Numerical study of the effects of unmatched pressure on the supersonic particle-laden mixing layer

The dispersion of monodisperse, inertial particles in a supersonic mixing layer consisting of two sheared flows with differing pressures (P1 for the particle-laden jet flow and P2 for the airflow) is numerically investigated using large Eddy simulation and Euler–Lagrange methods. The calculations reveal the following insights: The pressure disparity between the two flows induces a transverse gas flow effect, which swiftly deflects the mixing layer from the high-pressure side to the low-pressure side. The growth rate of mixing layer increases with the ratio of P2/P1 and while the deflected displacement correlates with the pressure difference |P2-P1|. However, the particles exhibit delayed tracking characteristics to the deflected mixing layer because of their relative relaxation to the transverse gas velocity, particularly in the upstream region of the mixing layer (also known as the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability developing zone or KH zone). Notably, when the P2 exceeds that of the P1, particles can more easily penetrate into the vortices of KH zone, significantly enhancing the downstream gas–particle mixing. This mixing enhancement is particularly pronounced for larger particles due to their increased inertia, which allows them to advance into the vortices of KH zone more effectively than smaller ones.