Mixing and reacting zone structure in a supersonic mixing chemical oxygen-iodine laser with ramp nozzle array

The adoption of a ramp nozzle array in supersonic mixing chemical oxygen-io dine lasers is examined by simulating the mixing and reacting flow fields n umerically. Then, the efficiency of the ramps in improving the resulting ga in region is studied. The compressible Navier-Stokes equations with a detai led chemical kinetic model are solved using a full-implicit finite volume m ethod. The numerical results show that streamwise vortices, which were not anticipated in the previous studies, are induced downstream of the base rel ief region of the ramp nozzle array and significantly accelerate the mixing and reaction. The contact surface between the reactant streams is stretche d very rapidly due to the vortices, resulting in much higher laser performa nce.