Announcing the Final Examination of Sydney Briggs for the degree of Master of Science
An experimentally obtained comparison between the breakup of water droplets in the flow field behind both a detonation wave and shock wave is considered. The experiments presented here were completed to support ongoing research efforts into droplet breakup mechanisms at different Mach and Weber numbers. The physical features of the droplets are observed using a high-speed camera and shadowgraph imagery. Droplets are roughly between 2-3 mm in diameter and are struck by detonation waves of Mach 5-6 and shock waves induced by deflagration combustion events of Mach 1-2. The Weber number of these experiments ranges from 5(103) to 90(103). These experiments were initiated in a detonation tube using four separate mixtures to allow for the creation of shock waves in the detonation tube, which consisted of hydrogen and oxygen or methane and oxygen at different equivalence ratios and once with the addition of nitrogen. Additionally, the breakup of these droplets is compared by non-dimensionalizing the displacement of fluid at the equator of the droplet, which is further compared to predictions made by the Taylor Analogy Breakup model. Attempts are made to determine the influence of factors other than Weber number on the deformation of a water droplet, while also considering the effects of Weber number.
Committee in Charge: Subith Vasu (Chair), Alain Kassab, Michael Kinzel
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