Mixing of high speed coaxial jets

Abstract

In this study, five different supersonic nozzles – conical, elliptical, tabbed, radially lobed and two-dimensional lobed – are compared experimentally for their mixing performance. With the background of studies by various groups conducted on the above nozzles, the present paper aims to provide an experimental comparison of their respective mixing performances with that of a conventional conical nozzle under identical operating conditions. The mixing of the supersonic stream coming from such nozzles with a coaxial sonic stream is investigated. The investigation is performed non-intrusively, using digital image processing of planar Mie-scattering images of the flow field. The results of these investigations reveal the superiority of mixing performance of the two-dimensional lobed nozzle over conventional circular and other non-conventional nozzles.