Research Initiation Award: The Effects of Turbulence on the Drag and Evaporation Rate of Liquid Droplets

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An experimental study to investigate the interaction between droplets and comparable sized turbulent gas vortices is proposed. Measurements of droplet diameters, velocities, and accelerations in a turbulent air stream will be made using strobed shadow photography. The turbulent air flow will be generated in a wind tunnel with turbulence generating grids. Laser Doppler velocimetry will be used to characterize the gas turbulence. Data on the mass and momentum transfer, drop drag coefficients and evaporation rates will be obtained in the range of droplet Reynolds numbers (1 to 500) seen in real sprays. The results will be useful for better understanding droplet transport processes, with application to modeling sprays in combustion chambers.