Abstract
In this seminar Dr. Carter will describe examples of optical instrumentation used by his group at AFRL to diagnose flowfields relevant to high-speed propulsion. In particular, he will summarize efforts to develop 1) Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and 2) Photo-Fragmentation Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PF-LIF) applied to the CH3 (methyl) radical. Regarding LIBS, a focus is on development of a robust, “easier to implement” method for sensing of fuel-air ratio within high-speed combustors that may have limited optical access; LIBS is a well-established remote-sensing technique for solids, especially, and its relative simplicity is an attractive and enabling feature. Regarding the CH3 PF-LIF diagnostic, a new variation on the technique was recently demonstrated that includes excitation and detection of the CH created via CH3 photo-fragmentation using the strong CH C-X (0,0) band (l = 309 – 320 nm); in this work measurements in premixed and nonpremixed turbulent flames are demonstrated, and an approach for simultaneous excitation/detection of CH3 and OH is described.
About the Speaker
Campbell (Cam) Carter received his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1990. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Combustion Research Facility (Sandia-Livermore), he joined Systems Research Laboratories (Dayton, OH), an Air Force contractor. Since 2002 he has worked for the Air Force within the Air Force Research Laboratory. He specializes in application of optical diagnostics to flowfields relevant to combustion and high-speed propulsion. He is a Fellow of the Air Force Research Laboratory as well as various professional societies including ASME, AIAA and the Combustion Institute.
Host: Professor Tonghun Lee
