Investigation of Supersonic Oxygen Jet Potential Core Length at Various Ambient Temperatures

Abstract

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for a supersonic oxygen jet has been developed with detailed consideration of compressible flow properties and ambient temperature conditions. The model was validated by comparison of the axial velocity of the supersonic jet predicted by the CFD model with experimental measurements under different ambient temperatures. The effects of the turbulence model were studied. A modified standard k–epsilon model was used to consider turbulence mixing due to both compressibility and the temperature gradient. Overall, the predictions of the CFD model showed good agreement with experimental measurements for all temperature conditions. The potential core length of the supersonic oxygen jet was studied and compared with the results of empirical models, indicating good agreement with that used by Sumi et al. Parametric study on the ambient temperature was conducted, revealing that the potential core length of the supersonic oxygen jet increases linearly with the ambient temperature.