Experimental Study on Reaction Thrust Characteristics of Water Jet for Conical Nozzle

Water jet thruster, which is a marine system that creates a jet of water for propulsion, has several advantages such as low noise, good anti-cavitation characteristics and maneuvering characteristics. The reaction thrust characteristics of water jet for conical nozzles directly determine the speed of autonomous underwater vehicles （AUV）. Theoretical, numerical and experimental studies have been, carried out to investigate the effects of the nozzle geometries as well as inlet conditions on the reaction thrust of water jet in this paper. The experimental results show that： 1） the reaction thrust is proportional to inlet pressure, the square of flow rate and 2/3 power exponent of input power; 2） the diameter of cylinder column for conical nozzle has great influence on the reaction thrust characteristics; 3） the best values of the half cone angle and the cylinder column length exist to make the reaction thrust coefficient to reach the maximum under the same inlet conditions. Those provide a basis for nozzles design and have significant value, especially for developing high performance and efficiency water jet propulsion unit.

Reaction thrust of water jet for conical nozzles

Clear knowledge on the reaction thrust of water jet is valuable for better design of water jet propulsion system. In this paper, theoretical, numerical and experimental studies were carried out to investigate the effects of the nozzle geometry as-well as the inlet conditions on the reaction thrust of water jet. Comparison analyses reveal that the reaction thrust has a direct proportional relationship with the product of the inlet pressure, the square of flow rate and two-thirds power exponent of the input power. The results also indicate that the diameter of the cylinder column for the conical nozzle has great influence on the reaction thrust characteristics. In addition, the best values of the half cone angle and the cylinder column length exist to make the reaction thrust reach its maximum under the same inlet conditions.

THE PERFORMANCES OF HIGH PRESSURE JET OF PURE WATER AND POLYMER SOLUTION WITH CONICAL NOZZLE

In this paper, the effects of polymer additives and nozzle shape on the proper- ties of high pressure water jet discharging into the air are investigated by theory and experiments. Criteria of judging the jet quality are put forward. And, a method that can be used in analysing the fluid flow within the nozzle is developed. Then, the calculated results are compared with the experiments that we carried out; it is shown that the degree of agreement between the two is good. At last, the mechanism to improve on the jet quality with polymer additives is discussed.

Wind tunnel experimental study on droplet drift reduction by a conical electrostatic nozzle for pesticide spraying

Droplet drift wastes pesticide,pollutes the environment,and has become one of the focus issues of agricultural crop protection.Electrostatic spray technology reduces drift to a certain degree.In order to investigate the droplet drift pattern of a conical electrostatic nozzle,the droplet drift mass center distance was defined as an experimental index and used to conduct experimental wind tunnel studies on droplet drift.A mathematical model of the droplet drift mass center distance versus electrostatic voltage and wind speed was created via the regression method.The test results showed that the electrostatic voltage had an insignificant effect on droplet drift,the wind speed and its interaction with the electrostatic voltage had significant effects on droplet drift.When the wind speed was less than 3 m/s and stable,the crop adsorbability of a droplet had a dominant effect on the droplet drift;the droplet drift decreased with the increase of electrostatic voltage.When the wind speed exceeded 3 m/s and was stable,the reduced droplet particle size had a dominant effect on droplet drift,where droplet drift increased as the electrostatic voltage increased.When the wind speed was 0 m/s and the electrostatic voltage was 12 kV,the minimum droplet drift mass center distance was 35.5 mm,which was 56 mm less than that of conventional nozzle droplet drift.Therefore,a conical electrostatic nozzle is inapplicable for operation in an environment where wind speeds exceed 3 m/s.This study provides a reference for optimizing operational parameters of conical electrostatic nozzles and improving the anti-drift capability of droplets.

Study on Energy Law of Similitude for Laser Propulsion in Repetitively-pulsed Mode

Energy law of similitude for laser propulsion refers to the law that there is an optimum nozzle configuration for the largest value of impulse coupling coefficient at certain incident laser energy. A dimensionless factor combined with incident laser energy, nozzle configuration parameters and working gas parameters is introduced. Energy law of similitude is established by means of theoretical analysis, experimental study and numerical simulation of radiation gas-dynamics. The qualitative results obtained from theoretical analysis are verified by experimental and numerical results. Physical meaning and engineering application of dimensionless factor and energy law of similitude are analyzed. Results indicate that ① impulse coupling coefficient has a maximurn value with dimensionless factor of about 0.4; ② impulse coupling coefficient is independent of incident laser energy when dimensionless factor is constant. Conclusions and recognitions acquired in this article can not only present optimum nozzle configurations for the present laser energy level, but also provide a good guide for the optimum nozzle configuration design once the laser energy is amplified to a high level.