High Fidelity Measurement and Modeling of Interactions between Acoustics and Heat Release in Highly-Compact, High-Pressure Flames

Abstract

The defining characteristics of advanced chemical propulsion systems include very high rates of volumetric energy deposition, and very small combustor sizes. These characteristics give rise to extremely compact interactions in space and time between the chamber acoustic modes and unsteady heat release modes that may result in combustion instability. This project seeks to better understand the coupling mechanisms between heat release, hydrodynamics, and acoustics, and to develop tools to study the problem. High-fidelity simulations using large eddy simulations and reduced reaction kinetics are providing insight into unsteady reacting flows at an unprecedented level, providing some hope that a priori predictions will be possible in the next decade. Important questions include the accuracy of prediction that is required, and the level of modeling that is required for that prediction. The simulations must also be validated with experimental data. However, the time and length scales, and energy deposition rates in the canonical laboratory flames that have been studied over the past two decades are orders of magnitude different than the environments encountered in practical rocket combustors. The main objective of this study is to obtain high-fidelity experimental data critically needed to validate research codes at relevant conditions, and to develop systematic and rigorous means for comparison.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 24, 2016
Accession Number
AD1011584

Entities

People

  • William E Anderson

Organizations

  • Purdue University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustics
  • Chemical Kinetics
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Chemistry
  • Combustion
  • Combustors
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Ignition
  • Ignition Lag
  • Large Eddy Simulation
  • Materials Science
  • Measurement
  • Standing Waves
  • Three Dimensional
  • Turbulent Mixing
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Rocket Propulsion.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster