The atomization, mixing, combustion and emissions characteristics of aviation fuels were measured using a novel approach based on a non-continuous injection scheme called the single-hole atomizer (SHA). High-speed microscopy revealed differences between fuels in terms of evaporation and mixing regimes over conditions relevant to modern and next generation aero-engine combustors. Measurements of liquid and vapor penetration, mixing fields, combustion and emissions metrics (ignition delay, lift-off length, PAH formation, soot mass) highlighted the effects of fuels and combustor conditions. The experimental results are being leveraged to adjust and validate chemical and CFD models. Detailed analysis of sampled soot showed subtle differences in soot morphology between fuels. The results revealed the presence of contaminants potentially affecting surface chemistry and the nucleation propensity of water droplets on particles. Chemical mechanisms for NJFCP A-2, C-1 and C-4 showed good performance over a large parameter space. Spray breakup at relight conditions is vastly different from the atomization observed at high pressure. CFD simulations of the SHA target conditions confirmed the good behavior of the C-1 kinetic mechanism. The simulations support the strong relationship between low and high temperature reactions. New altitude chamber facility to enable detailed characterization of the heterogeneous nucleation process of water on aerosol particles.
The notion of plane shock waves is a macroscopic, very fruitful idealization of near discontinuous disturbance propagating at supersonic speed. Such a picture is comparable to the picture of shorelines seen from a very high altitude. When viewed at the grain scale where the structure of solids is inherently heterogeneous and stochastic, features of shock waves are non-laminar and field variables, such as particle velocity and pressure, fluctuate. This paper reviews select aspects of such fluctuating nonequilibrium features of plane shock waves in solids with focus on grain scale phenomena and raises the need for a paradigm change to achieve a deeper understanding of plane shock waves in solids.
Marine hydrokinetic devices, such as wave energy converters (WECs), can unlock untapped energy from the ocean's currents and waves. Acoustic impact assessments are required to ensure that the noise these devices generate will not negatively impact marine life, and accurate modeling of noise provides an a priori means to viably perform this assessment. We present a case study of the PacWave South site, a WEC testing site off the coast of Newport, Oregon, demonstrating the use of ParAcousti, an open-source hydroacoustic propagator tool, to model noise from an array of 28 WECs in a 3-dimensional (3-D) realistic marine environment. Sound pressure levels are computed from the modeled 3-D grid of pressure over time, which we use to predict marine mammal acoustic impact metrics (AIMs). We combine two AIMs, signal to noise ratio and sensation level, into a new metric, the effective signal level (ESL), which is a function of propagated sound, background noise levels, and hearing thresholds for marine species and is evaluated across 1/3 octave frequency intervals. The ESL model can be used to predict and quantify the potential impact of an anthropogenic signal on the health and behavior of a marine mammal species throughout the 3-D simulation area.