Numerical Simulation of the Atomization Process of a Like-doublet Impinging Rocket Injector

Abstract

A numerical simulation is conducted to characterize the atomization process of like-doublet injector with two different impingement angles. Using thecoupled Level-Set/Volume-of-Fluid (CLSVOF) method for capturing the liquid/gas interfaces, liquid sheet characteristics were efficiently captured, and the simulations were found to agree well with experiment results for both breakup characteristics and Sauter Mean Diameter (D32). This method combines the mass conservation properties of the volume-of-fluid method with the accurate surface reconstruction properties of the Level-Set method for a 3D atomization process simulation of the like-doublet injector. Since the velocity profiles around the stagnation point and impingement point greatly affects the sheet characteristics, the velocity profiles of different axial locations on the cross section for two different impingement angles cases are studied. It shows that the velocity difference caused by the impact of liquid jets is one of the important factors which directly affect the formation of surface wave and the breakup of sheet.