Analysis of a turbulent jet mixing flow by using a PIV-PLIF combined system

In the present paper, the development of a high-resolution PIV-PLIF combined system for the simultaneous measurements of velocity and passive scalar concentration fields is described. The high-resolution PIV-PLIF combined system is used to perform the simultaneous whole-field measurements of velocity and concentration in the near field of a turbulent jet mixing flow. The characteristics of the mass transfer process and momentum transfer process in the near field of the jet mixing flows are discussed in the terms of ensemble-averaged velocity and concentration, turbulent intensity, concentration standard deviation and the correlation terms between the fluctuating velocities and concentration.     

A PIV study of a supersonic impinging jet

The characteristics of supersonic impinging jets are investigated using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The purpose of the experiments is to understand the jet induced forces on STOVL aircraft while hovering close to the ground. For this purpose, a large diameter circular plate was attached at the nozzle exit. The oscillations of the impinging jet generated due to a feedback loop are captured in the PIV images. The instantaneous velocity field measurements are used to describe flow characteristics of the impinging jet. The important flow features such as oscillating shock waves, slipstream shear layers and large scale structures are captured clearly by the PIV. The presence of large scale structures in the impinging jet induced high entrainment velocity in the near hydrodynamic field, which resulted in lift plate suction pressures. A passive control device is used to interfere with the acoustic waves travelling in the ambient medium to suppress the feedback loop. As a consequence, the large scale vortical structures disappeared completely leading to a corresponding reduction in the entrainment.     

Visualization of dilute hydrogen jet flame in air flow

The structure of hydrogen jet flame diluted by CO₂ in air flow is studied by various visualization techniques, such as schlieren, direct photograph, tracer injection and reactive Mie scattering method, which allow understanding of the influence of CO₂ on the characteristics of the hydrogen jet flame. The experimental result indicates that the flame structure consists of laminar fuel jet and surrounding reaction zone near the nozzle exit. When the CO2 fraction is increased, the width of the fuel jet grows and the reaction zone is reduced in size. These observations are further confirmed by quantitative measurements of temperature and velocity fields in the flame, which are evaluated by thermocouple and particle image velocimetry (PIV), respectively. These results indicate that the flame temperature is decreased and the flow rate of the fuel jet is increased by the influence of diluents, which are due to the reduced calorific value and larger density of fuel, respectively.     

Active and passive scalar intermittent statistics in turbulent atmospheric convection

We study the small-scale statistics of active and passive scalar fields, obtained from 3D large-eddy simulations of the atmospheric boundary layer turbulence. The velocity field is anisotropic and inhomogeneous, due to the action of both buoyancy and shear. We focus on scalar field rare fluctuations dominated by the so-called fronts. Temperature, coupled to the velocity field by the Boussinesq equations, exhibits anomalous scaling and saturation of the scaling exponents to a constant value, due to the presence of thermal fronts. Although qualitatively similar, the small-scale statistics of a passive tracer advected by the convective flow shows quantitative differences: the large fluctuations of the tracer concentration field distribute differently and appear to be less intermittent than the temperature ones. To better understand these results, the role of boundaries in this problem is discussed.     

Study on concurrent measurements of velocity and density distributions for high-speed CO2 flow

Velocity and density distributions of a high-speed and initial CO₂ jet flow have been analyzed concurrently by a developed three-dimensional digital speckle tomography and a particle image velocimetry (PIV). Two high-speed cameras have been used for the tomography and one for the PIV since a shape of a nozzle for the jet flow is bilaterally symmetric and the starting flow is fast and unsteady. The speckle movements between no flow and CO₂ jet flow have been obtained by a cross-correlation tracking method so that those distances can be transferred to deflection angles of laser rays for density gradients. The three-dimensional density fields for the high-speed CO₂ jet flow have been reconstructed from the deflection angles by the real-time tomography method, and the two-dimensional velocity fields have been calculated by the PIV method concurrently and instantaneously.     

Experimental and computational visualization and frequency measurements of the jet oscillation inside a fluidic oscillator

PIV measurements and computational simulations (2D, unsteady Navier-Stokes) are performed to visualize the inherently unsteady jet oscillation inside a fluidic oscillator. Both the measurements and computations are obtained for a jet exit Reynolds number of 321, based on the maximum velocity and the nozzle width at the jet exit plane. The computed jet oscillation frequency is in close agreement with the measured PIV frequency. Formation of a pressure gradient across the jet is observed from the computations. The variation of the jet oscillation frequency with jet exit Reynolds number is also determined by single sensor hot-wire measurements inside the oscillation chamber.     

Schlieren “PIV” for turbulent flows

The possibility of using commercial PIV equipment combined with schlieren optics to measure the velocity fields of turbulent flows is explored. Given a sufficiently high Reynolds number and adequate refractive flow differences, turbulent eddies can serve as the PIV “particles” in a schlieren image or shadowgram. The PIV software analyzes motion between consecutive schlieren or shadowgraph frames to obtain velocity fields. Velocimetry examples of an axisymmetric sonic helium jet in air and a 2D turbulent boundary layer at Mach 3 are shown. Due to optical path integration, axisymmetric flows require the inverse Abel transform to extract center-plane velocity data. Conditions for optimum schlieren sensitivity are examined. In its present embodiment, “schlieren PIV” is not useful for laminar flows nor for fully 3D flows. Otherwise it functions much like standard PIV under conditions where individual particles are not resolved and velocimetry is instead based on correlation of the motion of turbulent structures. “Schlieren PIV” shows significant promise for general refractive turbulent flow velocimetry if its integrative nature can be overcome through sharp-focusing optics.     

Electrohydrodynamic flow patterns in a narrow electrostatic precipitator with longitudinal or transverse wire electrode

Results of 2- and 3-dimensional Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the flow velocity fields in narrow electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) with either a longitudinal or transverse wire electrode are presented in this work. The obtained results confirmed that the particle flow in the ESP have a strongly 3D character mainly due to applied voltage and narrow cross section of the ESP duct. It was found that several vortices were formed along and across the ESP duct. The complex character of the flow in both ESP may considerably affect the particle collection efficiency of the ESP. This issue is under investigation.     

Stereoscopic PIV measurements of a screeching supersonic jet

The effect of acoustic feed back on global flow response is illustrated through an example of a rectangular screeching jet operating at a nominal Mach number of 1.69. Using a stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry, the detailed flow characteristics within a screeching cycle are obtained with fidelity. To resolve the “bias” errors inherent with standard PIV image processing technique, a novel mesh-free and high spatial resolution scheme is implemented to yield accurate velocity measurements in a complex three-dimensional supersonic flow. The axis-switching phenomenon that arises due to unusual mixing enhancement in the minor axis plane of a rectangular jet is vividly displayed. Strong streamwise vortex structure in the jet shear layers, enhanced by the inherent instability of the shear layer, is reported.     

Electrohydrodynamic flow in a wire-plate non-thermal plasma reactor measured by 3D PIV method

This work was aimed at measurements of the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) secondary flow in a non-thermal plasma reactor using three-dimensional particle image velocimetry (3D PIV) method. The wide-type non-thermal plasma reactor used in this work was an acrylic box with a wire discharge electrode and two plate collecting electrodes. The positive DC voltage was applied to the wire electrode through a 10 MΩ resistor. The collecting electrodes were grounded. The voltage applied to the wire electrode was 28 kV. Air flow seeded with a cigarette smoke was blown along the reactor duct with an average velocity of 0.6 m/s. The 3D PIV velocity fields measurements were carried out in four parallel planes stretched along the reactor duct, perpendicularly to the wire electrode and plate electrodes. The measured flow velocity fields illustrate complex nature of the EHD induced secondary flow in the non-thermal plasma reactor.     

PIV measurements of the flow and turbulent characteristics of a round jet in crossflow

The instantaneous and ensemble averaged flow characteristics of a round jet issuing normally into a crossflow was studied using a flow visualization technique and Particle Image Velocimetry measurements. Experiments were performed at a jet-to-crossflow velocity ratio, 3.3 and two Reynolds numbers, 1,050 and 2,100, based on crossflow velocity and jet diameter. Instantaneous laser tomographic images of the vertical center plane of the crossflow jet show that there exists very different natures in the flow structures of the near field jet due to Reynolds number effect even though the velocity ratio is same. It is found that the shear layer becomes much thicker when the Reynolds number is 2,100 because of the strong entrainment of the inviscid fluid by turbulent interaction between the jet and crossflow. The mean and second order statistics are calculated by ensemble averaging over 1,000 realizations of instantaneous velocity fields. The detail characteristics of mean flow field, streamwise and vertical rms velocity fluctuations, and Reynolds shear stress distributions are presented. The new PIV results are compared with those from previous experimental and LES studies.     

A study in the developing region of square jet

The developing region of a turbulent square jet is investigated using high-resolution particle image velocimetry (PIV). The mean velocity and turbulence stresses are presented in various horizontal planes, along the jet centerline covering the initial region of the jet as well as the transition to the self-similar region. To study the flow structure away from the central plane, velocity measurements in two additional horizontal planes, one located halfway from the jet central plane toward the edge and the other at the edge of the square jet, are also examined. Analysis of the instantaneous velocity fields reveal the presence of an arrow-like feature in the square jet due to the higher instability generated in the jet shear layer compared with a round jet. To elucidate the imprints of the vortex structures present in the jets, a swirling strength-based vortex identification methodology is applied on a large ensemble of instantaneous velocity fields. Statistical analysis of the number of vortex cores, and their size and rotational strength in the measurement plane is undertaken. Vortex population at the edge was found to be very different compared with that in the central plane.     

Conserved scalar mixing in a confined-opposed-jets flow

The focus of this paper is on the mixing of a conserved passive scalar for Sc = 1 (Sc is the Schmidt number) in axisymmetric turbulence for which the initial injections of turbulent kinetic energy and scalar variance are similar. Two confined-opposed-jets (COJ) are experimentally studied through simultaneous PIV (particle image velocimetry) and PLIF (planar laser induced fluorescence) measurements, for different flow regimes. One-point transport equation for the scalar variance is assessed through experimental data, along the common axis of the two opposed jets, and different physical phenomena are revealed (production, diffusion, dissipation). The production of scalar variance is equilibrated by the diffusion term (～75%) and the mean dissipation of the scalar variance (～25%). To further assess the scalar behaviour at each scale in this anisotropic, but axisymmetric, flow, a scale-by-scale scalar variance budget equation is derived for axisymmetric turbulence. This equation reduces to Yaglom's 4/3 law, under additional restrictions. The equation is assessed through experimental data, in the impingement region between the two COJ. In particular, the anisotropic energy transfer along different directions is quantified. It is shown that for scales smaller than the size of the central region, Δ, the cascade of the scalar variance is completely inhibited, independently of the particular direction. For scales larger than Δ, the apparent aspect of the energy transfer is that of an inverse cascade, with positive values of the scalar variance transfer. Nonetheless, inhomogeneity of the flow and mixing at those scales is directly responsible for these positive values.     

Effect of the incident shock wave interacting with transversal jet flow on the mixing and combustion

The interaction between an incident shock wave and a transverse jet flow for mixing and combustion in a supersonic airstream was investigated experimentally and numerically. NO planar laser induced fluorescence (NO-PLIF) and particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) for non-reactive flows and three-dimensional reactive/non-reactive numerical simulations were conducted to examine the effect of the incident shock wave on the three-dimensional flow structure and mixing mechanism between the airstream and the injected gas downstream of the injection slot. Results of NO-PLIF measurement and numerical simulation showed that, in the case without the incident shock wave, injected gas is seldom seen in the recirculation zone just downstream of the injection slot, while the injected gas with higher concentration is almost uniformly distributed in the recirculation zone when the incident shock wave is introduced downstream of the injection slot. Moreover, it was shown by the numerical simulations that the profiles of the local equivalence ratio is in the combustible range due to the enhanced entrainment of the airstream when the incident shock wave is introduced downstream of the injection slot. A large-scale recirculation in the direction parallel to the wall is generated by the three-dimensional flow effects, which enhances the mixing and extends the residence time in the recirculation zone in the case with incident shock wave downstream of the injection slot, the recirculation flow being confirmed successfully by PIV measurements as well. The results of three-dimensional reactive numerical simulations were in good agreement with the experimental flame-holding characteristics at a lower total temperature, which showed that flame-holding can be attained only when the incident shock wave was introduced downstream of the injection slot, confirming that the formation of three-dimensional and large-scale recirculation flow downstream of the injection slot enlarges the recirculation zone and enhances the mixing to produce the conditions for robust flame-holding.     

Stereoscopic PIV measurements of flow around a marine propeller

A stereoscopic PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) technique has been employed to measure the 3 dimensional flow structure of turbulent wake behind a marine propeller with 5 blades. The out-of-plane velocity component was measured using particle images captured simultaneously by two CCD cameras installed in the angular displacement configuration. 400 instantaneous velocity fields were acquired for each of four different blade phases of 0°, 18°, 36° and 54°. They were ensemble averaged to investigate the spatial evolution of propeller wake in the near wake region up to one propeller diameter (D) downstream. The phase-averaged velocity fields show clearly the viscous wake formed by the boundary layers developed along both surfaces of the blade. Tip vortices were generated periodically and the slipstream contraction occurs in the near-wake region. The out-of-plane velocity component has large values at the locations of tip and trailing vortices. With going downstream, the axial turbulence intensity and the strength of tip vortices were decreased due to the viscous dissipation, turbulence diffusion and blade-to-blade interaction. The difference in the mean velocity fields measured by SPIV and 2-D PIV methods was about 5% ≈ 10%. However, the 2-D PIV results also give sufficient information on propeller wake beyond the region of X/D=0.2.     

Sustained simultaneous high-speed imaging of scalar and velocity fields using a single laser

A high-speed technique that combines planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) detection of biacetyl and particle image velocimetry (PIV) for simultaneous imaging of scalar and velocity fields is demonstrated at a frame rate of 12 kHz for up to 32500 consecutive frames. A single diode-pumped, frequency-tripled Nd-YAG laser was used for excitation. Wavelength-separated recording was achieved for Mie scattering from silicone oil droplets with a CMOS camera and for the red-shifted fluorescence from biacetyl with an image-intensified CMOS camera. Interference between PIV and PLIF tracers was found to be negligible. Cross-talk between PIV and PLIF signals was low and a strategy to completely eliminate it was devised and is discussed. The signal-to-noise ratio is about 9 for single-shot scalar images. Example image sequences were recorded in an atmospheric pressure air jet at Re=2000. PACS 42.62.Fi; 33.50.Dq; 06.30.Gv; 06.60.Jn     

Experimental analysis of local flame extinction in a turbulent jet diffusion flame by high repetition 2-D laser techniques and multi-scalar measurements

In this paper, we present a detailed experimental study of turbulence chemistry interactions in the “DLR_B” turbulent jet diffusion flame. The flame operates on mixtures of CH₄, H₂, and N₂ in the fuel stream at Re = 22,800 and is a target flame within the TNF workshop. Extinction and re-ignition events can be tracked in real time and related to the underlying flow field phenomena and temperature fields. Time resolved measurements of OH radical concentration fields are performed in combination with temperature and velocity field measurements. For this purpose, we combined high repetition rate (33 kHz) PLIF imaging with stereoscopic PIV and double pulse Rayleigh imaging techniques. Comparisons are made with results from multi-scalar Raman/Rayleigh/LIF point measurements that reveal the thermochemical state of the flame. The large deviations from equilibrium observed on resulting OH/temperature joint pdfs could be related to strain rate and Damköhler number variations caused by turbulent flow structures leading to frequent extinctions. The 2D measurement series uniquely reveal the underlying mechanism that can lead to such events. Finally, comparisons are made to strained laminar flame calculations, which are generally found to be in good agreement with the measured data.     

Flow diagnostics downstream of a tribladed rotor model

This paper presents results of a study of vortex wake structures and measurements of instantaneous 3D velocity fields downstream of a triblade turbine model. Two operation modes of flow around the rotor with different tip speed ratios were tested. Initially the wake structures were visualized and subsequently quantitative data were recorded through velocity field restoration from particle tracks using a stereo PIV system. The study supplied flow diagnostics and recovered the instantaneous 3D velocity fields in the longitudinal cross section behind a tribladed rotor at different values of tip speed ratio. This set of data provided a basis for testing and validating assumptions and hypothesis regarding classical theories of rotors.     

Experimental Investigation of Jet Stabilization in Near-Axis Region of Plasma Reactor

The paper presents the results of experimental investigations of aerodynamics and heat transfer in a vortex plasma reactor with gas jet injection along its axis. The process of mixing under quasi-isothermal conditions (injection of slightly heated jet) and inhomogeneous conditions (injection of helium and argon) as well as with the injection along the axis of plasma jet is studied consistently. A detailed comparison of temperature fields and concentrations is presented for these conditions. The process of jet expansion is shown to be defined mainly by three factors — centrifugal mass forces, buoyancy forces and initial velocity shift in a jet at the chamber inlet. The end flows contribute considerably to the process of jet mass transfer with peripheral flow.     

Analysis of jet entrainment mechanism in the transitional regime by time-resolved PIV

Abstract  

The entrainment mechanism in the near field of daisy-shaped and circular orifice jets have been investigated in the transitional regime using time-resolved 2D PIV measurements. The objective is to improve the knowledge from one previous investigation at initial Reynolds number of 800, based on the construction of a pseudo-time resolved PIV fields using the combination of non time-resolved PIV measurements and time-resolved visualizations (Nastase and Meslem J Vis 11(4):309–318, 2008). As expected in the previous work, the entrainment in the circular jet is correlated to the periodic Kelvin–Helmholtz (K–H) ring passing and the entrainment is produced in the braid region where the streamwise structures develop. In the daisy jet, we found that the entrainment rate is not correlated to the periodic K–H vortex passing. The observed small variation of the entrainment rate amplitude in the daisy jet could be related to the K–H dynamics. However, at the studied low Reynolds number the contribution of the K–H vortex on the daisy jet entrainment seems negligible comparing with the streamwise structures role. Furthermore, the real-time resolved measurements allow an indepth analysis of the role played by the K–H ring in the entrainment of circular jet. It is shown that the entrainment is not only produced in the braid region but is also present in the upstream part of the K–H ring. In the downstream part of the ring, the entrainment is dramatically reduced. This new observation opens a question which still has to be answered with time-resolved 3D PIV measurements. The question is “Whether the depression formed due to the ring passing or the streamwise structures rolled-up on the ring is responsible for entrainment at the upstream part of the ring?”