Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering

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Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering

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https://hdl.handle.net/1853/73271

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Degree Series

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Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering

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Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 17

Investigating Lean Blowout of an Alternative Jet Fuel in a Gas Turbine Combustor

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2022-01-05) Narayanan, Vijay

In the global effort to reduce the climate impact of combustion emissions, sustainable aviation fuels offer the ease and reliability of conventional petroleum-derived jet fuels without the significant pollutant effects. Ongoing research efforts include experimental testing of alternative jet fuels to identify fuel candidates that produce less pollutant combustion products and are cheaper and environmentally cleaner to source than conventional jet fuels. Fuel lean combustion already reduces the emissions of jet engines and increases fuel efficiency, but lean blowout (LBO) can occur at reduced throttle and minimum power scenarios such as descent. Lean blowout (LBO) has been identified as a critical figure of merit to ensure the stability of alternative jet fuels in the place of conventional fuels. This work aimed to further understand the LBO phenomenon, leveraging computational studies of the alternative fuel designated C-5 by the National Jet Fuel Combustion Program (NJFCP). The fuel sensitivity of LBO has been established by the NJFCP’s participants recently. In this thesis, the chemical kinetics for C-5 is first verified using zerodimensional (0-D) and one-dimensional (1-D) studies and then this is followed by three dimensional (3D) large-eddy simulations (LES). In LES to observe LBO, a direct-step and gradual equivalence ratio reduction were separately employed to assess fuel sensitivity of LBO against available experimental data. The time histories of pressure, temperature, and composition were analyzed for precursor signatures of LBO both inside and outside the flame. Localized extinction, a reduction in the vortex breakdown bubble size and magnitude, and a reduction in the exhaust velocity were all observed to occur during the LBO event.
LES of Turbulent Premixed Flame Kernel Formation and Development

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2020-12-17) Lambert, Alexander

Spark ignition of flammable mixtures is highly sensitive to early and local conditions. Kernel formation and subsequent flame development are largely governed by turbulent conditions and interactions with igniter geometry. In order to investigate this phenomenon, the use of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is examined for (1) modelling spherical turbulent flame development, and (2) simulating spark ignition in a channel with either laminar or turbulent inflow. A comparison between LES spherical flame simulation is made to FSD-LES results as well as experimental measurements from previous studies. For spark ignition experiments, we characterize the temporal evolution of the ignition process, and demonstrate the dependence on early velocity fluctuations and local conditions.
Towards multi-scale reacting fluid-structure interaction: micro-scale structural modeling

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-04-15) Gallagher, Timothy

The fluid-structure interaction of reacting materials requires computational models capable of resolving the wide range of scales present in both the condensed phase energetic materials and the turbulent reacting gas phase. This effort is focused on the development of a micro-scale structural model designed to simulate heterogeneous energetic materials used for solid propellants and explosives. These two applications require a model that can track moving surfaces as the material burns, handle spontaneous formation of discontinuities such as cracks, model viscoelastic and viscoplastic materials, include finite-rate kinetics, and resolve both micro-scale features and macro-scale trends. Although a large set of computational models is applied to energetic materials, none meet all of these criteria. The Micro-Scale Dynamical Model serves as the basis for this work. The model is extended to add the capabilities required for energetic materials. Heterogeneous solid propellant burning simulations match experimental burn rate data and descriptions of material surface. Simulations of realistic heterogeneous plastic-bound explosives undergoing impact predict the formation of regions of localized heating called hotspots which may lead to detonation in the material. The location and intensity of these hotspots is found to vary with the material properties of the energetic crystal and binder and with the impact velocity. A statistical model of the hotspot peak temperatures for two frequently used energetic crystals indicates a linear relationship between the hotspot intensity and the impact velocity. This statistical model may be used to generate hotspot fields in macro-scale simulations incapable of resolving the micro-scale heating that occurs in heterogeneous explosives.
Large eddy simulation of syngas-air diffusion flames with artificial neural networks based chemical kinetics

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011-09-07) Sanyal, Anuradha

In the present study syngas-air diffusion flames are simulated using LES with artificial neural network (ANN) based chemical kinetics modeling and the results are compared with previous direct numerical simulation (DNS) study, which exhibits significant extinction-reignition and forms a challenging problem for ANN. The objective is to obtain speed-up in chemistry computation while still having the accuracy of stiff ODE solver. The ANN methodology is used in two ways: 1) to compute the instantaneous source term in the linear eddy mixing (LEM) subgrid combustion model used within LES framework, i.e., laminar-ANN used within LEMLES framework (LANN-LEMLES), and 2) to compute the filtered source terms directly within the LES framework, i.e., turbulent-ANN used within LES (TANN-LES), which further dicreases the computational speed. A thermo-chemical database is generated from a standalone one-dimensional LEM simulation and used to train the LANN for species source terms on grid-size of Kolmogorov scale. To train the TANN coefficients the thermo-chemical database from the standalone LEM simulation is filtered over the LES grid-size and then used for training. To evaluate the performance of the TANN methodology, the low Re test case is simulated with direct integration for chemical kinetics modeling in LEM subgrid combustion model within the LES framework (DI-LEMLES), LANN-LEMLES andTANN-LES. The TANN is generated for a low range of Ret in order to simulate the specific test case. The conditional statistics and pdfs of key scalars and the temporal evolution of the temperature and scalar dissipation rates are compared with the data extracted from DNS. Results show that the TANN-LES methodology can capture the extinction-reignition physics with reasonable accuracy compared to the DNS. Another TANN is generated for a high range of Ret expected to simulate test cases with different Re and a range of grid resolutions. The flame structure and the scalar dissipation rate statistics are analyzed to investigate success of the same TANN in simulating a range of test cases. Results show that the TANN-LES using TANN generated fora large range of Ret is capable of capturing the extinction-reignition physics with a very little loss of accuracy compared to the TANN-LES using TANN generated for the specific test case. The speed-up obtained by TANN-LES is significant compared to DI-LEMLES and LANN-LEMLES.
Large eddy simulation of heated pulsed jets in high speed turbulent crossflow

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-08-12) Pasumarti, Venkata-Ramya

The jet-in-crossflow problem has been extensively studied, mainly because of its applications in film cooling and injector designs. It has been established that in low-speed flows, pulsing the jet significantly enhances mixing and jet penetration. This work investigates the effects of pulsing on mixing and jet trajectory in high speed (compressible) flow, using Large Eddy Simulation. Jets with different density ratios, velocity ratios and momentum ratios are pulsed from an injector into a crossflow. Density ratios used are 0.55 (CH4/air), 1.0 (air/air) and 1.5 (CO2/air). Results are compared with the low speed cases studied in the past and then analyzed for high speed scaling. The simulations show that the lower density jet develops faster than a higher density jet. This results in more jet spread for the lower density jet. Scaling for jet spread and the decay of centerline jet concentration for these cases are established, and variable density scaling law is developed and used to predict jet penetration in the far field. In most non-premixed combustor systems, the fuel and air being mixed are at different initial temperatures and densities. To account for these effects, heated jets at temperatures equal to 540K and 3000K have been run. It has been observed that, in addition to the lower density of heated jets, the higher kinematic viscosity effects the jet penetration. This effect has been included and validated in the scaling law for the heated jet trajectory.
Richtmyer-Meshkov instability with reshock and particle interactions

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-07-08) Ukai, Satoshi

Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI) occurs when an interface of two fluids with different densities is impulsively accelerated. The main interest in RMI is to understand the growth of perturbations, and numerous theoretical models have been developed and validated against experimental/numerical studies. However, most of the studies assume very simple initial conditions. Recently, more complex RMI has been studied, and this study focuses on two cases: reshocked RMI and multiphase RMI. It is well known that reshock to the species interface causes rapid growth of interface perturbation amplitude. However, the growth rates after reshock are not well understood, and there are no practical theoretical models yet due to its complex interface conditions at reshock. A couple of empirical expressions have been derived from experimental and numerical studies, but these models are limited to certain interface conditions. This study performs parametric numerical studies on various interface conditions, and the empirical models on the reshocked RMI are derived for each case. It is shown that the empirical models can be applied to a wide range of initial conditions by choosing appropriate values of the coefficient. The second part of the study analyzes the flow physics of multiphase RMI. The linear growth model for multiphase RMI is derived, and it is shown that the growth rates depend on two nondimensional parameters: the mass loading of the particles and the Stokes number. The model is compared to the numerical predictions under two types of conditions: a shock wave hitting (1) a perturbed species interface surrounded by particles, and (2) a perturbed particle cloud. In the first type of the problem, the growth rates obtained by the numerical simulations are in agreement with the multiphase RMI growth model when Stokes number is small. However, when the Stokes number is very large, the RMI motion follows the single-phase RMI growth model since the particle do not rapidly respond while the RMI instability grows. The second type of study also shows that the multiphase RMI model is applicable if Stokes number is small. Since the particles themselves characterize the interface, the range of applicable Stokes number is smaller than the first study. If the Stokes number is in the order of one or larger, the interface experiences continuous acceleration and shows the growth profile similar to a Rayleigh-Taylor instability.
Simulations of a Sub-scale Liquid Rocket Engine: Transient Heat Transfer in a Real Gas Environment

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006-11-21) Masquelet, Matthieu M.

The prediction of transient phenomena inside Liquid Rocket Engines (LREs) has not been feasible until now because of the many challenges posed by the operating conditions inside the combustion chamber. Especially, the departure from ideal gas because of the cryogenic injection in a high-pressure chamber is one of the ma jor hurdle for such simula- tions. In order to begin addressing these issue, a real-gas model has been implemented in a massively parallel flow solver. This solver is capable of performing Large-Eddy Simula- tions (LES) in geometrical configurations ranging from an axisymmetric slice to a 3D slice up to a full 3D combustor. We present here the results from an investigation of unsteady combustion inside a small-scale, multi-injectors LRE. Both thermally perfect gas (TPG) and real gas (RG) approaches are evaluated for this LOX-GH2 system. The Peng-Robinson cubic equation of state (PR EoS) is used to account for real gas effects associated with the injection of cryogenic oxygen. Realistic transport properties are computed but simplified chemistry is used in order to achieve a reasonable turnaround time. Results show the impor- tance of the unsteady dynamics of the flow, especially the interaction between the different injectors. The role of the equation of state is assessed and the real gas model, despite a limited zone of application, seems to have a strong influence on the overall chamber behav- ior. Although several features in the simulated results agree well with past experimental observations, the prediction of heat flux using a simplified flux boundary condition is not completely satisfactory. This work also reviews in details the state of our knowledge on supercritical combustion in a coaxial injector configuration, stressing issues where numeri- cal modeling could provide new insights. However, many developments and improvements are required before an LES modeling of such a flow is both feasible and valid. We finally propose a comprehensive roadmap towards the completion of this goal and the possible use of CFD as a design tool for a modern liquid rocket engine.
Large Eddy Simulation of a Stagnation Point Reverse Flow Combustor

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006-08-17) Parisi, Valerio

In this study, numerical simulations of a low emission lab-scale non-premixed combustor are conducted and analyzed. The objectives are to provide new insight into the physical phenomena in the SPRF (Stagnation Point Reverse Flow) combustor built in the Georgia Tech Combustion Lab, and to compare three Large Eddy Simulation (LES) combustion models (Eddy Break-Up [EBU], Steady Flamelet [SF] and Linear Eddy Model [LEM]) for non-premixed combustion. The nominal operating condition of the SPRF combustor achieves very low NOx and CO emissions by combining turbulent mixing of exhaust gases with preheated reactants and chemical kinetics. The SPRF numerical simulation focuses on capturing the complex interaction between turbulent mixing and heat release. LES simulations have been carried out for a non-reactive case in order to analyze the turbulent mixing inside the combustor. The LES results have been compared to PIV experimental data and the code has been validated. The dominating features of the operational mode of the SPRF combustor (dilution of hot products into reactants, pre-heating and pre-mixing) have been analyzed, and results from the EBU-LES, SF-LES and LEM-LES simulations have been compared. Analysis shows that the LEM-LES simulation achieves the best agreement with the observed flame structure and is the only model that captures the stabilization processes observed in the experiments. EBU-LES and SF-LES do not predict the correct flow pattern because of the inaccurate modeling of sub-grid scale mixing and turbulence-combustion interaction. Limitations of these two models for this type of combustor are discussed.
Flow Field Measurements in a Counter-Swirl Stabilized Liquid Combustor

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006-03-27) Colby, Jonathan A.

To adhere to the current requirements for NOx and CO emissions in combustion systems, modern land and air based gas turbine engines often operate in the fuel lean regime. While operating near the lean blow out (LBO) limit does reduce some harmful emissions, combustor stability is sacrificed and extinction becomes a major concern. To fully understand the characteristics of lean operation, an experimental study was conducted to map the time averaged flow field in a typical industrial, counter-swirling, liquid fuel combustor. This study examined two steady-state operating conditions, both near the lean extinction limit for this swirl burner. Using an LDV/PDPA system, 2-D mean and fluctuating velocities, as well as Reynolds stresses, were measured throughout the combustor. These measurements were taken for both the non-reacting and reacting flow fields, enabling a direct analysis of the result of heat addition and increased load on a turbulent swirling flow field. To further understand the overall flow field, liquid droplet diameter measurements were taken to determine the fuel spray characteristics as a function of operating pressure and rated spray angle. Chemical composition at the combustor exit was also measured, with an emphasis on the concentrations of both CO and NOx emissions. This large database of aerodynamic and droplet measurements improves understanding of the swirling, reacting flow field and aids in the accurate prediction of lean blow-out events. With this understanding of the lean blow-out limit, increased fuel efficiency and decreased pollutant emissions can be achieved in industrial combustors, especially those used for thrust in the airline industry.
Prediction of Soot Formation in Laminar Opposed Diffusion Flame with Detailed and Reduced Reaction Mechanisms

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004-12-01) Chang, Hojoon

The present work focuses on a computational study of a simplified soot model to predict soot production and destruction in methane/oxidizer (O2 and N2) and ethylene/air flames using a one-dimensional laminar opposed diffusion flame setup. Two different detailed reaction mechanisms (361 reactions and 61 species for methane/oxidizer flame and 527 reactions and 99 species for ethylene/air flame) are used to validate the simplified soot model in each flame. The effects of strain rate and oxygen content on the soot production and destruction are studied, and the soot related properties such as soot volume fraction, particle number density and particle diameter are compared with published results. The results show reasonable agreement with data and that the soot volume fraction decreases with higher strain rate and lower oxygen content. The simplified soot model has also been used with two reduced reaction mechanisms (12-step, 16-species for methane flame and 20-species for ethylene flame) since such reduced mechanisms are computationally more efficient for practical application. The profiles of the physical properties and the major species are in excellent agreement with the results using the detailed reaction mechanisms. However, minor hydrocarbon-species such as acetylene (C2H2) that is the primary pyrolysis species in the simplified soot model is significantly over predicted and this, in turn, results in an over-prediction of soot production. Finally, the reduced reaction mechanism is modified to get more accurate prediction of the minor hydrocarbon-species. The modified reduced reaction mechanism shows that the soot prediction can be improved by improving the predictions of the key minor species.