Performance evaluation of a scramjet engine utilizing varied cavity aft wall divergence with parallel injection in a reacting flow field

Abstract

The effect of implications of the dual cavity with aft wall divergence in a parallel injection reacting flow has been numerically investigated. This research intends to emphasize the behaviour of the supersonic flow under varying divergence angles of the cavity aft wall. A two-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation and an SST k-ω turbulence model with a single-step chemical reaction for hydrogen-air are utilized for the simulation. Followed by the strut injector, the cavities are positioned symmetrically inside the combustor. The bottom cavity aft wall divergence varies, whereas the top wall is mounted with a rectangular cavity. The performance of cavity locations is compared with the baseline DLR model. From the evaluation of numerical outcomes along with different cavity configurations, it has been noted that the 15-degree cavity divergence angle enhances the recirculation zone which leads to improved mixing performance. Also, the cavity improves the combustion stability by increasing the flow residence time. From this numerical analysis, it is associated that an almost 20 % reduction in combustor length is achieved, however, an 18 % rise in the pressure loss is noted because of emanating shock waves from the cavity edges.