Research Projects

The project proposes an in-depth systematic study to understand shock-spray flame interactions in practical scenarios as encountered in high-speed propulsion systems. Aviation sector is one of the primary sectors which comprise majority of the global emissions and developing sustainable alternatives that can improve combustion and contribute to significant reduction in global emissions. Primary motivation for this project is to test wide range of potential fuels such as nanofuels, fuel-blends, microemulsion fuels, bio-fuels, etc, that are promising options for the sustainability goals such as developing more efficient atomizers, combustors towards green energy and pollutant reduction in especially in hypersonics and aviation sector. Furthermore, precise control of atomization is also critical for additive manufacturing, agricultural, pharmaceutical, food industry sectors particularly with materials like polymers and liquid metals. Atomization and subsequent phase change of these droplets directly influence powder production, enabling tailored particle size distributions. Understanding the aerobreakup mechanisms of such droplets is essential for designing effective atomization strategies that meet specific requirements for different industries such as additive manufacturing, pharmaceutical, agricultural sectors. Objectives:1. Conduct fundamental investigation on the interaction of shock waves with droplets of different types of fluids such as microemulsions, nanofluids, liquid metal, polymers, etc, to study the atomization mechanisms and develop regime maps (Ms 1.1 to 3). Perform studies at various shock flow configurations that are of practical importance using a novel proprietary compact shock tube facility at IISc. 2. Perform shock – spray interaction studies in the proprietary shock tube facility to extend the droplet atomization results, for development of novel injectors and atomizers for different exotic fuels, complex fluids such as polymers and liquid metal. 3. Conduct fundamental studies on the interaction between shock waves and combusting droplets. Experiments would utilise high-speed OH*, CH* chemiluminescence for studying flame dynamics of different scales. Additionally, advanced laser-based optical diagnostics are used to analyse the primary and secondary atomisation modes of the droplets.4. Provide a response Map of different phenomena during interaction with different shock strengths for different fuel types and flame stabilization on the droplet. 5. Uncover different regime maps and provide physical insights into the shock spray flame interaction and correlate the data with the spray shock interaction results. 6. Designing of novel atomizers and proposing the optimal parametric space for different fluids ranging from exotic fuels microemulsion, nanofuels, liquid metal, polymeric fluids.