Structure in the Near Field of the Transverse Jet

Citation

Fric, Thomas Frank (1990) Structure in the Near Field of the Transverse Jet. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/JVHG-E582. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-02232007-075829

Abstract

Photographs of an axisymmetric turbulent jet issuing from a wall into a crossflow display the four types of vortical structures which exist in the near field: the jet shear layer vortices, the nascent far field vortex pair, the near wall horseshoe vortices, and a system of vortices in the wake of the jet.

Additionally, results of hot-wire measurements in the wake of the transverse jet are presented. Among these results are characteristic wake Strouhal frequencies, which vary with the jet to crossflow velocity ratio, and wake velocity profiles.

It is found that the wake vorticity is not "shed" from the jet but is formed from vorticity which originated in the wall boundary layer. Therefore, analogies between the wakes of transverse jets and the wakes of solid cylinders are incorrect. Since the jet is not a solid obstacle to the crossflow, as a cylinder is, new vorticity is not generated at the interface between the jet and the crossflow. Instead, the boundary layer on the wall from which the jet issues separates near the downstream side of the jet because it cannot negotiate the adverse pressure gradient imposed on it by the flow around the jet, which is not "separated" as it is for a cylinder. The wake vortices subsequently formed are found to be most coherent near a jet to crossflow velocity ratio of four.

The near field development of the counterrotating vortex pair, which is the dominant structure of the far field jet, is also addressed. It is argued that the source of vorticity for the vortex pair is the vorticity from the boundary layer within the jet nozzle. Estimates for the strength of these vortices are obtained by considering the flux of vorticity emanating from the nozzle.

Possible implications for mixing are briefly discussed.

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