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Investigation on the flameholding mechanisms in supersonic flows: backward-facing step and cavity flameholder

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Abstract

As effective devices to extend the fuel residence time in supersonic flow and prolong the duration time for hypersonic vehicles cruising in the near-space with power, the backward-facing step and the cavity are widely employed in hypersonic airbreathing propulsive systems as flameholders. The two-dimensional coupled implicit RANS equations, the standard k-ε turbulence model, and the finite-rate/eddy-dissipation reaction model have been used to generate the flow field structures in the scramjet combustors with the backward-facing step and the cavity flameholders. The flameholding mechanism in the combustor has been investigated by comparing the flow field in the corner region of the backward-facing step with that around the cavity flameholder. The obtained results show that the numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental data, and the different grid scales make only a slight difference to the numerical results. The vortices formed in the corner region of the backward-facing step, in the cavity and upstream of the fuel injector make a large difference to the enhancement of the mixing between the fuel and the free airstream, and they can prolong the residence time of the mixture and improve the combustion efficiency in the supersonic flow. The size of the recirculation zone in the scramjet combustor partially depends on the distance between the injection and the leading edge of the cavity. Further, the shock waves in the scramjet combustor with the cavity flameholder are much stronger than those that occur in the scramjet combustor with the backward-facing step, and this causes a large increase in the static pressure along the walls of the combustor.

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Acknowledgments

The first author, W. Huang, would like to express his sincere thanks for the support from the Excellent Graduate Student Innovative Project of the National University of Defense Technology (No. B070101) and the Hunan Provincial Innovation Foundation for Postgraduate (No. 3206), and the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) for their financial support (No. 2009611036). Also the authors would like to thank the reviewers for some very constructive recommendations on the first draft of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Hypersonic Propulsion, College of Aerospace and Materials Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, 410073, Hunan, China

    Wei Huang, Shi Bin Luo & Zhen Guo Wang

  2. Centre for CFD, School of Process, Environmental and Materials Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    Wei Huang, Mohamed Pourkashanian, Lin Ma & Derek B. Ingham

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  1. Wei Huang
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  2. Mohamed Pourkashanian
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  3. Lin Ma
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  4. Derek B. Ingham
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  5. Shi Bin Luo
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  6. Zhen Guo Wang
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Correspondence to Wei Huang.

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Huang, W., Pourkashanian, M., Ma, L. et al. Investigation on the flameholding mechanisms in supersonic flows: backward-facing step and cavity flameholder. J Vis 14, 63–74 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12650-010-0064-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12650-010-0064-8

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