Computational Investigation of Atomization
Abstract
The secondary breakup of liquid fuel drops was studied by numerical simulations. The Navier-Stokes equations were solved by a finite difference/front tracking technique that included inertia, viscous forces, and surface tension at the deformable boundary between the fuel and the air. The breakup of drops accelerated impulsively as well as by a constant body force was studied by axisymmetric simulations for two different density ratios (1.15 and 10). The low density ratio results can be used for other density ratios by simple rescaling of time. It was shown that the drops break up in different modes, depending on the relative strength of surface tension versus inertia. The modes are similar to those found experimentally for drops in air at atmospheric pressure and breakup maps constructed from the computational results show similar, transitions. There are, however, some differences. Bag breakup is, for example, not found for impulsively accelerated drops in the low density ration limit. Computations of the heat transfer of drops that are breaking up shows a rapid increase, and the drops often reach the ambient temperature before breakup is completed. Three-dimensional simulations show that while drops undergoing breakup remain axisymmetric initially, eventually they are unstable to three-dimensional disturbances.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 25, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA369596
Entities
People
- Gretar Tryggvason
Organizations
- University of Michigan