Studies on the effects of bluff body materials in scramjet applications

• Published in: Materials today : proceedings Vol. 59; pp. 1367 - 1378
• Main Authors: Shankar, A., Kulandaivel, Arul, Charles, Martin, Lakshmana Kumar, S., Thanikasalam, A., Satheesh Kumar, A., Kumar, Raj
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2022
• Subjects: Air-fuel mixture; Flame stabilization; Scramjet; Trapezoidal bluff body materials; Turbulence; Turbulence; Trapezoidal bluff body materials; Air-fuel mixture; Flame stabilization; Scramjet
• ISSN: 2214-7853; 2214-7853
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2021.12.028

This paper investigates the flame stabilization and mixing characteristics of non-premixed combustion of scramjet combustor with the trapezoidal bluff body materials. Due to less residence time and small space for the fuel-air mixing inside the combustor, the combustion process of the scramjet engine is incomplete and non-uniform. Stabilizing flames inside the scramjet combustor is difficult due to supersonic airspeeds. Flame holders are employed to stabilize flames inside the scramjet combustor. Bluff body materials flame holders are widely used in gas turbine engines as flame stabilization technique. The bluff body materials will create low-velocity recirculation zones, which will induce proper mixing of fuel-air and stabilize flames inside those recirculation zones. Thus, the combustion of scramjet combustors is enhanced using bluff body materials. The CFD analysis of the two-dimensional scramjet combustor with the trapezoidal bluff body materials is done using ANSYS Fluent. The flow parameters such as velocities, pressure drop, densities, and heat of reaction, turbulence, specific heats, mass fractions, and temperatures are plotted and studied. The combustion of scramjet combustor is enhanced by employing trapezoidal bluff body materials is evident in CFD results.