Three-Component Velocimetry in a Scramjet Combustor

Abstract

A Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (SPIV) system has been designed and applied to a Dual-mode Scramjet (DMSJ) combustor facility. General guidelines for designing a PIV experiment for accurate velocity measurements are presented along with a discussion of their role in the design of the SPIV system applied to the DMSJ combustor facility. The experimental tradeoffs necessary to maintain adequate image focusing and other PIV requirements, as they relate to the set-up, are discussed and the final SPIV apparatus is presented. This SPIV configuration was used to obtain three-component velocity measurements at one cross-plane in the flow for the cases of fuel/air mixing prior to fuel ignition and also for fuel/air combustion. The measured three-component velocity fields and cross-plane velocity results extracted from the three-component fields are presented as evidence of the successful implementation of the SPIV technique in the DMSJ combustor facility. Velocity measurements obtained using this SPIV configuration show expected flow structures and have been substantiated by comparison to other two-component velocity measurements of this flow. Successful development of this SPIV configuration constitutes a significant advancement it the field of velocimetry because the experimental results obtained using this measurement technique are the first three-component velocity measurements obtained in a scramjet combustor.