A rectangular combustor with acoustic forcing was used to study flame-acoustic interaction under injection conditions which are representative of industrial rocket engines. Hot-fire tests using liquid oxygen and gaseous hydrogen were conducted at pressures of 40 and 60 bar, which are sub-and supercritical conditions respectively for oxygen. To our knowledge, acoustic forcing has never before been conducted at pressures this high in an oxygen-hydrogen system. Examined samples of hydroxyl-radical emission imaging, collected using a high-speed camera during periods of forced acoustic resonance, show significant response in the multi-injection element flame. Transverse acoustic velocity causes shortening of the flame, concentrating heat release near the injection plane. Fluctuating acoustic pressure causes in-phase fluctuation of the emission intensity. Based on these observations, a theorized flame-acoustic coupling mechanism is offered as an explanation for how naturally occurring high frequency combustion instabilities are sustained in real rocket engines. Nomenclature c = bulk sound speed in combustion chamber I = OH* emission intensity I' = fluctuating component of OH* emission intensity Ī = time averaged OH* emission intensity J = injection momentum flux ratio N = response factor ω = acoustic frequency p' = acoustic pressure amplitude P cc = combustion chamber pressure p 0 = eigenmode solution acoustic pressure distribution R = Rayleigh index ROF = oxidizer-to-fuel mixture ratio ρ = bulk density in combustion chamber u' = acoustic (particle) velocity VR = injection velocity ratio
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