%ASharma, Gaurav%AMajdalani, Joseph%Anull Ed.%D2020%I %K %MOSTI ID: 10274229 %PMedium: X %TEffect of Variable Outlets on the Nonreactive Flowfield of a Right-Cylindrical Cyclonic Chamber %XThis work focuses on the use of a finite-volume solver to describe the wall-bounded cyclonic flowfield that evolves in a swirl-driven thrust chamber. More specifically, a non-reactive, cold-flow simulation is carried out using an idealized chamber configuration of a square-shaped, right-cylindrical enclosure with eight tangential injectors and a variable nozzle size. For simplicity, we opt for air as the working fluid and perform our simulations under steady, incompressible, and inviscid flow conditions. First, a meticulously developed mesh that consists of tetrahedral elements is generated in a manner to minimize the overall skewness, especially near injectors; second, this mesh is converted into a polyhedral grid to improve convergence characteristics and accuracy. After achieving convergence in all variables, our three velocity components are examined and compared to an existing analytical solution obtained by Vyas and Majdalani (Vyas, A. B., and Majdalani, J., “Exact Solution of the Bidirectional Vortex,” AIAA Journal, Vol. 44, No. 10, 2006, pp. 2208-2216). We find that the numerical model is capable of predicting the expected forced vortex behavior in the inner core region as well as the free vortex tail in the inviscid region. Moreover, the results appear to be in fair agreement with the Vyas–Majdalani solution derived under similarly inviscid conditions, and thus resulting in a quasi complex-lamellar profile. In this work, we are able to ascertain the axial independence of the swirl velocity no matter the value of the outlet radius, which confirms the key assumption made in most analytical models of wall-bounded cyclonic motions. Moreover, the pressure distribution predicted numerically is found to be in fair agreement with both theoretical formulations and experimental measurements of cyclone separators. The bidirectional character of the flowfield is also corroborated by the axial and radial velocity distributions, which are found to be concurrent with theory. Then using parametric trade studies, the sensitivity of the numerical simulations to the outlet diameter of the chamber is explored to determine the influence of outlet nozzle variations on the mantle location and the number of mantles. Since none of the cases considered here promote the onset of multiple mantles, we are led to believe that more factors are involved in producing more mantles than one. Besides the exit diameter, the formation of a multiple mantle structure may be influenced by the physical boundary conditions, nozzle radius, inlet curvature, and length. In closing, we show that the latter plays a significant role in controlling the development of backflow regions inside the chamber. Country unknown/Code not availablehttps://doi.org/10.2514/6.2020-3823OSTI-MSA