Decay of momentum flux in submerged jets

Abstract

Slender laminar and turbulent, plane and axisymmetric jets emerging from orifices in plane or conical walls are studied at large distances from the orifices. The entrainment of momentum coupled with the entrainment of volume into a jet is determined, and its effect on the flow field is analysed by combining inner and outer expansions with a multiple scaling approach.In turbulent (plane or axisymmetric) jets, the axial velocity decreases more rapidly than predicted by classical boundary-layer solutions, and the momentum flux vanishes as the distance from the orifice tends to infinity. The analysis unveils a source of discrepancies in previous experimental data on turbulent jets.In a laminar plane jet, the momentum flux changes but little. In a laminar axisymmetric jet, the momentum flux changes slowly, yet considerably. When a critical distance from the orifice is approached, the momentum flux in the jet becomes very small, the jet diameter very large, and a toroidal viscous eddy is predicted. The structure of the flow field is briefly discussed.