GTTC Student Design Winner: Hypervelocity Combustion Studies Using Simultaneous OH-PLIF and Schlieren Imaging in an Expansion Tube

This paper describes an experimental effort to study the combustion characteristics of a hydrogen fuel injected into a high total enthalpy supersonic flow associated with Scramjet engines. Our experimental approach introduces application of simultaneous non-intrusive diagnostic techniques and the use of an expansion tube to provide a wide range of variability in the freestream conditions with relatively accurate chemical composition. The latter is critical for supersonic combustion studies in high total enthalpy flows associated with hypersonic propulsion systems. Efforts have been focused to achieve flight Mach 10 and Mach 13 total enthalpy flow conditions. Flow visualization using simultaneous Schlieren and OH-PLIF has been performed in the nearfield of the jet, providing insight on the location of shock waves, the jet penetration, and the region of combustion. While the schlieren image reveals the jet penetration and the shock wave structure around it, the overlaid OH PLIF result indicates the presence of the OH radicals formed by the autoignition of hydrogen jet. Application of these two nonintrusive visualization techniques simultaneously is unique and crucial for investigation of complex reacting supersonic flowfields.

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