Streamwise vortices generated by impinging flows in a confined duct

Particle-tracer technique was employed for visualizing flow structures in a side-inlet square duct. The results obtained indicate that the streamwise vortices developed in the stagnation region of impinging flows are irregularly distributed. As the vortices convect downstream they are first stretched and merged, then squashed due to the non-zero pressure gradient effects caused by the flow separation regions existed along the side walls. The mechanism responsible for generating streamwise vortices in the stagnation region is suggested due to the hydrodynamic instability effect, similar to that previously found for three-dimensional disturbances growing in a two-dimensional stagnation flow.     

Turbulence measurements in a rectangular mesoscale confined impinging jets reactor

Mesoscale chemical reactors capable of operating in the turbulent flow regime, such as confined impinging jets reactors (CIJR), offer many advantages for rapid chemical processing at the microscale. One application where these reactors are used is flash nanoprecipitation, a method for producing functional nanoparticles. Because these reactors often operate in a flow regime just beyond transition to turbulence, modeling flows in these reactors can be problematic. Moreover, validation of computational fluid dynamics models requires detailed and accurate experimental data, the availability of which has been very limited for turbulent microscale flows. In this work, microscopic particle image velocimetry (microPIV) was performed in a mesoscale CIJR at inlet jet Reynolds numbers of 200, 1,000, and 1,500. Pointwise and spacial turbulence statistics were calculated from the microPIV data. The flow was observed to be laminar and steady in the entire reactor at a Reynolds number of 200. However, at jets Reynolds numbers of 1,000 and 1,500, instabilities as a result of the jets impinging along the centerline of the reactor lead to a highly turbulent impingement region. The peak magnitude of the normalized Reynolds normal and shear stresses within this region were approximately the same for the Reynolds numbers of 1,000 and 1,500. The Reynolds shear stress was found to exhibit a butterfly shape, consistent with a flow field dominated by an oblique rocking of the impingement zone about the center of the reactor. Finally, the spatial auto- and cross-correlations velocity fluctuations were calculated and analyzed to obtain an understanding of size of the coherent structures.     

Experimental study of heat transfer characteristics due to confined impinging two-dimensional jets

Experimental results are presented for characteristics of impingement heat transfer caused by three slot jets. Experimental values were obtained for the dimensionless distance H = 0.5−3, dimensionless pitch P = 6−16, and Reynolds number Re = 500−8000. For laminar impinging flow, they were compared with numerical results. For turbulent impinging flow, two peaks of the local Nusselt number were obtained behind the second nozzle. The position of the second peak approached the nozzle as the space between nozzle and impinged surface decreased. The average Nusselt number between the central and second nozzles was determined from the ratio P/H and the Reynolds number based on the pitch of the nozzles.     

An experimental investigation on flow structures of confined and unconfined impinging air jets

The flow characteristics of both confined and unconfined air jets, impinging normally onto a flat plate have been experimentally investigated. The mean and turbulence velocities, and surface pressures were measured for Reynolds numbers ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 and the nozzle-to-plate spacings in range of 0.2–6. Smoke-wire technique is used to visualize the flow behavior. The effects of Reynolds number, nozzle-to-plate spacing and flow confinement on the flow structure are reported. In the case of confined jet, subatmospheric regions occur on both impingement and confinement surfaces at nozzle-to-plate spacings up to 2 for all Reynolds numbers in consideration and they lie up to nearly the same radial location at both surfaces. However, there is no evidence of the subatmospheric region in unconfined jet. It is concluded that there exists a linkage among the subatmospheric region, turbulence intensity and the peaks in heat transfer coefficients for low spacings in impinging jets.     

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.     

Convective heat transfer under unsteady impinging jets: the effect of the shape of the unsteadiness

Unsteady impinging jets are systematically controlled with respect to their time dependence in order to investigate the influence of unsteadiness on the heat transfer performance. This is achieved by a special mass flow control device, which allows almost arbitrary shapes of unsteadiness to be imposed onto the impinging jet. Three different standard signals (sinusoidal, triangular, rectangular) and two specially designed signals are applied and their influence on heat transfer is determined in terms of an enhancement factor. Heat transfer augmentation up to 30% was found and could be physically explained with the help of PIV and hot-wire measurements of the flow field.     

Distinctive features of variation in the thermal structure of impinging gas jets

Turbulent structures occurring in impinging air jets in both original and excited states are identified by means of processing the sequences of thermal images (thermal videofilms). It is assumed that the structure in a jet is a flow region in all whose points (elements) the temperature as a control parameter varies with time in accordance with a single dynamic law. An analysis of the obtained two-dimensional distributions of the characteristic frequencies of temperature fluctuations in impinging air jets makes it possible to reveal and to determine the generation and the localization of structure regions, the time intermittence effect, the difference in the nature of structure formations, and the structure formation effect on heat transfer.     

Two-dimensional gas vortices and twisted gas jets

This paper studies an invariant solution of rank one of the equations of motion of a polytropic gas that describes two-dimensional gas vortices and twisted gas jets. Flow types are classified according to the governing parameter: vortices in the form of sources and sinks, unlimited expansion, and collapse. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 71–81, May–June, 2009.     

Mean-velocity distributions of contra-swirling coaxial,confined jets

Conclusions From the study, it is observed that introduction of swirl in the central jet enhances the merger whereas higher swirl in the annulus enhances both mixing and flow development. On qualitative comparison with similar works (Gouldin et al. 1985; Ramos and Sommer 1983) it is seen that imposition of pressure gradient in form of expanded confinement enhances the capability of formation of central recirculation core. Wall static pressure distribution also gives an indication of the wall recirculation size.     

Predictions of axisymmetric and two-dimensional impinging turbulent jets

The k − turbulence model and a version of a second-moment closure, modified to include the effect of pressure reflections from a solid surface, have been used as the basis of predictions of the flow that results from the orthogonal impingement of circular and two-dimensional (2-D) jets on a flat surface. Comparison of model predictions has been made with velocity measurements obtained in the stagnation and wall jet regions of the impinging flows. Results, in general, confirm the superiority of the Reynolds stress transport equation model for predicting mean and fluctuating velocities within the latter regions of such flows. In particular, modifications to the second-moment closure to account for the influence of the surface in distorting the fluctuating pressure field away from the wall successfully predict the damping of normal-to-wall velocity fluctuations throughout the impinging flows. In contrast, results derived from the eddy-viscosity-based approach do not, in general, accurately reproduce experimental observations.     

Effect of impinging plate geometry on the self-excitation of subsonic impinging jets

In the generation of discrete tones by subsonic impinging jets, there exists a difference of opinion as how the feedback is achieved, i.e., the path of the feedback acoustic waves is whether inside the jet or outside the jet? The only available model (Tam and Ahuja model) for the prediction of an average subsonic jet impingement tone frequency assumes that the upstream part of the feedback loop is closed by an upstream propagating neutral wave of the jet. But, there is no information about the plate geometry in the model. The present study aims at understanding the effect of the plate geometry (size and co-axial hole in the plate) on the self-excitation process of subsonic impinging jets and the path of the acoustic feedback to the nozzle exit. The present results show that there is no effect of plate diameter on the frequency of the self-excitation. A new type of tones is generated for plates with co-axial hole (hole diameter is equal to nozzle exit diameter) for Mach numbers 0.9 and 0.95, in addition to the axisymmetric and helical mode tones observed for plates without co-axial hole. The stability results show that the Strouhal number of the least dispersive upstream propagating neutral waves match with the average Strouhal number of the new tones observed in the present experiments. The present study extends the validity of the model of Tam and Ahuja to a plate with co-axial hole (annular plate) and by doing so, we indirectly confirmed that the major acoustic feedback path to the nozzle exit is inside the jet.     

Buoyancy and cross flow effects on heat transfer of multiple impinging slot air jets cooling a flat plate at different orientations

The present article reports on heat transfer characteristics associated with multiple laminar impinging air jet cooling a hot flat plat at different orientations. The work aims to study the interactions of the effects of cross flow, buoyancy induced flow, orientation of the hot surface with respect to gravity, Reynolds numbers and Rayleigh numbers on heat transfer characteristics. Experiments have been carried out for different values of jet Reynolds number, Rayleigh number and cross flow strength and at different orientations of the air jet with respect to the target hot plate. In general, the effective cooling of the plate has been observed to be increased with increasing Reynolds number and Rayleigh number. The results concluded that the hot surface orientation is important for optimum performance in practical applications. It was found that for Re ≥ 400 and Ra ≥ 10,000 (these ranges give 0.0142 ≤ Ri ≤ 1.59 the Nusselt number is independent on the hot surface orientation. However, for Re ≤ 300 and Ra ≥ 100,000 (these ranges give 1.59 ≤ Ri ≤ 42.85): (i) the Nusselt number for horizontal orientation with hot surface facing down is less that that of vertical orientation and that of horizontal orientation with hot surface facing up, and (ii) the Nusselt number of vertical orientation is approximately the same as that of horizontal orientation with hot surface facing up. For all surfaces orientations and for the entire ranges of Re and Ra, it was found that increasing the cross flow strength decreases the effective cooling of the surface.     

Reynolds stress closure applied to axisymmetric,impinging turbulent jets

A second-order, single-point closure model for calculating the transport of momentum in turbulent flows is extended to cover flows that are close to solid surfaces. In such flows the proximity of a solid boundary directly influences the fluctuating pressure field within the main body of the flow and leads to a dampening of velocity fluctuations normal to the wall. These effects are accommodated through the incorporation of an additional contribution in the modelled form of the redistributive fluctuating pressure term used in the Reynolds stress transport equation. Predictions of the extended closure model are compared with available data in configurations where an air jet impinges orthogonally onto a plane surface. The inclusion of the wall reflection model is shown to result in superior predictions of mean velocities, and normal and shear stresses. In particular, normal-to-wall velocity fluctuations and shear stresses are successfully damped resulting in agreement with observations.     

Self-sustained oscillations of a confined impinging jet

The present paper investigates the dynamics of a laminar plane jet impinging on a flat plate in a channel. An experimental parametric study is carried out to determine the flow regimes at different levels of confinement and Reynolds numbers. For very confined jets, the flow is steady whatever the Reynolds number. The overall structure of the flow is symmetric with respect to the jet axis and is characterized by the presence of recirculation zones at the channel walls. The dynamics is radically different for less confined jets. Above a critical Reynolds number, the flow bifurcates in the form of an oscillating flapping mode of the impinging jet. Analyses of the experimental results provide with a quantitative characterization of this regime in terms of amplitude, wavelength and frequency. This self-oscillating bifurcated flow induces strong sweepings of the target plate by the jet and intense vortex dipole ejections from the impacted wall. Such a regime is expected to be particularly useful in the enhancement of the local heat transfer at relatively low cost in terms of flow rate.     

Mixing and coherent vortices in turbulent coaxial jets

Direct numerical simulations associated with mixing in constant-density round coaxial jets are performed. They are validated by comparison against laboratory experiments. The mixing process is studied by seeding a passive tracer first in the outer annular jet, then in the inner jet. We demonstrate the important role played by coherent vortices in the mixing mechanisms. The turbulent mixing exhibits an intermittent character as a consequence of fluid ejections caused by the counter-rotating streamwise vortices. We quantify also the domination of the outer jet and show that the fluid issuing from the central jet remains confined. To cite this article: G. Balarac, M. Si-Ameur, C. R. Mecanique 333 (2005).     

Wall jet similarity of impinging planar underexpanded jets

Velocity profiles and wall shear stress values in the wall jet region of planar underexpanded impinging jets are parameterized based on nozzle parameters (stand-off height, jet hydraulic diameter, and nozzle pressure ratio). Computational fluid dynamics is used to calculate the velocity fields of impinging jets with height-to-diameter ratios in the range of 15–30 and nozzle pressure ratio in the range of 1.2–3.0. The wall jet has an incomplete self-similar profile with a typical triple-layer structure as in traditional wall jets. The effects of compressibility are found to be insignificant for wall jets with Ma < 0.8. Wall jet analysis yielded power-law relationships with source dependent coefficients describing maximum velocity, friction velocity, and wall distances for maximum and half-maximum velocities. Source dependency is determined using the conjugate gradient method. These power-law relationships can be used for mapping wall shear stress as a function of nozzle parameters.     

Heat transfer due to impinging co-axial jets and the jets’ fluid flow characteristics

This investigation had multiple goals. One goal was to obtain definitive information about the heat transfer characteristics of co-axial impinging jets, and this was achieved by measurements of the stagnation-point, surface-distribution and average heat transfer coefficients. These results are parameterized by the Reynolds number Re which ranged from 5000 to 25,000, the dimensionless separation distance between the jet exit and the impingement plate H/D (4–12), and the ratio of the inner diameters of the inner and outer pipes d/D (0–0.55). The d/D = 0 case corresponds to a single circular jet. The other major goal of this work was to quantify the velocity field of co-axial free jets (impingement plate removed). The velocity-field study included both measurements of the mean velocity and the turbulence intensity.It was found that the variation of the stagnation-point heat transfer coefficient with d/D attained a maximum at d/D = 0.55. Furthermore, the variation of the local heat transfer coefficient across the impingement surface was more peaked for d/D = 0 and became flatter with decreasing d/D. This suggests that for cooling a broad expanse of surface, co-axial jets of high d/D are preferable. On the other hand, for localized cooling, the single jet (d/D = 0) performed the best. In general, for a given Reynolds number, a co-axial jet yields higher heat transfer coefficients than a single jet. Off-axis velocity peaks were encountered for the jets with d/D = 0.105. The measurements of turbulence intensity yielded values as high as 18%.     

The effect of slot jet size on the confined transverse slot jet

The current study explored the flowfield characteristics of an induced recirculation zone resulting from a transverse slot jet issuing in a cross flow. The slot jet spanned 95% of the full channel spanwise dimension which resulted in a highly three-dimensional mean flowfield. Experimental investigations were carried out at various jet momentums for two different transverse slot jet thicknesses. Velocity field data were gathered using digital particle image velocimetry and hot-wire anemometry. The momentum ratio of the jet to the channel was found to be the leading parameter for scaling the dimensions of the mean recirculation zone. The jet thickness demonstrated an influence on the level of three-dimensionality, turbulence levels, and integral length scales.