PIV Measurements of the Turbulent Secondary Flow in a Three-Dimensional Wall Jet

Abstract

The lateral half width of the turbulent three-dimensional wall jet is typically five to eight times larger than the vertical half width normal to the wall. Although, the reason for this behavior is not fully understood, it is known to be caused by strong secondary flows that develop in the jet due to presence of the wall. The source of the secondary flow in the jet has been attributed previously with both mean vorticity reorientation and to anisotropy in the Reynolds normal stresses, but until now there have been no measurements of these quantities in this flow. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements are used herein to measure the Reynolds stresses that contribute to the secondary flow in a turbulent three-dimensional wall jet formed using a circular contoured nozzle with exit Reynolds number of 250,000. In particular, the Reynolds shear stress, vw was found to be significantly smaller throughout the jet than the differences in the Reynolds normal stresses (v2 − w2).