Mechanism of supersonic mixing enhancement by a wall-mounted three-dimensional cavity

The detailed mechanism of supersonic mixing enhancement by a novel device is investigated computationally based on the Navier-Stokes equations. The device is a wall-mounted three-dimensional cavity, several parts of the rear face of which are cut out, and the lower wall of the cut-out part has a slope directed toward the injector from which the injectant is discharged. The flow structures and behaviors observed in the computational results are confirmed in the experimental results. Experimental information about the high-frequency (several tens of kHz) pressure oscillation in the cut-out part is acquired in this study using a pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) responding to rapid change in pressure. The computational results reveal that a hairpin-like vortex is formed inside the cavity. The vortex works on the shear layer across the cavity to deflect it upward. The deflected shear layer shields the injectant from the primary flow, which causes the injectant to penetrate deep into the primary flow. The computational results also clarify that the expansion and compression waves produced in the rectangular part of the cavity are delivered effectively to the injector along the slope of the cut-out part, which is confirmed in the PSP measurement results. The delivered waves actuate the jet issuing from the injector to fluctuate up and down periodically with a large amplitude. •The mechanism of supersonic mixing enhancement by a three-dimensional cavity is investigated.•The hairpin-like vortex formed inside the cavity makes the injectant to penetrate deep into the primary flow.•The pressure waves contributing to mixing enhancement are captured computationally and experimentally.•The pressure waves actuate the jet issuing from the injector to fluctuate up and down.