Dynamic response of vaporizing droplet to pressure oscillation

摘要

Combustion instability is a major challenge in the development of the liquid propellant engines, and droplet vaporization is viewed as a potential mechanism for driving instabilities. Based on the previous work, an unsteady droplet heating and vaporization model was developed. The model and numerical method are validated by experimental data available in literature, and then the oscillatory vaporization of n-Heptane droplet exposed to unsteady harmonic nitrogen atmosphere was numerically investigated over a wide range of amplitudes and frequencies. Also, temperature variations inside the droplet were demonstrated under oscillation environments. It was found that the thermal wave is attenuated with significantly reduced wave intensities as it penetrates deep into droplet from the ambient gas. Droplet surface temperature exhibits smaller fluctuation than that of the ambient gas, and it exhibits a time lag with regard to the pressure variation. Furthermore, the mechanism leading to phase lag of vaporization rate with respect to pressure oscillation was unraveled. Results show that this phase lag varies during the droplet lifetime and it is strongly influenced by oscillation frequency, indicating droplet vaporization is only capable of driving combustion instability in some certain frequency domains. Instead, the amplitude of the oscillation does not have very significant effects. It is noteworthy that thermal inertia of the droplet also plays a considerable role in determining the phase lag.