LIQUID SHEET DISINTEGRATION AND ATOMIZATION PROCESS ON A SIMPLIFIED AIRBLAST ATOMIZER

Liquid sheet break-up in coflowing shear flow is the mean by which liq uids are atomized in practical injectors for gas turbine combustors. T he present study explores experimentally the mechanisms of liquid shee t instabilities and spray formation. Experiments are conducted on four airblast geometries. A high-speed video camera associated with an ima ge processing unit was used to study the liquid sheet instabilities. A microphone and a frequency analyzer were used to track the disintegra tion frequency. Instability amplitude and disintegration length of the liquid sheet were measured. A two-component Phase Doppler Particle An alyzer was used to characterize the resultant spray. The spatial distr ibution of the particle size is influenced by the swirling flow field. These experimental results will be used to assess models of fuel shee t instabilities and disintegration.