An Experimental Study of Sprays in Cross Flow Representative of Gas Turbine Engine Secondary Air Systems

Abstract

The flow in the secondary air system of a gas turbine engine passes over numerous oil supply and scavenge pipes and a fracture in such a pipe will cause a jet of oil to be ejected as a spray. This spray will disperse in the surrounding flow. Accurate and reliable numerical modelling of these sprays presents significant problems due in part to their complexity, but also the lack of experimental data available for model validation. This paper describes the design, manufacture, testing and results from an experimental test rig aimed at spray characterisation. The sprays considered were produced through a round sharp edged nozzle with a 0.57 mm diameter and a length to diameter ratio of 1.61. The spray was introduced normal to the cross flow. Phase Doppler Anemometry was used to determine droplet size and velocity for Weber numbers within the range of 13 < Weg < 580 and Momentum Flux Ratio within the range of 0.8 < q < 136, resulting in 19 different spray fields. Each of these spray fields has been characterised at three axial locations. Contours of droplet size, mass flux distribution, axial droplet velocity and transverse droplet velocity are presented. In addition, a pulsed laser sheet and CCD camera were used to analyse the jet behaviour in terms of break up length and jet trajectory.