Implication of self-throttling on combustion performance in a strut-based scramjet combustor

Abstract

Abstract The present work describes the numerical investigation on the implication of self-throttling on combustion performance of a strut-based scramjet combustor. Firstly, the mixing characteristics of a strut with and without self-throttling are compared and evaluated to portray the effect of self-throttling in a DLR based scramjet combustor. Later, a separate study is performed to investigate the influence of location of self-throttling on the combustion performance of a strut-based scramjet combustor. Our study reveals that the self-throttling increases the enthalpy of formation and the generates the strong shock waves which improves the mixing rate of fuel and air. Further, the mixing commences relatively earlier with reduced pressure losses when the self-throttling is employed. It is observed that the volume of core flame region and the thickness of a flame depends on the distance between the reflected shock and the self-throttling injection slot.Also, the combustion performance deteriorates with the increase in distance between the reflected shock and the injection slot of self-throttling. Further, the combustion and mixing efficiency is found to be optimalwhen self-throttling is employed at the distance of100 mm from the inlet of the combustor.