Impact of shear-coaxial injector hydrodynamics on high-frequency combustion instabilities in a representative cryogenic rocket engine

Abstract

The excitation mechanism of a thermoacoustic instability in a 42-element research rocket thrust chamber with representative operating conditions with respect to European cryogenic rocket engines is investigated in detail. From previous research it was known that the chamber 1T mode can be excited by persistent heat release rate oscillations which are modulated by the resonant modes of the liquid oxygen injectors. The excitation source of the longitudinal injector eigenmodes is investigated in this study. Fibre-optical probes measuring the OH* dynamics from the recess volume of two injectors showed additional frequency content which could neither be explained by the chamber acoustics, nor the acoustics of the injection system. Instead, the temporal evolution of these frequencies correlate with the oxidizer flow velocity. In this work we show that the additional flame modulation originates from a hydrodynamic effect in the injection system. Even though the exact process cannot be precisely identified, an effect designated orifice whistling at the injector inlet orifice seems to be a likely candidate. Combining the new results with previous publications about this combustor, it is now possible to explain past and present observations in terms of the hydrodynamic and thermoacoustic conditions which are necessary for the combustion instability to appear. The conditions, which lead to an injection-driven excitation of the 1T mode are matching frequencies of the 2L mode of the injectors and the chamber 1T mode as well as a Strouhal number between 0.2 and 0.4 based on the length and flow velocity of the injector inlet orifice.