Experimental Study of Compressible Mixing Layers.

An experimental investigation of the mixing process of a compressible shear/mixing layer in a supersonic model combustion chamber has been performed by applying laser based optical diagnostics like planar Rayleigh and Mie scattering. The influence of compressibility on the mixing layer has been analyzed, confirming that the mixing layer growth rate is decreasing with increasing compressibility. Furthermore the interaction between a shock wave and the shear/mixing layer was studied as a test case for shear layer growth rate enhancement. A slight but significant shear layer growth rate enhancement can be achieved by shock wave / mixing layer interaction