Investigation of the effect of surface roughness on the pulsating flow in combustion chambers with LES

Abstract

Self-excited oscillations often occur in combustion systems due to the combustion instabilities. The high pressure oscillations can lead to higher emissions and structural damage of the chamber. In the last years intensive experimental investigations were performed at the University of Karlsruhe to develop an analytical model for the Helmholtz resonator-type combustion systems [1]. In order to better understand the flow effects in the chamber and to localize the dissipation, Large Eddy Simulations (LES) were carried out. Magagnato et al. [2] describe the investigation of a simplified combustion system where the LES were carried out exclusively with a hydraulic smooth wall. The comparison of the results with experimental data shows the important influence of the surface roughness in the resonator neck on the resonant characteristics of the system. In order to catch this effect with CFD as well, the modeling of surface roughness is needed. In this paper the Discrete Element Method has been implemented into our research code and extended for LES. The simulation of the combustion chamber with roughness agrees well with the experimental results.