also made between predicted and measured shadowgraph images. The LES computations are capable of predicting both the non-reacting and reacting flowfields reasonably well—in particular we notice that the LES model identifies and differentiates between peculiarities of the flowfields found in the experiments.     

Chaotic dynamics in a nonautonomous Dicke model without the rotating-wave approximation

The properties of a system consisting of two-level atoms interacting with a mode of the electromagnetic field in a cavity are considered for the case when the cavity detuning or the coefficient of the atom-field interaction is modulated. The consideration is performed with account taken of the Hamiltonian terms that are neglected in the rotating-wave approximation. It is shown that in the semiclassical equations for such a model, the effect of extension (compared to the autonomous system) of the range of variation of the quantity characterizing the number of photons can manifest itself; in this case, the energy oscillations have a chaotic character. The dependence of this phenomenon on parameters characterizing the model is studied. It is numerically demonstrated that with account taken for the relaxation, the system studied can have attractors different from the equilibrium positions, i.e., the number of photons in the mode does not tend to a constant value. The limits of validity of the rotating-wave approximation in the parametrically perturbed Dicke model are discussed.     

Chaotic ray dynamics in an optical cavity with a beam splitter

We investigate the ray dynamics in an optical cavity when a ray-splitting mechanism is present. The cavity is a conventional two-mirror stable resonator, and the ray splitting is achieved by inserting an optical beam splitter perpendicular to the cavity axis. Using Hamiltonian optics, we show that such a simple device presents surprisingly rich chaotic ray dynamics.     

Effect of phase-damped cavity on dynamics of tangles of a nondegenerate two-photon JC model

A two-mode cavity field coupled to a two-level atom and damped by the environment through a phase-damped process is considered. For a chosen initial state, the effects of phase damping on the purity loss of the global system and different bipartite partitions of the system (atom-two modes, mode-(atom-mode)) through the tangles are considered. In particular, the effect of phase damping on the amount of entanglement between atom and field is evaluated by the negativity.     

Flame balls dynamics in divergent channel

A three-dimensional reaction-diffusion model for lean low-Lewis-number premixed flames with radiative heat losses propagating in divergent channel is studied numerically. Effects of inlet gas velocity and heat-loss intensity on flame structure at low Lewis numbers are investigated. It is found that continuous flame front exists at small heat losses and the separate flame balls settled within restricted domain inside the divergent channel at large heat losses. It is shown that the time averaged flame balls coordinate may be considered as important characteristic analogous to coordinate of continuous flame stabilized in divergent channel.     

Nonlinear dynamics of a directly modulated semiconductor laser with cavity detuning

A detailed numerical study of dynamical behavior of a semiconductor laser under current modulation and cavity detuning has been performed on the base of four different models of the active medium which take into account direct transitions between ground subbands, transitions with no k-selection rule between ground subbands and contribution of excited subbands in each of the above-mentioned cases. We have shown that different nonlinear regimes (period doubling, chaos, generalized bistability) can be obtained either with cavity detuning from the gain band maximum or near the laser threshold.It has been established that the shape and principal peculiarities of amplitude detuning characteristics are determined by the relation between the current modulation frequency and maximum resonance frequency of the laser.PACS numbers: 05.45.Pq, 42.55.Px, 42.65.Sf     

Mixed external cavity mode dynamics in a semiconductor laser

We observe experimentally and numerically novel mixed-mode dynamic states of a diode laser subject to two delayed optical feedbacks. These states have been proposed and analyzed within the framework of the Lang-Kobayashi single-feedback model. Such states are combinations of two distinct external cavity modes and can be identified through a characteristic sequence of a Hopf bifurcation followed by a secondary quasi-periodic bifurcation. We present experimental and numerical results that demonstrate such sequences.     

Convergence to global consensus in opinion dynamics under a nonlinear voter model

We propose a nonlinear voter model to study the emergence of global consensus in opinion dynamics. In our model, agent i agrees with one of binary opinions with the probability that is a power function of the number of agents holding this opinion among agent i and its nearest neighbors, where an adjustable parameter α controls the effect of herd behavior on consensus. We find that there exists an optimal value of α leading to the fastest consensus for lattices, random graphs, small-world networks and scale-free networks. Qualitative insights are obtained by examining the spatiotemporal evolution of the opinion clusters.     

Cavity cooling of atoms: within and without a cavity

We compare the efficiencies of two optical cooling schemes, where a single particle is either inside or outside an optical cavity, under experimentally-realisable conditions. We evaluate the cooling forces using the general solution of a transfer matrix method for a moving scatterer inside a general one-dimensional system composed of immobile optical elements. Assuming the same atomic saturation parameter, we find that the two cooling schemes provide cooling forces and equilibrium temperatures of comparable magnitude.     

Electromagnetic cavity with arbitrary Q and small modal volume without a complete photonic bandgap

We show how an electromagnetic cavity with arbitrarily high Q and small (bounded) modal volume can be formed in two or three dimensions with a proper choice of dielectric constants. Unlike in previous work, neither a complete photonic bandgap nor a trade-off in mode localization for Q is required. Rather, scattering and radiation are prohibited by a perfect mode match of the TE-polarized modes in each subsection of a Bragg resonator. Q values in excess of 10(5) are demonstrated through finite-difference time-domain simulations of two- and three-dimensional structures with modal areas or volumes of the order of the wavelength squared or cubed.     

柱环腔中的量子电动力学效应

研究以同轴不同半径柱面围成的导体柱环腔体中电磁场真空零点振动模式所给出的宏观量子效应.零点振动模式通过求解柱环空腔边界条件下无源的Maxwell方程组获得.得到了双柱面同心柱环中单位长度和单位面积的且是有限的真空能量，即Casimir能量.这有限的Casimir能量可以分解为独立而且收敛的三部分，它们分别来自内柱面、外柱面和柱环之中.对多柱面同心柱环，Casimir能量可分解为独立的（2n—1）部分（n为柱面数）.柱环是类似于平行板的几何结构.但柱环所给出的Casimir能量和Casimir势能系数是随着 关键词： Casimir效应 柱环腔体 零点能 量子电动力学     

Quantum dynamics of bouncing atoms in a stable gravitational cavity

Two-level atoms bouncing in a stable gravitational cavity are considered, where the atomic mirror at the bottom of the bounces is an evanescent wave caused by an internally reflected intense Gaussian-mode laser beam. We consider the broadening mechanisms of the atoms from their initially tightly spaced position distribution, using a phenomenological semi-classical model, which includes spontaneous emission. A fully quantum model, which neglects spontaneous emission, is derived, and the broadening of the atomic wave function in the quantum model is compared with the broadening of the atomic distribution in an analogous classical simulation where spontaneous emission is similarly neglected. We find that the broadening is correctly described by the classical simulations in the horizontal directions, while it significantly underestimates the broadening in the vertical direction.Dedicated to H. Walther on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Phase and structural transformations in a molecular dynamics model of iron under ultrafast heating and cooling

It is shown that a system of classical particles considered in a molecular dynamics model with Pak-Doyama pairwise interatomic potential adequately describes not only the various structural states of iron (melt, bcc crystal, metal glass) but also the complex self-organization processes occurring in first-and second-order phase transitions (crystallization and vitrification, respectively). When the temperature is varied at a constant rate of 6.6×10¹¹ K/s, crystallization sets in from both the amorphous and the liquid state; at a rate of 1.9×10¹² K/s, crystallization is observed only in the amorphous state; and when heated at a rate of 4.4×10¹² K/s, the model amorphous iron transfers to the liquid state without crystallization. The energy of homogeneous formation of a crystal nucleus in the bulk of the amorphous phase of iron is calculated to be ～0.71 eV under the assumption that there is a spectrum of activation energies.