A Functional Correlation for the Primary Breakup Processes of Liquid Sheets Emerging From Air-Assist Atomizers

Abstract

The study aims to highlight a general relationship between the characteristic variables of liquid sheet breakup and the principal forces of the flow domain. To accomplish this objective, an experimental investigation on air-assisted liquid sheets was carried out for a range of liquid-to-air velocities. The associated spray angle, breakup frequency, and breakup length were measured by exploiting high-speed imaging techniques. The results demonstrate that, when the stability variables are related to the liquid–air momentum flux ratio, a high correlation was attained for a range of flow conditions where capillary instability is insignificant.