Numerical visualization of vortex flow behavior in square jets in cross-flow

Abstract

Direct numerical simulations have been performed in this study to visualize the flow behavior of single and multiple square jets issuing normally into a cross-flow. Three configurations are considered, a single jet located in the centre of the domain, twin jets in side-by-side (SBS) arrangement in the spanwise direction and triple jets in tandem arrangement with twin jets at the front and a third jet in downstream along the centre line. Simulation uses a jet to cross-flow velocity ratio of 2.5 and the Reynolds number 225, based on the free-stream quantities and the jet width. While the vortical structures predicted from single jet case were in good qualitatively agreement with the findings of other researchers, our results show that the process of merging between two counter-rotating vortex pairs (CRVP) in twin jets configurations is strongly dependent on the jet-to-jet edge distance. Further downstream in the far-field, results from the SBS twin jets show a most dominating larger CRVP accompanied with a smaller inner vortex pair. The observations are in good qualitative agreement with the experimental findings in the literature. The resulting flow structures of triple jets in tandem configuration have revealed, for the first time, more complicated flow interactions between individual jets and cross-flow, providing further insights of complex flow physics and its potential engineering applications.