ABSTRACT This study aims to validate the structural and thermomechanical reliability of an additively manufactured test chamber specifically designed for the experimental investigation of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) atomization under jet‐in‐crossflow (JICF) conditions representative of gas turbine afterburners. The proposed test chamber is designed to replicate the harsh thermo‐fluid dynamic environment typical of gas turbine afterburners, enabling the analysis of primary and secondary break‐up phenomena in high‐temperature fuel sprays. A transient coupled thermomechanical finite element (FE) analysis was performed using Abaqus on a full‐scale chamber geometry fabricated from Inconel 718, a high‐performance alloy compatible with Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS). Results were compared to those from an identical configuration built with conventional AISI 316L stainless steel, commonly adopted in traditional CNC machining and referenced widely in the literature. Both configurations were subjected to internal thermal loads of 400°C and pressure loads of 10 bar applied over a 300 s operational window. The study focuses on stress distribution, temperature fields, and structural displacement, providing insights into the advantages of AM for high‐temperature aerospace applications. The Inconel 718 structure showed up to 15% lower peak stresses, more uniform stress distribution, and improved thermal gradients compared to the 316L configuration. The results confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of additive manufacturing in producing highly customized, mechanically resilient structures for advanced experimental setups. The validated test chamber enables high‐fidelity characterization of spray dynamics using SAFs, thus contributing to the development of cleaner and more efficient propulsion systems.
Acanfora et al. (2026) studied this question.
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