Elliptic jets. Part 2. Dynamics of coherent structures: pairing

Abstract

The dynamics of coherent structure interactions, in particular the jet column mode of vortex pairing, in the near field of an elliptic jet have been investigated using hotwire measurements and flow visualization. A 2:1 aspect-ratio jet with an initially laminar boundary layer and a constant momentum thickness all around the nozzle exit perimeter is used for this study. While detailed hot-wire measurements were made in air at a Reynolds number ReDe (≡UeDe/ν) = 3.2 × 104, flow visualization was performed in water at a lower ReDe = 1.7 × 104; here Ue is the exit speed and De is the equivalent diameter of the nozzle exit cross-section. Excitation at the stable pairing mode induced successive pairings to occur periodically at the same location, allowing phase-locked measurements using a local trigger sensor. Coherent structures were educed at different phases of pairing in the planes of both the major and minor axes. These are compared with corresponding data in a circular jet, educed similarly.Pairing interactions are found to be quite different from those in a circular jet. Owing to non-planar and non-uniform self-induction of elliptical vortical structures and the consequent effect on mutual induction, pairing of elliptic vortices in the jet column does not occur uniformly around the entire perimeter, unlike in a circular jet. Merger occurs only in the initial major-axis plane through an entanglement process, while in the initial minor-axis plane, the trailing vortex rushes through the leading vortex without pairing and then breaks down violently. These motions produce considerably greater entrainment and mixing than in circular or plane jets. From distributions of dynamical properties over the extent of coherent structures, the production mechanism is explained in terms of the longitudinal vortices (or ribs) connecting the elliptic structures. Time-average measures and their modification by controlled excitation are also discussed in terms of coherent structure dynamics. A significant space in this paper is devoted to documenting phase-dependent and time-average flow measures; these new results should serve as target data for numerical simulations. Further details are given in Husain (1984).