Experimental Study on Simplex Swirl Injector Dynamics with Varying Geometry

Abstract

The effects of swirl chamber’s diameter and length on injector’s dynamic characteristics were investigated through an experimental study. A mechanical pulsator was installed in front of the manifold of a swirl injector which produces pressure oscillations in the feed line. Pressure in the manifold, liquid film thickness in the orifice and the pressure in the orifice were measured in order to understand the dynamic characteristic of the simplex swirl injector with varying geometry. A direct pressure measuring method (DPMM) was used to calculate the axial velocity of the propellant in the orifice and the mass flow rate through the orifice. These measured and calculated values were analyzed to observe the amplitude and phase differences between the input value in the manifold and the output values in the orifice. As a result, a phase-amplitude diagram was obtained which exhibits the injector’s response to certain pressure fluctuation inputs. The mass flow rate was calculated by the DPMM and measured directly through the actual injection. The effect of mean manifold pressure change was insignificant with the frequency range of manifold pressure oscillation used in this experiment. Mass flow rate was measured with the variation of injector’s geometries and amplitude of the mass flow rate was observed with geometry and pulsation frequency variation. It was confirmed that the swirl chamber diameter and length affect an injector’s dynamic characteristics. Furthermore, the direction of geometry change for achieving dynamic stability in the injector was suggested.