Evolution of flow structure in impinging three-dimensional axial and radial jets

Direct numerical simulations of the flow field of an element of banks of impinging axial and radial slot jets for different Reynolds number are presented. Simulations have been obtained from the solution of the Navier–Stokes equations. Results show for the chosen geometry a transition from steady to periodic to chaotic flow with increasing Reynolds number. The transition Reynolds number is nearly 50% smaller for the radial jet than for the axial jet. Period doubling has been observed for both cases, but only the radial jet shows periodic windows of chaos. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.