Coupled Experimental–Computational Analysis of Liquid Jet Breakup in Subsonic Cross Flows

This paper examines the characteristics of the liquid jet in subsonic crossflow conditions in a Mach 0.3 crossflow. Using ANSYS Fluent for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with the Volume of Fluid (VOF) model, combined with ANSYS Fluent meshing, primary breakup was modeled in 2D, characterizing jet behavior through momentum flux ratio, Weber number, and penetration depth. Despite simulation challenges, these results provide insights into jet dynamics. 3D simulations, using Pointwise for meshing and ANSYS Fluent for CFD, improves accuracy and capture complex flow interactions. This study will emphasize both primary and secondary breakup, employing adaptive mesh refinement to analyze droplet size distribution and breakup regimes. An experimental test setup was developed to characterize jet trajectories for optimized fuel injection in high-speed propulsion systems, and its trajectory was compared to already existing correlations.