Numerical study of cold flow characteristics of a new integrated afterburner with strut flame stabilizer

To further improve the performance of the afterburner, this study proposed a new scheme for the integrated afterburner with a strut flame stabilizer and a mixer. A numerical study was carried out to examine the cold performance of this scheme at different flight altitudes, inlet Mach numbers, and bypass ratios. The results showed that the integrated afterburner had a good flow field distribution with four low-speed recirculation zones formed at appropriate locations. The obstruction effect of the strut, airflow mixing, and vortex shedding were the main factors affecting the total pressure recovery performance. The total pressure recovery coefficient decreased with the increase in inlet Mach number, bypass ratio, and flight altitude. Nevertheless, the integrated afterburner maintained good total pressure recovery performance with a total pressure recovery coefficient greater than 0.965. The cold air at the outlet of the mixer on both sides of the strut formed a recirculation zone at the tail end of the strut, thereby improving the thermal mixing performance of the integrated afterburner. The thermal mixing efficiency increased with the bypass ratio and flight altitude, while it decreased with increasing inlet Mach number, but it was still higher than 0.80.