Split Stream Flow Past a Blunt Trailing Edge with Application to Combustion Instabilities

Abstract

In shear coaxial injectors, commonly used for cryogenic liquid rocket engines, propellants traveling at different velocities are separated by the inner jet post before they come into contact with each other, mix, and combust. Knowing how the fluids mix and how susceptible they are to hydrodynamic instabilities is paramount for a successful liquid rocket engine. In this study, the wake behind a blunt trailing edge of a long plate, similar to an unwrapped coaxial injector, was studied in a water tunnel. Two fluid streams of different velocities were introduced on opposite sides of the plate. PIV was used to visualize and determine the influence of the velocity ratio of the split stream on the wake behavior. Measurements of the vortex shedding frequency were taken at various velocity ratios and compared with well characterized cases with a uniform free stream. Operating conditions ranged from Reynolds number 6,000 to 22,000 and velocity ratios 0.30 to 1.00.

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