Numerical study on hydrogen mixing for different scramjet Engine combustion chamber configurations

This study investigates fuel mixing within a scramjet engine combustion chamber using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Employing the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, the Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model, and the energy equation, we model hydrogen fuel mixing in the scramjet's cold flow regime. Simulations, conducted using OpenFOAM software and the 'reactingFoam' solver, focus on evaluating the mixing efficiency and total pressure loss across different engine geometries, including cavity, strut-cavity, and double-cavity-strut configurations. Results show that shockwave interactions significantly influence the flow dynamics, with the strut-cavity configuration yielding the highest fuel diffusion and mixing efficiency. The study validates the model against experimental data from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), highlighting the impact of engine design on scramjet performance.