IMECE2011-63894 NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF SWIRL ATOMIZERS FOR LIQUID PROPELLANT ROCKET ENGINES

ABSTRACT This work attempts to establish the vision for Computational Fluid Dynamics as a rocket injector design tool. Simulations of a 5-kN thrust liquid rocket engine swirl atomizer, under cold flow conditions, using an open source CFD code is the immediate goal of this research. The governing equations are solved based on the laminar volume of fluid (VOF) interface capturing method. The oxidizer and fuel injector elements were analyzed for discharge coefficient, spray-cone angle, liquid film thickness as well as other design related parameters. Results from cold flow experiments and particle image velocimetry (PIV) are compared to the predictions of the swirl models and the numerical results. The VOF model was able to predict the spray angle with reasonable confidence, however, a deviation of 25 % was observed in the mass flow rate and discharge coefficient. Although the laminar model has proven inadequate, it constitutes a good starting point in the procedure needed to assess swirl injector performance. Work is currently in progress to evaluate Reynolds Averaged (RANS) and Large Eddy (LES) turbulent numerical models