Determination of surface pressure distributions for axisymmetric bluff bodies

The conditions governing liquid droplet breakup are particularly important to the process of fuel atomization for spark-ignition engines. A proper mathematical description of the problem requires knowledge of the pressure distributions about the droplet surface. This work presents the results of measurements of pressure distributions about the surfaces of certain bluff, axi-symmetric bodies in airflows at ReD = 3 × 104 and ReD = 105. The results of measurements from a sphere, disk, and two ellipsoids are used to develop a general method for estimating surface pressures. These estimates are compared with the results of pressure measurements about the surfaces of a concave and a nonellipsoidal convex body and with results obtained from a numerical study by other authors. © 1989 by ASME