Supersonic liquid fuel jets injected into quiescent air

Supersonic fuel jets may have applications in diesel engine and scramjet technology. Their properties require a fundamental examination as their mixing characteristics are likely to be affected by the leading edge shock wave. Such jets have been created experimentally in the laboratory but require further CFD studies to examine details that are obscure in the experiments. This paper reports on the CFD methods used. These include a solid body assessment of the formation of the leading edge shock, the steady state and transient analysis of the mixing layer in supersonic vapour and liquid jets. A liquid jet, transient solution is computationally expensive even when atomization and vaporization are not included. Some typical results are outlined.