IR signature study of aircraft engine for variation in nozzle exit area

In general, jet engines operate with choked nozzle during take-off, climb and cruise, whereas unchoking occurs while landing and taxiing (when engine is not running at full power). Appropriate thrust in an aircraft in all stages of the flight, i.e., take-off, climb, cruise, descent and landing is achieved through variation in the nozzle exit area. This paper describes the effect on thrust and IR radiance of a turbojet engine due to variation in the exit area of a just choked converging nozzle (M_e = 1). The variations in the nozzle exit area result in either choking or unchoking of a just choked converging nozzle. Results for the change in nozzle exit area are analyzed in terms of thrust, mass flow rate and specific fuel consumption. The solid angle subtended (Ω) by the exhaust system is estimated analytically, for the variation in nozzle exit area (A_ne), as it affects the visibility of the hot engine parts from the rear aspect. For constant design point thrust, IR radiance is studied from the boresight (ϕ = 0°, directly from the rear side) for various percentage changes in nozzle exit area (%ΔA_ne), in the 1.9–2.9 μm and 3–5 μm bands.     

Visualization of secondary flow choking phenomena in a supersonic air ejector

The present study deals with the visualization of the air flow inside a supersonic ejector. Our attention is more precisely focused on the choked flow phenomenon which occurs along the mixing chamber of the secondary nozzle and which can be visualized by CFD. Laser tomography visualizations are used to validate the CFD model. The evolution of flow configuration in the ejector with the primary stagnation pressure is examined both in the case of zero secondary flow and in the case of free entrainment of induced air.     

Experimental study of internal flow structures in cylindrical rotating detonation engines

The internal flow structures of detonation wave were experimentally analyzed in an optically accessible hollow rotating detonation combustor with multiple chamber lengths. The cylindrical RDC has a glass chamber wall, 20 mm in diameter, which allowed us to capture the combustion self-luminescence. A chamber 70 mm in length was first tested using C₂H₄O₂ and H₂–O₂ as propellants. Images with a strong self-luminescence region near the bottom were obtained, confirming the small extent of the region where most of the heat release occurs as found in our previous research. Based on the visualization experiments, we tested RDCs with shorter chamber walls of 40 and 20 mm. The detonation wave was also observed in the shorter chambers, and its velocity was not affected by the difference in chamber length. Thrust performance was also maintained compared to the longer chamber, and the short cylindrical RDC had the same specific impulse tendency as the cylindrical (hollow) or annular 70-mm chamber RDC. Finally, we calculated the pressure distributions of various chamber lengths, and found they were also consistent with the measured pressure at the bottom and exit. We concluded that the short-chamber cylindrical RDC with equal length and diameter maintained thrust performance similar to the longer annular RDC, further expanding the potential of compact RDCs.     

Correlation of sp and sp fraction of carbon with electrical, optical and nano-mechanical properties of argon-diluted diamond-like carbon films

In the present work the correlation of electrical, optical and nano-mechanical properties of argon-diluted diamond-like carbon (Ar-DLC) thin films with sp³ and sp² fractions of carbon have been explored. These Ar-DLC thin films have been deposited, under varying C₂H₂ gas pressures from 25 to 75 mTorr, by radio frequency-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies are performed to estimate the sp³ and sp² fractions of carbon by deconvoluting C 1s core level spectra. Various electrical, optical and nano-mechanical parameters such as conductivity, I-V characteristics, optical band gap, stress, hardness, elastic modulus, plastic resistance parameter, elastic recovery and plastic deformation energy have been estimated and then correlated with calculated sp³ and sp² fractions of carbon and sp³/sp² ratios. Observed tremendous electrical, optical and nano-mechanical properties in Ar-DLC films deposited under high base pressure conditions made it a cost effective material for not only hard and protective coating applications but also for electronic and optoelectronic applications.     

Review of theoretical gain-optimization studies in 10.6µm CO2-N2 gasdynamic lasers

A comprehensive theoretical analysis of optimization of gain in CO₂-N₂ gasdynamic laser employing wedge or conical or hyperbolic nozzles with either H₂O or He as the catalyst is presented. After a review of previous work, the usual governing equations for the steady inviscid quasi-one-dimensional flow in a supersonic nozzle of a gasdynamic laser are used to obtain similar solutions for the various flow quantities, which variables are subsequently used to optimize the small-signal gain on theP(20) line of the (001) → (100) transition of CO₂ at wavelength 10.6μm. The corresponding optimum values like reservoir pressure and temperature and nozzle area ratio also have been predicted and presented in the form of graphs. The analysis predicts that employing of 2D-wedge nozzle results in higher gain values and the CO₂-N₂-H₂O gasdynamic laser employing 2D-wedge nozzle is operationally the best laser system for which the optimum value as high as 3.1 m⁻¹ gain can be obtained.     

Investigating an annular nozzle on combustion products of hydrocarbon fuels

Full-scale and computational experiments were used to investigate the flows in the jet thrust unit with annular nozzle and deflector in the form of a spherical segment. The used working gas was the combustion products of air mixtures with acetylene, gas-phase aviation kerosene, and natural gas. Experimental studies were carried out in a hot-shot wind tunnel in the range of stagnation pressure from 0.48 to 2.05 MPa. The calculations for the cases of combustion products outflow in terrestrial and high altitude conditions were performed with the original computer program that used the Euler and Navier-Stokes systems supplemented by equations of chemical kinetics. It was found that the thrust of the jet module with an annular nozzle at high altitude almost twice exceeds the sound nozzle thrust, but is lesser (about 25 %) than the thrust of the ideal calculated Laval nozzle; the difference therewith decreases markedly with the decrease of flight altitude and stagnation pressure.     

Ideals generated by traces or by supertraces in the symplectic reflection algebra H1,ν (I2(2m + 1))

For each complex number ν, an associative symplectic reflection algebra ? :=?H_1,ν (I₂(2m?+?1)), based on the group generated by root system I₂(2m?+?1), has an m-dimensional space of traces and an (m?+?1)-dimensional space of supertraces. A (super)trace sp is said to be degenerate if the corresponding bilinear (super)symmetric form B_sp(x, y)?=?sp(xy) is degenerate. We find all values of the parameter ν for which either the space of traces contains a degenerate nonzero trace or the space of supertraces contains a degenerate nonzero supertrace and, as a consequence, the algebra ? has a two-sided ideal of null-vectors. The analogous results for the case H_1,ν1,ν2(I₂(2m)) are also presented.     

Analytical studies of gain optimization in CO2-N2 gasdynamic lasers employing two-dimensional wedge nozzles

An analytical method has been proposed to optimise the small-signaloptical gain of CO₂-N₂ gasdynamic lasers (gdl) employing two-dimensional (2D) wedge nozzles. Following our earlier work the equations governing the steady, inviscid, quasi-one-dimensional flow in the wedge nozzle of thegdl are reduced to a universal form so that their solutions depend on a single unifying parameter. These equations are solved numerically to obtain similar solutions for the various flow quantities, which variables are subsequently used to optimize the small-signal-gain. The corresponding optimum values like reservoir pressure and temperature and 2D nozzle area ratio also have been predicted and graphed for a wide range of laser gas compositions, with either H₂O or He as the catalyst. A large number of graphs are presented which may be used to obtain the optimum values of small signal gain for a wide range of laser compositions without further computations.     

Rare gas dimers in a nozzle beam

Supersonic expansion from a nozzle produces noble gas clusters under various source conditions. The characteristics of atoms and dimers in a nozzle beam are examined. A study of the dimer collision cross-section suggests the existence of a temperature-dependent limiting oven pressure (P _L ) for the observation of pure dimers. This is further supported by the dependence of the beam intensity on stagnation pressure. The reduced pressure-temperature coordinates for noble gas dimers behave in accordance with the model of corresponding jets. The velocity distribution of atoms and dimers in a beam corresponding to stagnation pressure on either side ofP _L is measured to determine the effect of condensation on the distribution pattern.     

The effects of water dilution on hydrogen,syngas, and ethylene flames at elevated pressure

This work investigates experimentally and numerically the kinetic effects of water vapor addition on the burning rates of H₂, H₂/CO mixtures, and C₂H₄ from 1 atm to 10 atm at flame temperatures between 1600 K and 1800 K. Burning rates were measured using outwardly propagating spherical flames in a nearly constant pressure chamber. Results show good agreement with newly updated kinetic models for H₂ flames. However, there is considerable disagreement between simulations and measurements for H₂/CO and C₂H₄ flames at high pressure and high water vapor dilution. Both experiments and simulations show that water vapor addition causes a monotonic decrease in mass burning rate and the inhibitory effect increases with pressure. For hydrogen flames, water vapor addition reduces the critical pressure above which a negative pressure dependence of the burning rate is observed. However, for C₂H₄ flames, the burning rate always increases with pressure. The results also show that water vapor addition has the same effect as a pressure increase for H₂ and H₂/CO flames, shifting the reaction zone into a narrower window at higher temperatures. For all fuels, water vapor addition increases OH formation via H₂O + O while reducing the overall active radical pool for hydrogen flames. For C₂H₄, the additional HO₂ production pathway through HCO results in a dramatic difference in pressure dependence of the burning rate from that observed for hydrogen. The present work provides important additions to the experimental database for syngas and C₀–C₂ high pressure kinetic model validations.