Primary Atomization of a Liquid Jet in Crossflow

In this fluid dynamics video, we present a visualization of the primary atomization of a turbulent liquid jet injected into a turbulent gaseous crossflow. It is based on a detailed numerical simulation of the primary atomization region of the jet using a finite volume, balanced force, incompressible LES/DNS flow solver coupled to a Refined Level Set Grid (RLSG) solver to track the phase interface position. The visualization highlights the two distinct breakup modes of the jet: the column breakup mode of the main liquid column and the ligament breakup mode on the sides of the jet and highlights the complex evolution of the phase interface geometry.