The effective means of air fuel mixing and flame holding can be achieved by incorporating cavity in supersonic combustor. Understanding the complex flow field of cavity flow is essential for the design of supersonic combustor. An attempt is made to understand the characteristics of supersonic flow past axisymmetric cavity, and a series of nonreacting experiments are carried out in a blow-down type supersonic flow facility. The facility consists of a supersonic nozzle, issues a flow Mach number of 1.80 into a circular cross sectional supersonic combustor in which axisymmetric cavity is placed. Cavity of two consecutive aft wall angles is the key parameter for the study. The performance of the cavity is investigated based on the static pressure measurement, momentum flux distribution at the exit plane of the combustor, and the stagnation pressure loss of the flow. Wall static pressure distribution revealed that pressure increases with decrease in the secondary aft wall angle below 45° due to stronger recompression of shear layers. Moreover, decreasing primary aft wall angle provides a uniform mixing profile along with decrease in stagnation pressure loss across the combustor.
Cavity plays a significant role in scramjet combustors to enhance mixing and flame holding of supersonic streams. In this study, the characteristics of axisymmetric cavity with varying aft wall angles in a non-reacting supersonic flow field are experimentally investigated. The experiments are conducted in a blow-down type supersonic flow facility. The facility consists of a supersonic nozzle followed by a circular cross sectional duct. The axisymmetric cavity is incorporated inside the duct. Cavity aft wall is inclined with two consecutive angles. The performance of the aft wall cavities are compared with rectangular cavity. Decreasing aft wall angle reduces the cavity drag due to the stable flow field which is vital for flame holding in supersonic combustor. Uniform mixing and gradual decrease in stagnation pressure loss can be achieved by decreasing the cavity aft wall angle.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.