Numerical investigation on spray and flow field characteristics of elliptical nozzle in supersonic crossflow

Abstract

ABSTRACT It has been suggested that using an elliptical nozzle could enhance the atomization and mixture quality. In order to explore the elliptical liquid jet on spray and flow field characteristics in supersonic airflow, the VOF-Spray one-way coupling model was adopted to study the nozzle exit patterns, size, and velocity distribution of droplets. The research also compared the flow field characteristics in Mach 2.85 air crossflow under the application of different orifices. The numerical results showed that elliptical 4 nozzle (Aspect ratio of 4) had better flow performance than circular nozzle. The cavitation area and turbulent disturbance of elliptical 4 nozzle were mainly concentrated in the major axis direction. The elliptical 4 jet always had a lower penetration depth than circular jet. At the flow range of 0 ~ 50 mm, the penetration depth of elliptical 4 jet is roughly 12% less than that of circular jet. Another finding was that the spanwise extension range of elliptical 4 spray was larger than the circular spray. The spanwise extension range of elliptical 4 spray increased by about 19.4% at most in the flow range of 0 ~ 50 mm. Additionally, the elliptical 4 spray had the smallest Santer Mean Diameter (SMD). The elliptical 4 jet had a 2.9% smaller Santer Mean Diameter than the circular jet. Due to the greater windward surface area of the elliptical 4 orifice, the gas streamwise velocity near the bottom wall was reduced. A reverse vortex pair with distinct characteristics could be observed under the application of elliptical 4 orifice. Furthermore, compared with the circular orifice, the shock wave angle generated by elliptical 4 orifice reduced by 9.7%, and the total pressure recovery coefficient rose by 2.3%.