Development of supersonic combustion experiments for CFD modeling

This paper describes the development of an experiment to acquire data for validating computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models for turbulence in supersonic combusting flows. The intent is that the flow field would be simple yet relevant to flows within hypersonic airbreathing engine combustors undergoing testing in vitiated-air ground-testing facilities. Specifically, it describes development of laboratory-scale hardware to produce a supersonic combusting coaxial jet, and discusses design calculations, operability and types of flames observed. These flames are studied using the dual-pump coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) - interferometric Rayleigh scattering (IRS) technique. This technique simultaneously and instantaneously measures temperature, composition, and velocity in the flow, from which many of the important turbulence statistics can be found. Some preliminary CARS data are presented.