Advanced Liquid Surface Tracking Software for Predicting Atomization in Gas Turbine Combustors and Augmentors

Recently developed gas/liquid (G/L) methodology, being used for cavitating flow problems, and extended for all-speed operability using preconditioning, will be used to analyze fuel jet atomization in high-speed military gas turbines. This methodology can capture G/L interfaces, and using multi-element unstructured numerics in conjunction with grid adaptation, will resolve G/L shear layer details needed for accurate atomization predictions. Previous primary breakup studies using traditional VOF methodology in a structured grid code, used advanced correlations to predict local droplet formation rates and sizes. Such results will be greatly improved using the new G/L methodology and refined grids along the interface. In this proposed effort, we will demonstrate the applicability of the new G/L approach for tracking the liquid fuel jet in problems typifying gas turbine fuel injection processes. We will also exhibit how grid adaptation can be used to enhance overall accuracy. Primary work will entail implementing the detailed primary breakup models that we have used earlier into the new G/L framework, and demonstrating how we can predict localized atomization rates and droplet sizes along a fuel jet interface. In Phase II, we will focus on validation using full-scale, JSF relevant, gas turbine data sets.