Velocity measurements in a confined swirl driven recirculating flow

Laser-doppler measurements of the three components of mean velocity and their intensities have been made in an axisymmetric swirling isothermal turbulent combustion chamber flow. Swirl is generated by a gas-turbine aerodynamic swirler and the flow is representative of that found in the primary zone of many practical combustors. Two configurations were studied. In the first the fuel injector was removed and a central core jet entered the chamber via the resulting circular hole in the centre of the swirler. In the second case the injector was retained but a circular baffle was located at the exit plane: this latter device being necessary to prevent an inflow — not present for combusting flow — arising at the ‘exit’ plane. The velocity data is sufficiently detailed to aid the testing and further development of methods for calculating combustion chamber flows.