Fundamental and applied research on core engine/combustion noise of aircraft engines

Some results of a study of the importance of geometrical features of the combustor to combustion roughness and resulting noise are presented. Comparison is made among a perforated can flame holder, a plane slotted flame holder and a plane slotted flame holder which introduces two counter swirling streams. The latter is found to permit the most stable, quiet combustion. Crosscorrelations between the time derivative of chamber pressure fluctuations and far field noise are found to be stronger than between the far field noise and the direct chamber pressure signal. Temperature fluctuations in the combustor nozzle are also found to have a reasonably strong crosscorrelation with far field sound

Thermal and fluid dynamic analysis of partially premixed turbulent combustion driven by thermo acoustic effects

Thermo-acoustic instability can be caused by the feedback mechanism between unsteady heat release, acoustic oscillations and flow perturbations. In a gas turbine combustor limit cycles of pressure oscillations at elevated temperatures generated by the unstable combustion process enhance the structural vibration levels of the combustor. In this paper, the behavior of turbulent partially premixed flames in a laboratory-scale lean partially premixed combustor (called as LIMOUSINE combustor) operating on natural gas- methane fuel mixtures is studied by using CFD methods. Depending on the operating conditions, the flame shows a stable or an unstable behavior. In order to predict the frequency and magnitude of the thermo-acoustic instability, and also to capture the reacting flow physics within the combustor, the influence of operating conditions on combustion characteristics is examined by using unsteady three-dimensional RANS solution of the conservation equations. To understand the effects of operating conditions on the observed stability characteristics, the time averaged velocity fields were measured with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) for the thermoacoustically stable and unstable operating conditions of the combustor. The comparison of the CFD calculations with the mean velocity fields shows good agreement. The results of the present study demonstrate the relationship between the flame structure, the mean velocity filed and pressure fluctuations under different operating conditions

Joint numerical and experimental study of thermoacoustic instabilities

From small scale energy systems such as domestic boilers up to rocket motors, combustion chambers are often prone to combustion instabilities. These instabilities stem from the coupling of unsteady heat release rate and acoustic waves. This coupling is two sided: flame front perturbations generate acoustic waves while acoustic waves impinging on flame holders can disturb flames attached on them. Important pressure and velocity oscillations can be reached during unstable regimes, that can alter its efficiency or even damage the entire combustion chamber. One major challenge is to understand, predict, and prevent from these combustion instabilities. The objectives of this thesis are twofold: (1) take into account acoustic dissipation and (2)analyze flame/acoustic coupling to obtain Reduced Order Model (ROM) for combustion instabilities. This work is divided into three parts. First, the concept of ROM that gives the acoustic modes of a combustion chamber is introduced. This modeling strategy is based on the acoustic network theory and may take into account flame/acoustic coupling as well as acoustic dissipation. An efficient numerical algorithm dedicated to solve ROMs was designed on purpose and validated on several academical configurations. Second, an experimental rig was commissioned to study mean and acoustic pressure losses across a diaphragm and two swirl injectors. Results show that these two phenomena are linked and can be simply incorporated into ROMs. Finally, flame/acoustic coupling is investigated by using both direct numerical simulations and experiments: a lean premixed V-shaped laminar flame is anchored on a cylindrical bluff-body and we show that its temperature greatly influences the flame mean shape as well as its dynamics

Stabilization of acoustic modes using Helmholtz and Quarter-Wave resonators tuned at exceptional points

Acoustic dampers are efficient and cost-effective means for suppressing thermoacoustic instabilities in combustion chambers. However, their design and the choice of their purging air mass flow is a challenging task, when one aims at ensuring thermoacoustic stability after their implementation. In the present experimental and theoretical study, Helmholtz (HH) and Quarter-Wave (QW) dampers are considered. A model for their acoustic impedance is derived and experimentally validated. In a second part, a thermoacoustic instability is mimicked by an electro-acoustic feedback loop in a rectangular cavity, to which the dampers are added. The length of the dampers can be adjusted, so that the system can be studied for tuned and detuned conditions. The stability of the coupled system is investigated experimentally and then analytically, which shows that for tuned dampers, the best stabilization is achieved at the exceptional point. The stabilization capabilities of HH and QW dampers are compared for given damper volume and purge mass flow.Comment: 34 pages, 19 figures, acepted in the Journal of Sound and Vibratio

Prediction and control of combustion instabilities in real engines

This paper presents recent progress in the field of thermoacoustic combustion instabilities in propulsion engines such as rockets or gas turbines. Combustion instabilities have been studied for more than a century in simple laminar configurations as well as in laboratory-scale turbulent flames. These instabilities are also encountered in real engines but new mechanisms appear in these systems because of obvious differences with academic burners: larger Reynolds numbers, higher pressures and power densities, multiple inlet systems, complex fuels. Other differences are more subtle: real engines often feature specific unstable modes such as azimuthal instabilities in gas turbines or transverse modes in rocket chambers. Hydrodynamic instability modes can also differ as well as the combustion regimes, which can require very different simulation models. The integration of chambers in real engines implies that compressor and turbine impedances control instabilities directly so that the determination of the impedances of turbomachinery elements becomes a key issue. Gathering experimental data on combustion instabilities is difficult in real engines and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) has become a major tool in this field. Recent examples, however, show that LES is not sufficient and that theory, even in these complex systems, plays a major role to understand both experimental and LES results and to identify mitigation techniques

Thermoacoustic stabilization of a longitudinal combustor using adjoint methods

We construct a low order thermoacoustic network model that contains the most influential physical mechanisms of a thermoacoustic system. We apply it to a laboratory-scale longitudinal combustor that has been found to be thermoacoustically unstable in experiments. We model the flame, which is behind a bluff body, by a geometric level set method. We obtain the thermoacoustic eigenvalues of this configuration and examine a configuration in which six eigenmodes are unstable. We then derive the adjoint equations of this model and use the corresponding adjoint eigenmodes to obtain the sensitivities of the unstable eigenvalues to modifications of the model geometry. These sensitivities contain contributions from changes to the steady base flow and changes to the fluctuating flow. We find that these two contributions have similar magnitudes, showing that both contributions need to be considered. We then wrap these sensitivities within a gradient-based optimization algorithm and stabilize all six eigenvalues by changing the geometry. The required geometry changes are well approximated by the first step in the optimization process, showing that this sensitivity information is useful even before it is embedded within an optimization algorithm. We examine the acoustic energy balance during the optimization process and identify the physical mechanisms through which the algorithm is stabilizing the combustor. The algorithm works by, for each mode, reducing the work done by the flame, while simultaneously increasing the work done by the system on the outlet boundary. We find that only small geometry changes are required in order to stabilize every mode. The network model used in this study deliberately has the same structure as one used in the gas turbine industry in order to ease its implementation in practice.Cambridge Trust

Interaction of Shock Train with Cavity Shear Layer in a Scramjet Isolator

The interaction between the self-excited shock train flow and the cavity shear layer in a scramjet isolator is investigated numerically using detached-eddy simulations (DES). The effect of changing the position of the shock train by controlling the back pressure ratio and the effect of changing the cavity front wall angle are analyzed using unsteady statistics and modal analysis. The propagation mechanism of the pressure disturbance was investigated by spatiotemporal cross-correlation coefficient analysis. In the present numerical study, a constant isolator section with a cavity front wall was considered, followed by a diffuser section simulated at Mach number 2.2 with three different back pressure ratios. The change in back pressure provides three different conditions. To understand the unsteady dynamics of the interaction of the shear layer with the shock train, the spatiotemporal trajectory of the wall pressure and the centerline pressure distribution, the spatiotemporal cross-correlation coefficient, and the modal analysis by dynamic mode decomposition are obtained. The results show that the low-frequency shock train oscillation dominates the cavity oscillation. The spatiotemporal cross-correlation between the wall surface and the cavity bottom wall indicates the propagation of local disturbances originating from the separated boundary layer caused by the shock and the recirculation zone in the corners of the cavity. Dynamic mode decomposition analysis shows the shear layer at the leading edge of the cavity and the downstream propagation of large eddies from the cavity. It also shows the pairing of coherent structures between the shock train and the recirculation zone of the cavity.Comment: Submitted to Physics of Flui

Complex numerical-experimental investigations of combustion in model high-speed combustor ducts

International audienceFast technologies for numerical simulation of high-speed flows in ducts, developed in TsAGI, are described. The examples are presented of the application of experimental data, obtained at T-131 wind tunnel, for validation of the developed numerical technologies: 1) validation of 2.5D and 3D calculations of flow in the elliptic combustor with hydrogen supersonic combustion that was studied within HEXAFLY-INT international project; 2) validation of 2D and 2.5D calculations of flow in high-speed model combustor duct with step-like expansion. Preparation of new series of experiments, oriented on validation of turbulent combustion models, is described

Propellant Injection Strategy for Suppressing Acoustic Combustion Instability

Shear-coaxial injector elements are often used in liquid-propellant-rocket thrust chambers, where combustion instabilities remain a significant problem. A conventional solution to the combustion instability problem relies on passive control techniques that use empirically-tested hardware such as acoustic baffles and tuned cavities. In addition to adding weight and decreasing engine performance, these devices are designd using trial-and-error empirical science, which does not provide the capability to predict the overall system stability characteristics in advance. In this thesis, two novel control strategies that are based on propellant fluid dynamics were investigated for mitigating acoustic instability involving shear-coaxial injector elements. The new control strategies would use a set of controlled injectors allowing local adjustment of propellant flow patterns for each operating condition, of which the instability could become a problem. One strategy relies on reducing the oxidizer-fuel density gradient by blending heavier methane to the main fuel hydrogen. Another strategy utilizes modifying the equivalence ratio to affect the acoustic impedance through the mixing and reaction rate changes. To provide the scientific basis, unit-physics experiments were conducted to explore the potential effectiveness of these strategies. Two different model combustors, simulating a single-element injector test and a double-element injector test, were designed and tested for flame-acoustic interaction. For these experiments, the Reynolds number of the central oxygen jet was kept between 4700 and 5500 making the injector flames sufficiently turbulent. A compression driver, mounted on one side of the combustor wall, provided controlled acoustic excitation to the injector flames, simulating the initial phase of flame-acoustic interaction. Acoustic excitation was applied either as a band-limited white noise forcing between 100 Hz and 5000 Hz or as a single-frequency, fixed-amplitude forcing at 1150 Hz which represented a frequency least amplified by any resonance. Effects of each control strategy on flame-acoustic interaction were assessed in terms of modifying the acoustic resonance characteristics subject to white-noise excitation and changes in flame brush thickness under single-frequency excitation. In the methane blending experiments, the methane mole fraction was varied between 0% and 63%. Under white noise excitation, up to 16% shift in a resonant frequency was observed but the acoustic pressure spectrum remained qualitatively similar. For the fixed frequency forcing, the spatial extent of flame-acoustic interaction was substantially reduced. In the other experiments, the equivalence ratio of the control injector was varied between 0 and infinity, causing up to 40% shift in a resonant frequency as well as changes in the acoustic pressure spectrum. These results open up the possibility of employing flow-based control to prevent combustion instabilities in liquid-fueled rockets