Abstract
Gelled propellants are non-Newtonian fluids in which the viscosity is a function of the shear rate, and they have a high dynamic shear viscosity which depends on the amount of gelling agent contents. The present study has focused on the breakup process, wave development of ligament and liquid sheets formed by impinging jets with various gelling agent contents. The breakup process of like-on-like doublet impinging jets are experimentally characterized using non-Newtonian liquids. The spray shape with elliptical pattern is distributed in a perpendicular direction to the momentum vectors of the jets. Gelled propellant simulants with high viscosity jets are more stable and produce less pronounced surface waves than low viscosity jets. Gelled propellant simulants from like-on-like doublet impinging jets have the spray shape of closed rim patterns at low pressure. As the injection pressure increased, rimless patterns which were composed of ligament sheets and small droplets emerged due to the effect of the aerodynamic action.
