Atomization and Sprays, Vol.28, No.1, 47-63, 2018
HIGH-SPEED RADIOGRAPHY AND VISIBLE LIGHT EXTINCTION OF A PRESSURE-SWIRL ATOMIZER
X-ray radiography, imaging, and fluorescence have been applied to optically dense sprays with great success. The majority of these studies have focused on fuel spray studies for combustion engines and rockets, which have often required demanding or unusual environments or flow configurations that are not easily replicated by other researchers. X-ray measurements probe a different aspect of the spray (liquid density distribution) from visible light diagnostics (scattering from droplets), and as such it can be difficult to compare results from x-ray measurements to results with more conventional diagnostics. Moreover, many previous studies of quasi-steady state sprays have focused exclusively on the time-averaged behavior of the spray. This study will focus on detailed, time-resolved measurements of a small-scale, commercially available pressure-swirl atomizer with simultaneous x-ray radiography and visible light extinction. The data available from both the time-averaged and time-resolved measurements will be described, as well as the potential to correlate visible light extinction with x-ray radiography.