We present new experimental results on the interfacial instabilities and breakup of Newtonian liquid drops suddenly exposed to rarefied, high-speed (Mach 3) air flows. The experimental approach allows for the first time detailed observation of interfacial phenomena and mixing throughout the breakup cycle over a wide range of Weber numbers. Key findings are that Rayleigh-Taylor instability alone is the active mechanism for freestream Weber numbers as low as 28 for low viscosity liquids and that stripping rather than piercing is the asymptotic regime as We→∞. This and other detailed visual evidence over 26<We<2,600 are uniquely suitable for testing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations on the way to basic understanding of aerobreakup over a broad range of conditions.

Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Keywords:
rarefied fluid dynamics, aerodynamics, two-phase flow, computational fluid dynamics, supersonic flow, Mach number, Rayleigh-Taylor instability, drops, viscosity
Topics:
Computational fluid dynamics, Drops, Flow (Dynamics), Mach number, Pressure, Rarefied fluid dynamics, Rayleigh-Taylor instability, Shear (Mechanics), Supersonic flow, Viscosity, Waves, Density, Engineering simulation, Simulation, Aerodynamics, Air flow
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