Characterization of the Spray Flow Field at the Exit of a Pintle Injector

A novel pintle injector with a bi-swirl arrangement is designed and developed using additive manufacturing methods. Experimental investigations are conducted to capture the atomization processes at the injector exit using laser diagnostic techniques. The spray structure is captured using high-speed direct laser sheet imaging and time-resolved particle image velocimetry experiment is conducted to obtain the component velocity field. Different linear spray parameters such as cone angle and spray penetration are estimated. The pintle injector develops a uniform spray at the exit, with a periodic droplet/ligament shedding is observed at the injector exit. The velocity field shows the dominance of the liquid phase on the overall flow field.