A new reflected shock tunnel has been commissioned at Sandia capable of generating hypersonic environments at realistic flight enthalpies. The tunnel uses an existing free-piston driver and shock tube coupled to a conical nozzle to accelerate the flow to approximately Mach 9. The facility design process is outlined and compared to other ground test facilities. A representative flight enthalpy condition is designed using an in-house state-to-state solver and piston dynamics model and evaluated using quasi-1D modeling with the University of Queensland L1d code. This condition is demonstrated using canonical models and a calibration rake. A 25 cm core flow with 4.6 MJ/kg total enthalpy is achieved over an approximately 1 millisecond test time. Analysis shows that increasing piston mass should extend test time by a factor of 2-3.
A new capability has been added to study shock-particle interactions in the Sandia High-Temperature Shock Tube (HST). The apparatus to do so featured a high-speed pneumatic actuator with high-pressure engineered seals. Like previous studies in a lower-strength facility, the particle curtain was comprised of 100-micron glass spheres at an initial volume fraction of approximately 20%. A shock-particle interaction was investigated using 210 kHz Schlieren imaging where the incident shock Mach number was 3.3. The initially uniform curtain was distorted by recoil in the HST. Nevertheless, the interaction dynamics were observed to be qualitatively similar to those in previous studies. Future efforts will work to decouple the recoil from the curtain formation and push the interaction towards stronger shocks.
We present spatial profiles of temperature and soot-volume-fraction statistics from a sooting, 2-m base diameter turbulent pool fire, burning a 10%-toluene/90%-methanol fuel mixture. Dual-pump coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering and laser-induced incandescence are utilized for simultaneous point measurements of temperature and soot. The research fuel-blend used here results in a lower soot loading than real transportation fuels, but allows us to apply high-fidelity laser diagnostics for spatially resolved measurements in a fully turbulent, buoyant fire of meter-scale base size. Profiles of mean and rms fluctuations are radially resolved across the fire plume, both within the hydrocarbon-rich vapor-dome region near fuel pool, and higher within the actively burning region of the fire. The spatial evolution of the soot and temperature probability density functions is discussed. Soot fluctuations display significant intermittency across the full extent of the fire plume for the research fuel blend used. Simultaneous, spatially overlapped temperature/soot measurements permit us to obtain estimates of joint statistics that are presented as spatially resolved conditional averages across the fire plume, and in terms of a joint pdf obtained by including measurements from multiple spatial locations. Within the actively burning region of the fire, soot is observed to occupy a limited temperature range between ∼1000 and 2000 K, with peak soot concentration occurring at 1600–1700 K across the full radial extent of the fire plume, despite marked changes in the local temperature pdf across the same spatial extent. A wider range of soot temperatures is observed in the fuel vapor-dome region low in the pool fire, with detectable cold soot persisting into conditionally averaged statistics. The results yield insight into soot temperature across a wide spatial extent of a fully turbulent pool fire of meaningful size, which are valuable for development of soot radiative-emission models and for validation of fire fluid-dynamics codes.
The breakup of liquid metals is of relevance to powder formation, thermal spray coatings, liquid metal cooling systems, investigations of accident scenarios, and model validation. In this work, a column of liquid Galinstan, a room-temperature liquid metal alloy, is studied in a shock-induced cross-flow. Backlit experiments are used to characterize breakup morphology and digital in-line holography is used to quantitatively measure the size and speed of secondary droplets. Two-dimensional simulations are also developed in order to help understand the underlying mechanisms that drive breakup behavior. Results show that although breakup morphologies are similar for water and Galinstan at the same Weber number, the breakup distance, secondary droplet size, and secondary droplet shapes differ. Evidence indicates that secondary droplet formation may be related to the Weber number, density ratio, the convective velocity and other effects.
The breakup of liquids due to aerodynamic forces has been widely studied. However, the literature contains limited quantified data on secondary droplet sizes, particularly as a function of time. Here, a column of liquid water is subjected to a step change in relative gas velocity using a shock tube. A unique digital in-line holography (DIH) configuration is proposed which quantifies the secondary droplets sizes, three-dimensional position, and three-component velocities at 100 kHz. Results quantify the detailed evolution of the characteristic mean diameters and droplet size-velocity correlations as a function of distance downstream from the initial location of the water column. Accuracy of the measurements is confirmed through mass balance. These data give unprecedented detail on the breakup process which will be useful for improved model development and validation.
We present a detailed set of measurements from a piloted, sooting, turbulent C 2 H 4 - fueled diffusion flame. Hybrid femtosecond/picosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) is used to monitor temperature and oxygen, while laser-induced incandescence (LII) is applied for imaging of the soot volume fraction in the challenging jet-flame environment at Reynolds number, Re = 20,000. Single-laser shot results are used to map the mean and rms statistics, as well as probability densities. LII data from the soot-growth region of the flame are used to benchmark the soot source term for one-dimensional turbulence (ODT) modeling of this turbulent flame. The ODT code is then used to predict temperature and oxygen fluctuations higher in the soot oxidation region higher in the flame.
Laser-induced incandescence measurements have recently been obtained from 10% and 30% toluene in methanol blended fuel pool fires of 2-m diameter. Calibration of the instrument was performed using an ethylene/air laminar diffusion flame produced by a Santoro-type burner which allowed the extraction of absolute soot-volume-fractions from these images. Performance of the optical probe was characterized using the laminar diffusion flame and corrections were implemented for signal dependence upon detector gain, flat field, and location within the probe laser sheet when processing the images. Probability density functions of the soot-volume fraction were constructed for the blended fuels used in this study and the mean values were determined to be 0.0077 and 0.028 ppm for the 10% and 30% blended fuels, respectively. Signal trapping was estimated for the two types of blended fuel and it was determined to be negligible for the ∼10% toluene/methanol blend and require ∼10% correction for the 30% toluene/methanol blend.
As the capabilities of numerical simulations increase, decision makers are increasingly relying upon simulations rather than experiments to assess risks across a wide variety of accident scenarios including fires. There are still, however, many aspects of fires that are either not well understood or are difficult to treat from first principles due to the computational expense. For a simulation to be truly predictive and to provide decision makers with information which can be reliably used for risk assessment the remaining physical processes must be studied and suitable models developed for the effects of the physics. A set of experiments are outlined in this report which will provide soot volume fraction/temperature data and heat flux (intensity) data for the validation of models for the radiative transfer equation. In addition, a complete set of boundary condition measurements will be taken to allow full fire predictions for validation of the entire fire model. The experiments will be performed with a lightly-sooting liquid hydrocarbon fuel fire in the fully turbulent scale range (2 m diameter).
A joint temperature/soot laser-based optical diagnostic was developed for the determination of the joint temperature/soot probability density function (PDF) for hydrocarbon-fueled meter-scale turbulent pool fires. This Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) effort was in support of the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program which seeks to produce computational models for the simulation of fire environments for risk assessment and analysis. The development of this laser-based optical diagnostic is motivated by the need for highly-resolved spatio-temporal information for which traditional diagnostic probes, such as thermocouples, are ill-suited. The in-flame gas temperature is determined from the shape of the nitrogen Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) signature and the soot volume fraction is extracted from the intensity of the Laser-Induced Incandescence (LII) image of the CARS probed region. The current state of the diagnostic will be discussed including the uncertainty and physical limits of the measurements as well as the future applications of this probe.
We report an application of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) to full-scale fire testing. A CARS instrument has been constructed at the newly commissioned FLAME (Fire Laboratory for Accreditation of Models and Experiments) facility at Sandia, where the CARS system has been used for thermometry in 2-m-diameter, turbulent pool fires. The details of a CARS instrument for probing the challenging pool-fire environment are presented, along with the construction of the unique new FLAME facility itself, which has been designed to accommodate optical and laser-based diagnostics to full-scale fire experimentation. Single-shot CARS spectra and best-fit temperatures from turbulent pool fires are presented, and an estimate of the pdf of the temperature fluctuations from the pool-fire environment is obtained.
A sub-scale experiment has been constructed using fins mounted on one wall of a transonic wind tunnel to investigate the influence of fin trailing vortices upon downstream control surfaces. Data are collected using a fin balance instrumenting the downstream fin to measure the aerodynamic forces of the interaction, combined with stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry to determine vortex properties. The fin balance data show that the response of the downstream fin essentially is shifted from the baseline single-fin data dependent upon the angle of attack of the upstream fin. Freestream Mach number and the spacing between fins have secondary effects. The velocimetry shows that the vortex strength increases markedly with upstream fin angle of attack, though even an uncanted fin generates a noticeable wake. No variation with Mach number can be discerned in the normalized velocity data. Correlations between the force data and the velocimetry suggest that the interaction is fundamentally a result of an angle of attack superposed upon the downstream fin by the vortex shed from the upstream fin tip. The Mach number influence arises from differing vortex lift on the leading edge of the downstream fin even when the impinging vortex is Mach invariant.
A method to measure interfacial mechanical properties at high temperatures and in a controlled atmosphere has been developed to study anodized aluminum surface coatings at temperatures where the interior aluminum alloy is molten. This is the first time that the coating strength has been studied under these conditions. We have investigated the effects of ambient atmosphere, temperature, and surface finish on coating strength for samples of aluminum alloy 7075. Surprisingly, the effective Young's modulus or strength of the coating when tested in air was twice as high as when samples were tested in an inert nitrogen or argon atmosphere. Additionally, the effective Young's modulus of the anodized coating increased with temperature in an air atmosphere but was independent of temperature in an inert atmosphere. The effect of surface finish was also examined. Sandblasting the surface prior to anodization was found to increase the strength of the anodized coating with the greatest enhancement noted for a nitrogen atmosphere. Machining marks were not found to significantly affect the strength.
We report what is believed to be the first application of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) to full-scale fire testing. A CARS instrument has been constructed at the newly commissioned FLAME (Fire Laboratory for Accreditation of Models and Experiments) facility at Sandia, where the CARS system has been used for thermometry in 2-m-diameter, turbulent methanol pool fires. Fielding of CARS in such a large-scale facility presents several challenges, including long-distance propagation of laser beams, shielding of optics from intense heat, the impact of beam steering and fiber-optic coupling of the CARS signal to remotely located detection equipment. The details of a CARS instrument that meets these challenges are presented, along with the construction of the unique new FLAME facility itself, which has been designed to accommodate optical and laser-based diagnostics to full-scale fire experimentation. The performance of the CARS instrument is investigated in a premixed methane-air flat flame to estimate the precision in single-shot CARS temperatures. Single-shot CARS spectra and best-fit temperatures from a methanol pool fire are presented, and an estimate of the pdf of the temperature fluctuations from the pool-fire environment is obtained.
A previously-developed experimental facility has been used to determine gas-surface thermal accommodation coefficients from the pressure dependence of the heat flux between parallel plates of similar material but different surface finish. Heat flux between the plates is inferred from measurements of temperature drop between the plate surface and an adjacent temperature-controlled water bath. Thermal accommodation measurements were determined from the pressure dependence of the heat flux for a fixed plate separation. Measurements of argon and nitrogen in contact with standard machined (lathed) or polished 304 stainless steel plates are indistinguishable within experimental uncertainty. Thus, the accommodation coefficient of 304 stainless steel with nitrogen and argon is estimated to be 0.80 {+-} 0.02 and 0.87 {+-} 0.02, respectively, independent of the surface roughness within the range likely to be encountered in engineering practice. Measurements of the accommodation of helium showed a slight variation with 304 stainless steel surface roughness: 0.36 {+-} 0.02 for a standard machine finish and 0.40 {+-} 0.02 for a polished finish. Planned tests with carbon-nanotube-coated plates will be performed when 304 stainless-steel blanks have been successfully coated.
An experimental investigation is made into the fluid mechanics and heat transfer of a circular cylinder immersed in a wall-bounded turbulent mixed-convection flow of water. The cylinder is oriented spanwise to the forced channel flow and within the thermal boundary layer of the heated lower wall. The flow channel is capped with a cold, near-adiabatic upper wall producing a fully turbulent gap Rayleigh number of 108. A low-speed crossflow is applied to advect the turbulent thermal plumes over the cylinder surface. We present spatially resolved cylinder-surface heat-flux data alongside 2-D PIV imaging of the streamwise and wall-normal velocity components for two flow conditions in the mixed-convection heat-transfer regime. The measured cylinder-wake flowfield reflects the complex coupling between the separated wake flow, the highly turbulent freestream and the buoyant wall and cylinder boundary layers. A method for measurement of spatially resolved surface heat fluxes based on the measured cylinder-surface temperature distribution and a well-posed two-dimensional solution to the conduction problem in the cylinder wall is presented. The resulting spatially resolved flux measurements show enhanced surface heat transfer, which results from the intense buoyancy generated free-stream turbulence and mixing in the cylinder wake. This work extends the literature on thermal convection with crossflow well into the turbulent regime and is, to our knowledge, the first investigation of surface heat-transfer to an object of engineering importance placed in this type of turbulent mixed-convection flowfield. The data are currently being utilized for validation of mixed-convection turbulence models at Sandia and comparisons between the computational and experimental results are presented.
An experimental investigation is made into the fluid mechanics and heat transfer of a circular cylinder immersed in a wall-bounded turbulent mixed-convection flow of water. The cylinder is oriented spanwise to the forced channel flow and within the thermal boundary layer of the heated lower wall. The flow channel is capped with a cold, near-adiabatic upper wall producing a fully turbulent gap Rayleigh number of 10{sup 8}. A low-speed crossflow is applied to advect the turbulent thermal plumes over the cylinder surface. We present spatially resolved cylinder-surface heat-flux data alongside 2-D PIV imaging of the streamwise and wall-normal velocity components for two flow conditions in the mixed-convection heat-transfer regime. The measured cylinder-wake flowfield reflects the complex coupling between the separated wake flow, the highly turbulent freestream and the buoyant wall and cylinder boundary layers. A method for measurement of spatially resolved surface heat fluxes based on the measured cylinder-surface temperature distribution and a well-posed two-dimensional solution to the conduction problem in the cylinder wall is presented. The resulting spatially resolved flux measurements show enhanced surface heat transfer, which results from the intense buoyancy generated free-stream turbulence and mixing in the cylinder wake. This work extends the literature on thermal convection with crossflow well into the turbulent regime and is, to our knowledge, the first investigation of surface heat-transfer to an object of engineering importance placed in this type of turbulent mixed-convection flowfield. The data are currently being utilized for validation of mixed convection turbulence models at Sandia and comparisons between the computational and experimental results are presented.
A combined experimental/modeling study was conducted to better understand the critical role of gas-surface interactions in rarefied gas flows. An experimental chamber and supporting diagnostics were designed and assembled to allow simultaneous measurements of gas heat flux and inter-plate gas density profiles in an axisymmetric, parallel-plate geometry. Measurements of gas density profiles and heat flux are made under identical conditions, eliminating an important limitation of earlier studies. The use of in situ, electron-beam fluorescence is demonstrated as a means to measure gas density profiles although additional work is required to improve the accuracy of this technique. Heat flux is inferred from temperature-drop measurements using precision thermistors. The system can be operated with a variety of gases (monatomic, diatomic, polyatomic, mixtures) and carefully controlled, well-characterized surfaces of different types (metals, ceramics) and conditions (smooth, rough). The measurements reported here are for 304 stainless steel plates with a standard machined surface coupled with argon, helium, and nitrogen. The resulting heat-flux and gas-density-profile data are analyzed using analytic and computational models to show that a simple Maxwell gas-surface interaction model is adequate to represent all of the observations. Based on this analysis, thermal accommodation coefficients for 304 stainless steel coupled with argon, nitrogen, and helium are determined to be 0.88, 0.80, and 0.38, respectively, with an estimated uncertainty of {+-}0.02.
Simulation-based life-cycle-engineering and the ASCI program have resulted in models of unprecedented size and fidelity. The validation of these models requires high-resolution, multi-parameter diagnostics. Within the thermal-fluids disciplines, the need for detailed, high-fidelity measurements exceeds the limits of current engineering sciences capabilities and severely tests the state of the art. The focus of this LDRD is the development and application of filtered Rayleigh scattering (FRS) for high-resolution, nonintrusive measurement of gas-phase velocity and temperature. With FRS, the flow is laser-illuminated and Rayleigh scattering from naturally occurring sources is detected through a molecular filter. The filtered transmission may be interpreted to yield point or planar measurements of three-component velocities and/or thermodynamic state. Different experimental configurations may be employed to obtain compromises between spatial resolution, time resolution, and the quantity of simultaneously measured flow variables. In this report, we present the results of a three-year LDRD-funded effort to develop FRS combustion thermometry and Aerosciences velocity measurement systems. The working principles and details of our FRS opto-electronic system are presented in detail. For combustion thermometry we present 2-D, spatially correlated FRS results from nonsooting premixed and diffusion flames and from a sooting premixed flame. The FRS-measured temperatures are accurate to within {+-}50 K (3%) in a premixed CH4-air flame and within {+-}100 K for a vortex-strained diluted CH4-air diffusion flame where the FRS technique is severely tested by large variation in scattering cross section. In the diffusion flame work, FRS has been combined with Raman imaging of the CH4 fuel molecule to correct for the local light scattering properties of the combustion gases. To our knowledge, this is the first extension of FRS to nonpremixed combustion and the first use of joint FRS-Raman imaging. FRS has been applied to a sooting C2H4-air flame and combined with LII to assess the upper sooting limit where FRS may be utilized. The results from this sooting flame show FRS temperatures has potential for quantitative temperature imaging for soot volume fractions of order 0.1 ppm. FRS velocity measurements have been performed in a Mach 3.7 overexpanded nitrogen jet. The FRS results are in good agreement with expected velocities as predicted by inviscid analysis of the jet flowfield. We have constructed a second FRS opto-electronic system for measurements at Sandia's hypersonic wind tunnel. The details of this second FRS system are provided here. This facility is currently being used for velocity characterization of these production hypersonic facilities.
This paper describes the application of a filtered-Rayleigh-scattering (FRS) instrument for nonintrusive temperature imaging in a vortex-driven diffusion flame. The FRS technique provides quantitative, spatially correlated temperature data without the flow intrusion or time lag associated with physical probes. Use of a molecular iodine filter relaxes the requirement for clean, particulate-free flowfields and offers the potential for imaging near walls, test section windows and in sooty flames, all of which are precluded in conventional Rayleigh imaging, where background interference from these sources typically overwhelms the weak molecular scattering signal. For combustion applications, FRS allows for full-field temperature imaging without chemical seeding of the flowfield, which makes FRS an attractive alternative to other laser-based imaging methods such as planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF). In this work, the details of our FRS imaging system are presented and temperature measurements from an acoustically forced diffusion flame are provided. The local Rayleigh cross-section is corrected using Raman imaging measurements of the methane fuel molecule, which are then correlated to other major species using a laminar flamelet approach. To our knowledge, this is the first report of joint Raman/FRS imaging for nonpremixed combustion. Measurements are presented from flames driven at 7.5 Hz, where a single vortex stretches the flame, and at 90 Hz, where two consecutive vortices interact to cause a repeatable strain-induced flame-quenching event.