Local entrainment across a TNTI and a TTI in a turbulent forced fountain

Abstract

Local instantaneous exchanges of volume, momentum and buoyancy across turbulent/non-turbulent interfaces (TNTIs) and turbulent/turbulent interfaces (TTIs) are studied using data from direct numerical simulations of a turbulent forced fountain. We apply a novel algorithm that enables independent calculation of the instantaneous local entrainment and detrainment fluxes, and therefore, for the first time, the entrainment and detrainment coefficients according to the fountain model (Bloomfield & Kerr, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 424, 2000, pp. 197–216) are determined explicitly. Across the interface between the fountain and the ambient fluid, which is a TNTI, only volume entrainment occurs, and it is well predicted by the fountain model. Across the interface between the rising upflow and falling downflow within the fountain, which is a TTI, both entrainment and detrainment of volume, momentum and buoyancy occur – with the magnitude of both entrainment and detrainment typically being large compared with the net for all exchanges. However, the model seems to be unable to capture the momentum exchanges due to its ignorance of the pressure. We find that each conditional entrainment and detrainment rate, of volume, momentum and buoyancy, can be described accurately by Gaussian profiles, while the net exchange that is the superposition of the entrainment and detrainment cannot. Moreover, the entrainment exchange rate has its maximum closer to the fountain centreline than that of detrainment, explaining the tendency for net entrainment closer to the fountain centreline and net detrainment further away.