Mixing in compressible shear layers

Abstract

Efficient fuel-air mixing is vital to supersonic combustion, which is the basis of supersonic combustion RAMjets, or SCRAMjets, the preferred method of combustion for hypersonic flight. This study investigates mixing in compressible shear layers and its dependence on convective Mach number. The primary stream is air at Mach 2.5 and the secondary stream is seeded with acetone. PLIF and Schlieren imaging techniques are used to quantify mixing. Reduction of data is still in progress; this thesis reviews literature on the topic, outlines the experimental method employed, presents preliminary Schlieren results and presents the raw data obtained. Additionally, mass flow rates of both streams are calculated. It was determined that the experiments are highly repeatable, evidenced by the low standard deviations of the mass flow rates during runs.