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Development of 100 kHz-rate CO Laser-Induced Fluorescence in High Speed Flows

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posted on 2023-05-15, 17:23 authored by Robert BlackwellRobert Blackwell

 Understanding boundary layer transition is fundamental to hypersonic vehicle design as the significant heating induced by the transition process informs the development of vehicle thermal protection systems. Carbon-based thermal protection systems have been shown to decrease thermal loads and delay transition by absorbing thermal energy during ablative mass transfer into the boundary layer. To better understand this process, a high-repetition rate measurement technique is needed to temporally resolve carbon species concentrations as they propagate through the boundary layer at frequencies where boundary layer instabilities occur. Carbon monoxide is a dominant product from the chemical reactions that take place during the ablation process and is the species of interest considered in this work. A proposed approach is applying carbon monoxide two-photon laser-induced fluorescence (CO TP-LIF) at 100 kHz+ during a simulated ablation experiment where CO is injected into the boundary layer of an axisymmetric slender-body cone model in the Boeing/AFOSR Mach 6 Quiet Tunnel (BAM6QT) at Purdue University. To develop this capability, a custom-built optical parametric oscillator (OPO) was designed and used in conjunction with a burst-mode laser system to achieve narrowband excitation of CO at 100 kHz. The OPO was designed, built, and characterized through measurements of cavity energy efficiency, spectral bandwidth, and beam quality. Initial demonstrations to show the OPO could successfully achieve CO LIF were conducted in a vacuum cell at 10 Hz. The feasibility of performing CO LIF at 100 kHz in the BAM6QT was then assessed on a bench-scale using a burst-mode laser, a high speed camera, and an imaging intensifier. CO number densities in a vacuum cell were related to those that would be expected within the boundary layer of a 3 degree half-angle cone in the BAM6QT, and a series of measurements were made at these representative conditions. Appreciable signal levels were attained for single dimensional focused line measurements demonstrating high potential for using this technique in the BAM6QT at 100 kHz. The potential for a two-dimensional planar measurement was also assessed with decent promise for success for planar laser sheets of small dimensions (2 mm tall or less). Additionally, an initial BAM6QT test entry was carried out to gain experience with experimental setup; lessons learned from this experience are examined and discussed. To date, CO TP-LIF has only been applied up to 1 kHz repetition rates. This work represents a 100 fold increase over the current CO LIF state of the art and the first reported measurements, bench scale or otherwise, of 100 kHz-rate CO LIF. This lays the foundation for future CO LIF experiments in the BAM6QT at kHz-MHz repetition rates. 

Funding

ONR N0014-21-1-2603

History

Degree Type

  • Master of Science

Department

  • Mechanical Engineering

Campus location

  • West Lafayette

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Joseph Jewell

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee co-chair

Terrence Meyer

Additional Committee Member 2

Mikhail Slipchenko

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