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Measurement of the turbulent flow field in a free-surface jet of water

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Abstract

Measurements of the mean velocity and turbulence intensity are presented for a rectangular jet of water ejecting into a gaseous ambient. Data are reported for streamwise locations up to 30 nozzle widths from the discharge and spanwise locations covering the inner 80% of the jet width. The flow conditions at the nozzle discharge were controlled by using different nozzle designs (parallel-plate and converging) and flow manipulators (wire grid and screens). The results track the mean velocity and turbulence intensity profiles with streamwise distance, highlighting changes in both the profile shapes and magnitudes for both measured quantities.

Independent of nozzle configuration, the mean velocity profile was shown to be most nonuniform and the turbulence intensity most nonhomogeneous at the nozzle discharge. With increasing streamwise distance, the mean velocity profile underwent a gradual transition to a completely uniform condition, while the turbulence field decayed and became homogeneous. The rate of viscous dissipation was shown to depend strongly on the nozzle exit condition.

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Abbreviations

AR :

aspect ratio of rectangular nozzle

d :

screen-wire diameter

d w :

wire diameter

D h :

hydraulic diameter

K :

instantaneous turbulent kinetic energy

K :

mean turbulent kinetic energy

M :

screen-mesh length

p :

fluctuating pressure

Re n :

Reynolds number [V n w n /v]

Re M :

Reynolds number [V M/v]

S :

grid-wire spacing

u, v, w :

fluctuating components of velocity

u′, v′, w′ :

root-mean-square (RMS) fluctuating components of velocity

∼u, ∼v, ∼w :

turbulence intensity (u′/V, v′/V, w′/W)

U, V, W :

instantaneous components of velocity

Ū, V, W :

mean components of velocity

V n :

mass-averaged jet velocity at the nozzle discharge

w n :

nozzle width

x, y, z :

orthogonal coordinate directions with origin at the center of the nozzle outlet

y * :

streamwise coordinate with its origin located at the plane of the wire grid

ν :

kinematic viscosity

ϱ :

density of the liquid

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Author notes

  1. D. H. Wolf

    Present address: Owens-Corning Science & Technology Center, 2790 Columbus Rd., 43023, Granville, OH, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Heat Transfer Laboratory, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 47907, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    D. H. Wolf, F. P. Incropera & R. Viskanta

Authors
  1. D. H. Wolf
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  2. F. P. Incropera
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  3. R. Viskanta
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Additional information

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers CTS-8912831 and CTS-9307232

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Wolf, D.H., Incropera, F.P. & Viskanta, R. Measurement of the turbulent flow field in a free-surface jet of water. Experiments in Fluids 18, 397–408 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00208462

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00208462

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