Computational Study of the Coaxial Air and Fuel Jet Through a 3-lobe Strut Injector for Efficient Fuel Mixing in a Supersonic Combustion Chamber

In this article, comprehensive simulations of the compressible air stream inside the combustion chamber are done to disclose the mixing and circulation performance of the 3-lobe injector behind the strut. The computational approach is employed to visualize the jet flow with/without the inner air jet released at supersonic flow. The main focus is the importance of lobe shape nozzle on the fuel diffusion into the main stream behind the strut. The role of the shock waves and their contact with the fuel jet flow is also investigated in the present work. Free stream velocity inside the combustion chamber is Mach = 4 while the hydrogen fuel jet is injected via sonic speed. A comparison of single and 3-lobe nozzles indicates that the lobe configuration of the nozzle increases the circulation behind the nozzle. Besides, the usage of the internal air jet increases the contact of the fuel jet with the shear layer initiated from the edge of the strut.