Detecting ultrafast turbulent oscillations in near-nozzle discharged liquid jet using x-ray phase-contrast imaging with MHz frequency

Characteristics of a discharged liquid jet in near-nozzle are determined by the in-flow turbulences generated by the evolution of inflow vortices and cavitation. High-fidelity simulations have indicated that such physical processes can generate ultrafast turbulent fluctuations (in the range of MHz) originating from the nature of turbulence by the interaction between the large and small-scale turbulence in the flow. Detecting ultrafast turbulent oscillations while resolving small-scale turbulences in the optically dense near-nozzle liquid jet has not been observed through experimental methods so far. In this study, therefore, ultrafast x-ray phase-contrast imaging, which can provide a clear image in the near-field using a high-energy x-ray source, was applied to observe the fluctuation of flow velocity in the near-field to obtain the ultrafast turbulent oscillations at the discharged jet. To capture the ultrafast variance of flow velocity originating from the nature of turbulence, the high imaging frequency was applied up to 1.2 MHz. With the implemented methodology, turbulence intensity distributions of discharged liquid jets were measured for various injection pressures and nozzle geometries. Such turbulence intensity results were also correlated with the initial dispersion angle of the spray. In addition, the turbulence length scales, which can be detected through the current methodology, were estimated and discussed considering standard-length scales. The results showed that the current experimental method introduced in this study can provide important insights into the turbulence characteristics of spray by resolving Taylor scale turbulences and can provide valuable validation data and boundary conditions for reliable spray simulations.