Cavity flame holders provide high mach number scramjets with flow residence time sufficient for the useful combustion of hydrocarbon fuel. The integration of two cavities in a tandem arrangement is relatively new in literature, with each cavity appearing to perform a separate function for flame initiation and flame holding. This work explores the individual contribution of each cavity in a tandem arrangement by numerically perturbing the geometric design space and considering two dissimilar cavities. 2D chemically reacting RANS is used to investigate supersonic ethylene combustion within an axisymmetric flowpath. Results indicate the degree of mixing achieved with each cavity, the flame anchoring location, cavity generated drag and overall combustion efficiency. These results are compared with a baseline single cavity case to indicate practical performance benefits attainable with targeted cavity design.
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