Proceedings of the 13th Asian Congress of Fluid Mechanics 17-21 December 2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sandhya.T1*, Shahbaaz Ahmed2, Sundeep S K3, J.Devipriya4, Asad Ahmed. R5, Dr.K.Padmanaban6
1,2,3,4 5

Design, Fabrication and Testing of sharp throat characteristic supersonic nozzles, flow visualization and study of shocks

Student, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Tagore Engineering College, Chennai, India 600048. Asst Professor, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Tagore Engineering College, Chennai, India 600048 6 Professor, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Tagore Engineering College, Chennai, India 600048 *E-mail of the presenting Author: sandhyathantla@gmail.com

Abstract
The paper deals with design, fabrication and testing of a miniature three dimensional supersonic (convergent-divergent) nozzle having the minimum possible length for the divergent portion and visualizes the shock patterns using the shadowgraph. This short contour nozzle is then compared with another nozzle having a conical divergent portion for speed and shock pattern. These short nozzles are also called as sharp throat nozzles, for these sharp throats are widely used in space launching rockets and missiles technology. The specialty of these nozzles is that the flow is made to expand fully at the throat so that the length of the divergent portion is reduced. This reduction in length reduces the weight of the nozzle which plays the main role in the performance and efficiency of rockets and missiles. The contour nozzle used for the experiment has design Mach number 2.0. The contour of the divergent portion has been designed by the method of characteristics using FORTRAN programming language and Aerospike software and fabricated on a lathe machine. Experiments are conducted for different nozzle pressure ratios (NPR) and the data are recorded and compared for different NPRs. The flow pattern at the exit of the nozzle is captured by shadowgraph system. The mach speed is measured by drilling a hole at the exit of both the nozzles and measuring the static pressure at that point using a mercury manometer. The comparative data of the contour and the conical nozzle are obtained.

weight. In such cases the expansion portion of the nozzle is shrunk to a point, and the expansion takes place through a centered Prandtl-Meyer wave emanating from a sharp-corner throat called as sharp-throat characteristics nozzle or short nozzles. In the literature, a lot of experimental, theoretical and analytical studies on the flow through supersonic nozzles can be found. Among them Vi H. Rapp, Jennifer Jacobsen, Mark Lawson etc have conducted test on desktop supersonic tunnel [1]. Experimental and numerical simulations were done by R. Stark and B. Wagner on mach disk shape in truncated ideal contour nozzles [2]. They wrote about the cold flow tests carried out by DLR Lampoldshausen to study the flow field in a truncated ideal contour nozzle at low nozzle pressure ratios. They also did an experimental study of boundary layer separation in truncated ideal contour nozzles. Min-Gyoo Lee, Jong-Ho Park and Michio Nishida [3] investigated on unsteady shock waves in supersonic nozzles. W.F. Louisos and D.L. Hitt numerically examined the thrust production and efficiency of viscous flow in 3D supersonic micro nozzles with bell shaped expanders [4].

Keywords
contour, conical

supersonic, nozzle, design, fabrication,

1.

Introduction

2. Design of Supersonic Nozzle

A convergent-divergent nozzle, designed for Mach number 2.0 is used as the experimental model and to perform the present investigation. It is a 3-D miniature nozzle designed to operate at a nozzle pressure ratio (NPR) of 0.1278.The nozzle has a minimum possible length with a sharp corner at the throat. Design of Convergent Portion: Area ratio method was followed to design the convergent portion. The convergent portion of the nozzle before the throat was kept straight for a length of 0.30 mm, in order to aid in expansion at the corner of the throat. For simplicity, many times the curve used for the supersonic side of the throat region is extended (or reflected) to the subsonic side. So it was decided to use isentropic relations to form the curve for the subsonic side. Keeping the minimum length factor

Supersonic nozzle is a passage used to transform pressure energy into kinetic energy and delivering flow at supersonic speeds. It needs a combination of convergent and divergent nozzle (CD or De Laval Nozzles). To deliver a supersonic flow at the desired Mach number, the flow should be wave free and parallel. An improper contour results in the formation of finite shocks inside the nozzle by coalescence of weak waves and can prevent a uniform flow. The Method of Characteristics (MOC) provides a technique for properly designing the contour of the supersonic nozzle. In applications like rockets and missiles, nozzles are comparatively shorter than in the wind tunnels. In wind tunnel they have a smooth, gradually expanded divergent portion for delivering a high-quality, uniform flow required in the test section which is done in order to minimize

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into mind, the convergent portion had to be designed as short as possible, without affecting the acceleration of the flow through it. Using the area ratio and Mach number relations i.e. isentropic tables, at an interval of 0.7 mm the length is increased continuously upto 3.8 mm. The diameter of the curve at this point was equal to 4.28 mm. A larger radius of curvature produces a flatter sonic line, hence a larger inlet diameter was chosen. The area ratio of the convergent portion was taken as 5.82 which could quickly accelerate the flow to Mach 0.1 at the inlet of the nozzle from the settling chamber. The area ratio on calculation gives a diameter of 7.24 mm at the inlet. Table 1: Convergent Portion X and Y Values X values (mm) 0 0.67 1.34 2.01 2.68 3.35 4.02 4.69 5.36 6.03 Y values(mm) 3.61927 2.58223 2.13984 1.89151 1.73267 1.63507 1.56918 1.5284 1.50663 1.499995

was the main decisive factor, the lengths of the divergent portion obtained by the three methods were compared and the minimum out of it was chosen. Length calculated using: Aerospike software = 7.56mm FORTRAN Program = 6.15 mm Formula method = 6.15mm The length calculated by the formula method gave the minimum length and was preferred over the other two methods. Table 2: Divergent portion X and Y values X values(mm) 0 0.66183 0.6772 0.76813 0.87343 0.99618 1.14061 1.31255 1.52041 1.77666 2.10164 2.53077 3.13497 4.09199 6.15142 . Y values(mm) 1.5 1.81022 1.81731 1.85596 1.8969 1.94019 1.98594 2.03427 2.08532 2.13918 2.19604 2.25606 2.31939 2.38623 2.45812

Design of Contour Nozzle Divergent Portion: The method of characteristics provides a technique for properly designing the contour of supersonic nozzle for shock-free, isentropic flow, taking into account the multidimensional flow inside the duct and the minimum length factor of the nozzle. The length of this nozzle obtained was the minimum length possible for shock-free, isentropic flow. The region-to-region 2D inviscid MOC was employed for designing the contour of the divergent portion for a sharp-cornered nozzle. The boundary layer correction was also considered. The contours for the divergent portion had been designed by three methods: 1. AEROSPIKE software version 2.6 was used to generate the required contour. 2. A computer program was used with FORTRAN programming language for the calculation of and values in every region. The program takes the input of a number n and divides the fan into (13/n+1) characteristics. Here n is taken as unity. The output of the program gives the x, y locations, , , M and Area ratios. 3. The formula or area ratio method was done as the third method employed for designing the contour of the nozzle. Since the minimum length nozzle

Fig. 1 : Design of contour nozzle Design of Conical Nozzle Divergent Portion: A conical nozzle was designed for the comparison with the contour one. The length of the divergent portion was kept the same with the same boundary layer correction. The final 2D design of both the nozzles was done using AUTOCAD and was developed to 3D circular nozzles. For conical nozzle, the convergent part was same as the contour nozzle

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measuring the static pressure through a pressure tapping. The hole was made on the wall, at a distance of 1.5mm before the nozzle exit.

Fig. 3 : Two different nozzles fabricated Fig. 2 : Divergent design of conical nozzle Table 3: Nozzle configuration Area Expansion Ratio Inlet Diameter Throat Diameter Exit Diameter Convergent section Length Divergent section Length Material Used Total Length 1.688 7.24 mm 3.00 mm 5.06 mm 5.97 mm 7.65 mm Brass 13.62 mm

4. Experimental Set-up
Air Supply System: An air compressor with a maximum range of 21 atmospheres (300 psi) was used as the air supplier. Diffuser: Basically, diffuser is a passage in which the flow will decelerate. Designing of the diffuser was most difficult and important. Hence a conical shape was used to let proper flow into the settling chamber for maintaining the stagnation pressure and also for the prevention of the losses. Inner diameter of the inlet of the diffuser = 24 mm. Inner diameter of the outlet of the diffuser =102 mm.

Fig.4:Diffuser
Wall thickness of the diffuser = 6mm. Angle at which the diffuser is bore = 10 degrees. Length of the diffuser = 228 mm Settling Chamber: The supersonic nozzle is fitted behind the settling chamber. The settling chamber, to which a pressure gauge is attached, is used to maintain the stagnation pressure to provide flow to the nozzle. Settling chamber is made to with-stand a pressure about 10 atmospheres. It is made of mildsteel. Towards the ends of the chamber were attached flange plates of 7inches diameter.

3. Fabrication of Nozzle
The 2D design of the nozzle is used to convert it into a 3D nozzle. It was fabricated on a lathe machine by specially designed tools. On total, three tools were made, for the convergent portion, the contoured divergent portion and the conical divergent portion. Brass had been used as the fabricating material for the nozzle. A cylindrical solid made up of brass of diameter 40 mm and length 20 mm was taken, the ends were faced and brought to the required dimensions. Now the diameter and length of the nozzle were 30 mm and 13.62mm Then the piece was drilled through with a drill bit of 3mm diameter after which the tools were used. The nozzle had to be drilled at the exit portion of the divergent section, to provide for the pressure tapping. The hole had to be as small in diameter as possible, so a drill bit of .6 mm diameter was to be used (minimum available that time).But the problem of drilling hole with such a thin and small diameter drill bit was that it would break with extra pressure applied on it and would remain inside the wall of the nozzle, without being removed easily. So it was planned to drill a hole with a 1mm drill bit half way inside and then use the .6mm drill bit, to make hole concentrically inside till it passed through the wall. The nozzle is supposed to have a minute hole just at the exit of the nozzle, to provide a means for

Fig.5:SettlingChamber

Wall thickness of settling chamber = 6mm. Inner inlet/outlet diameter = 102 mm. Outer inlet/outlet diameter= 114mm. Mercury Manometer: A U-tube mercury manometer was used for measuring the static pressure at the exit of the nozzle which was used to

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calculate the exit Mach number. It has one limb of the manometer connected to a sleeve, which was inserted into the nozzle hole using a small pressure tapping. The other limb was left open to the atmosphere. The difference in height of two fluid columns helps in measuring the static pressure. Visualization Technique: The visualization technique used in the present project is the shadowgraph technique to view the shocks clearly due to the pressure difference between the exit pressure and the atmospheric pressure. In the present project, sun was used as the source of light for the shadowgraph setup since it is very powerful, provides parallel light and economical.

The shock patterns at different NPR were captured for both the nozzles and are shown below.

5. Experimental Procedure
The shock patterns generated by both the nozzles were to be captured for different settling chamber pressures and the mach numbers measured. At first, the contoured nozzle was fitted into the settling chamber. The compressor pressure was at 10 atm. Static pressures at the exit of the nozzle were measured by the U-tube mercury manometer using the difference in the level of mercury in the two limbs of the manometer. Later, the procedure was repeated for the conical nozzle. The mach numbers were found for both the nozzles and the shock patterns were obtained through the shadowgraph setup. Mach numbers and shock patterns for various stagnant pressures were obtained for both the nozzles. The results obtained were analyzed and compared. Fig. 7: shock patterns of conical nozzle for Over-expanded condition (NPR 2)

6. Results and conclusions:

The calibration of mach no. plot at different NPR for both convergent and contour nozzles is shown below:

Fig. 8: shock patterns of contour nozzle for Over-expanded condition (NPR 2)

MACHNUMBERPLOT
MACHNUMBER 3 2 1 0 0 5 NPR Fig. 6: Mach distribution against NPR for both the nozzles 10 CONTOUR CONICAL

Fig.9: shock pattern of conical nozzle for

Under-expanded condition (NPR 8)

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Fig.10: shock pattern of contour nozzle for Under-expanded condition (NPR 8)

8) To the contrary, the conical exit geometry was diverging and produced non uniform flow. Hence the shock patterns were clearly seen with the intersection of oblique shocks and formation of diamond patterns. 9) The conical nozzle was noisier than the contour nozzle. It was again due to the fact that the contour nozzle was designed to produce shock free flow against the conical nozzle which generated shocks. 10) The contour nozzle reached a higher mach no than the conical nozzle at all NPRs. 11) The exit flow geometry of the designed contour nozzle was found to deliver a uniform and smooth, shock-free flow, comparatively with lesser noise than the conical nozzle. Hence the contour design proved to be a better design for the nozzle with a minimum length.

1) The Mach number results obtained by the experimental value were compared with the calculated isentropic value. The deviations of Mach no. through the designed conical and contour nozzle at 8 NPR were 5.5% and 1.99% respectively. 2) The shadowgraph clearly showed the formation of diamond shock patterns and mach disks at the exit. The shocks were clearly visible above 8 NPR because of the strength of the shocks and spread over a large distance from the exit with increasing NPR and began to fade at below 2 NPR. 3) The thickness of shocks increased with increase in NPR. 4) The thump sound was heard loud at higher NPR and was noisier than at low NPR. 5) The shocks generated by the contour nozzle showed an elliptical pattern which reduced with the axial distance from the exit of the nozzle. They were steady but began to fade after traversing a distance. Whereas, the conical nozzle showed clear diamond patterns of shocks with intersection of oblique shocks, the shocks formed were steadier and the diamond patterns travelled a longer distance axially. 6) The intersection area of the shocks formed by the conical nozzles was dark and not visible properly. This might have been due to the fact that the region inside the elliptical patterns became subsonic, which may had decreased the density of that region and absorbing less light and hence appeared dark. 7) The difference in shock patterns was due to different nozzle exit geometry. The contour exit geometry was straight and was designed for generating uniform, smooth shock-free flow. Hence the shock patterns did not show the intersection of oblique shocks. Only the reduction of flow to subsonic speeds could be seen with the decrease in the elliptical patterns.

References
[1] Vi H. Rapp, Jennifer Jacobsen, Mark Lawson, Andrew Parker and Kuan Chen., Design, Construction and Testing of a Desktop Supersonic Wind Tunnel, American journal of undergraduate research, Vol.4, No.2, 2005. [2] R. Stark and B. Wagner., Mach disk shape in truncated ideal contour nozzles, Book, Shock Waves, Part XIII, 967-972, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-851813_28, Year: 2009 [3] Min-Gyoo Lee, Jong-Ho Park and Michio Nishida., Unsteady shock waves in supersonic nozzles, Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology Volume 11, Number 1, 96-105, DOI: 10.1007/BF02945230 Year: 1997. [4] W.F. Louisos, A.A. Alexeenko, D.L. Hitt, A. Zilic., Design considerations for supersonic micronozzles International Journal of Manufacturing Research Volume 3, Number 1 / 2008 pp 80 113. [5] Brady P. Brown and Brian M, Argrow., Calculation of Supersonic Minimum Length Nozzles for Equilibrium Flow, Inverse problems in Science and Engineering, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp 65 95. February 1999.

[6] N.H. Johannesen., Study of high speed airflow

by the schlieren method, Journal of the Manchester Oil Refinery Group of Companies, Vol. 4, No. 2,

1958

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