Abstract
Results of numerical and experimental investigations of a high-velocity flow in a plane channel with sudden expansion in the form of a backward-facing step, which is used for flame stabilization in a supersonic flow, are presented. The experiments are performed in the IT-302M high-enthalpy short-duration wind tunnel under the following test conditions: Mach number at the combustor entrance 2.8, Reynolds number 30 · 106 m−1, and total temperature T0 = 2000 K, i.e., close to flight conditions at M = 6. The numerical simulations are performed by solving full unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations supplemented with the k–ω SST turbulence model and a system of chemical kinetics including 38 forward and backward reactions of combustion of a hydrogen–air mixture. Three configurations of the backward-facing step are considered: straight step without preliminary actions on the flow, with preliminary compression, and with preliminary expansion of the flow. It is demonstrated that the backward-facing step configuration exerts a significant effect on the separation region size, pressure distribution, and temperature in the channel behind the step, which are the parameters determining self-ignition of the mixture. The computed results show that preliminary compression of the flow creates conditions for effective ignition of the mixture. As a result, it is possible to obtain ignition of a premixed hydrogen–air mixture and its stable combustion over the entire channel height.
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Original Russian Text © M.A. Goldfeld, Yu.V. Zakharova, A.V. Fedorov, N.N. Fedorova.
Published in Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 54, No. 6, pp. 3–16, November–December, 2018.
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Goldfeld, M.A., Zakharova, Y.V., Fedorov, A.V. et al. Effect of the Wave Structure of the Flow in a Supersonic Combustor on Ignition and Flame Stabilization. Combust Explos Shock Waves 54, 629–641 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010508218060011
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010508218060011