| Abstract: | 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. |
