Keywords

Shock tube, water droplet, droplet deformation, displacement, drag coefficient, acoustic levitation, droplet injection

Abstract

Water droplet breakup in high-speed flow is a relatively popular experimental study to analyze breakup mechanisms. There is a plethora of experiments performed at low Mach number and low Weber number, but studies with higher speed flows and higher Weber numbers are less common. In this study, water droplet breakup is assessed using high-speed shock waves (Mach 2.3-above Mach 5) in a shock tube. Multiple methods are used to introduce droplets, and multiple different water purity levels are considered. An assessment was made into whether cavitation played a role in the breakup process physically, as this has been a budding area of research to describe the underlying mechanisms behind droplet breakup. Additionally, a novel method of droplet introduction in a shock tube was attempted utilizing an acoustic levitation device in the shock tube at pressures below atmospheric. Statistical analysis is also performed to determine droplet predictability and the reliability of the data. Droplets are recorded using a high-speed camera recording at framerates from approximately 750,000 to 5 million frames per second. Conclusions are made as to breakup mechanisms at play, which droplet introduction method works best for producing high quality data, and how accurately models used predict breakup and other characteristics of the droplets.

Completion Date

2025

Semester

Summer

Committee Chair

Vasu, Subith

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Format

PDF

Language

English

Release Date

2-15-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

Subjects

Fluid dynamics--Research; Shock waves--Experiments; Hydrodynamics--Research; Cavitation--Research; Photography, High-speed--Scientific applications

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