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Analysis of the melt phase of a rotating polymer disc supporting a diffusion flame

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2011

Vedha Nayagam  and
F. A. Williams
Vedha Nayagam*
Affiliation:
National Center for Space Exploration Research, NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH 44135, USA
F. A. Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

When a laminar diffusion flame is established over a spinning, thermoplastic, polymer fuel disc in a quiescent, oxidizing environment, the polymer melts and flows radially outwards, causing some fuel to be lost and not transported to the diffusion flame. The viscosity of the liquid in the melt layer retards the radial flow, thereby determining the amount of fuel lost. The melt layer is analysed here for two limiting cases, namely one in which the liquid viscosity depends strongly on temperature, leading to an asymptotic analysis involving two zones in the liquid, and one in which the liquid viscosity is constant, independent of temperature, so that there is only one zone in the liquid. The utility of these two limits is assessed by comparing their predictions with those of full numerical integrations for poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) discs burning in air at atmospheric pressure.

JFM classification

Reacting Flows: Laminar reacting flows Phase change: Solidification/melting
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 687 , 25 November 2011 , pp. 238 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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