Design of Test Section for Modulating Heat Flux Using Acoustic Streaming in Narrow Channel Experiments

Aircraft engines require lightweight efficient thermal management devices to improve engine performance at high pressure ratios. Acoustic streaming can provide a viable, lightweight solution to improve the heat exchanger capacity with a reduced drag penalty within engine heat exchangers. This project develops a test section that will experimentally characterize the effect of acoustic streaming on the unsteady heat flux and shear stress within a narrow channel. This is accomplished by careful selection of measurement techniques to monitor the steady and unsteady properties of the flow and iteratively designing the test section with CFD support to converge to an optimal test model. Using CFD support to revise each iteration reduces the experimental cost of developing an effective geometry.

Pressure taps and K-type thermocouples are used to monitor the total inlet pressure and temperature as well as the wall surface pressure and temperature. Optical shear stress sensors are selected to monitor the unsteady wall shear stress. A thin film sensor array is designed for high frequency wall temperature measurements which serve the boundary condition for a 1-D heat flux analysis to determine the unsteady heat flux through the wall. The test model consists of two hollow Teflon airfoils that create a narrow channel within a larger flow area. The airfoils create three flow paths within the wind tunnel test section and the area ratio between the measured flow and the bypass flow controls the Mach number of within the measured flow channel. The acoustic waves drive acoustic streaming and are generated by a Rossiter Cavity with L/D =2 which produces pressure oscillations with dominant frequency of 8 kHz in a Mach 0.8 flow.

The test geometry successfully achieves Mach 0.8 flow and the 8 kHz signal [BMJW1] from the Rossiter cavity. The successful commissioning sets the stage for future experiments to determine the potential of acoustic streaming as a low weight modification to improve compact heat exchangers.