Streamwise Vortices Research Articles

Experimental Studies of Bioinspired Shark Denticles for Drag Reduction.

Shark skin is composed of denticles, or complex scale-like features, which have been shown to reduce drag in turbulent and laminar flow. The denticle crown features undulating structures called riblets that interact with the turbulent boundary layer to reduce drag. Two mechanisms thought to contribute to the drag-reducing properties of riblets include the lifting of streamwise vortices and the hampering of spanwise vortex interactions to reduce crossflow, which could translate to similar flow mechanisms for denticles. Because of the varied morphologies of dermal denticles on different shark species, which also depend on body location, the impact of these denticle geometries on flow is of interest to the biology community, including related fields such as fluid mechanics and oceanography. This review highlights the past 15 years of manufacturing techniques and experimental measurements of drag over denticle-inspired surface structures, including real shark skin samples and engineered denticles and riblets. State-of-the-art additive manufacturing and other techniques are primarily limited to mm-length denticle scales, which have demonstrated drag reduction in lower flow speeds, under 1 m s-1. New manufacturing approaches can create sub-mm length denticles and nanotextured surface structures, which have achieved reported drag reductions of up to 31%. We synthesize results from the literature to illustrate the drag reduction properties of bioinspired denticles and riblets according to their geometry and flow conditions. Using these trends, we suggest design features and focus areas for future research, such as increasing studies of different denticle morphologies, hydrophobicity, antifouling properties, and acoustic noise reduction. Continued work on bioinspired denticles for drag reduction has wider implications in comparative biology and applications to design more energy-efficient, persistent vehicles for environmental monitoring.

Analysis of mixing enhancement ability of bypass dual throat nozzle with single/multi-tabs

Bypass dual throat nozzle (BDTN) represents an innovative fluidic thrust vectoring nozzle capable of adjusting thrust vectoring angles through self-adaptive flow control. This study explores the BDTN-single/multi-tabs configurations, ensuring that the nozzle’s outlet projected area remains constant while introducing one or more pairs of tabs coplanar with the convergent section of the cavity. This design accounts for aerodynamic performance, thrust vectoring capabilities, and mixing abilities of the BDTN. Through theoretical analysis, design implementation, numerical simulations, and wind tunnel experiments, findings reveal that, in the case of BDTN-single-tab configuration, an increase in tab angle (α) leads to heightened streamwise vortex intensity at the nozzle outlet, reduced high-temperature core area, and enhanced jet centerline velocity and temperature attenuation rate. BDTN-single-tab achieves up to a 90% reduction in centerline-temperature/velocity decay rate, implying stronger mixing enhancement with higher tab angles. Compared to α = 10° BDTN-single-tab, the area of the high-temperature core area decays by 75%. For the BDTN-multi-tab configuration, an increase in the number of tabs results in increased thrust coefficient and vectoring angle, alongside diminished streamwise vortex strength at the nozzle outlet, and a more complex streamwise vortex structure. However, the jet’s centerline velocity and temperature decay rate decreased as a consequence.

Effect of trapezoidal louvered winglets on increased heat transfer and exergy in tubular heat exchanger

The effect of inserting a trapezoidal louvered winglet tape (TLWT) into a uniformly heat-fluxed tube on its thermal effectiveness was studied experimentally. The exergy and entropy analyses for turbulent flows, as well as frictional loss and thermal features, were highlighted as key aspects of the experimental finding for the Reynolds number which measured between about 4700 and 30,000. Because fixing baffles to the curved shape of tube wall presented a challenge, the baffles were consequently positioned on double surfaces of a flat tape. Six values of the louver angle (θ1 = 0°, 25°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°) and three values of the relative pitch of winglet (PR = 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0) were employed in the arrangement of TLWTs, with the V-apex oriented upstream (V-up). Each of these had only a fixed height (BR = 0.25) and angle of attack (α = 30°). The winglets were utilized to induce streamwise vortices which can hinder the boundary layer formation, while the louvered openings were adopted to lessen pressure drop without significantly impacting the primary vortices. The experiment results disclosed that the smallest θ1 and PR produced the largest relative friction factor (fR) and NuR, which were about 13.57 and 4.04 times higher, while PR = 1 and θ1 = 45° provide the greatest TEF of about 2.27. The greatest exergy efficiency (ηEx) resulting from the TLWT was reached at θ1 = 0°, but the generation of entropy (S˙g′) dropped with lowering θ1 and Re. A further examination, however, showed that the best scenario with α = 60° and staggered arrays is more desirable since it yields the largest TEF of 2.45 at θ1 = 45° and PR = 1. For the range of parameters under consideration, the Nu and f correlations were additionally established.

Effects of blowing ratios and lip thicknesses on film cooling for trailing edge cutback with latticework ducts

In this study, a trailing edge cutback configuration with latticework ducts is proposed to provide more effective thermal protection for high-pressure turbine blades. Detached eddy simulation, as a LES/RANS hybrid method, is utilized to investigate the film cooling efficiency and turbulent behavior of the trailing edge cutback. The flow dynamics mechanism of cutback film cooling is elucidated by analyzing five blowing ratios (0.2 ∼ 1.25) and four lip thicknesses (0.5 ∼ 2) schemes. Time-averaged results indicate that the counter-intuitive efficiency decline and recovery behavior is identified again. Quantitatively, the area-averaged film cooling efficiency decreases by 14.3 % in the efficiency decline interval and increases by 16.3 % during the recovery interval. The distinct deflection of the swirling coolant jet leads to an efficiency distribution characterized by higher values on the sides and lower values in the center. Moreover, the mixing of the swirling jets and crossflow produces the Asymmetric Counter-rotating vortex pairs and Spiral-vortex system, which exacerbate heat transfer near the wall. At the highest blowing ratio, the excess coolant is forced against the wall by a rotating streamwise vortex system, providing better film coverage. Additionally, the film cooling efficiency of the cutback structure with a lip-to-slot ratio of 2 decays by 27 % as the blowing ratio decreases. The detrimental influence of the lip thickness increase on the film cooling efficiency is considerably mitigated by the swirling jet, especially in the maximum lip thickness.

Dynamic individual pitch control for wake mitigation: Why does the helix handedness in the wake matter?

Wind farm flow control aims at mitigating wake effects in order to maximize power production in wind farms. This work mostly focuses on the Helix strategy, which relies on individual pitch control to radially offset the application point of the thrust force from the rotor center and to dynamically change its azimuthal position. Previous studies have shown that power gains for a downstream turbine are higher for a counter-clockwise (CCW) rotation of the application point than for a clockwise (CW) one. In the CCW case, the wake develops as a right-handed helix, while in the CW case, a left-handed helix is observed. Using Large Eddy Simulations, this paper shows that the helix handedness in the wake matters due to its interaction with the wake swirl. Results of the CCW and CW helix first highlight the formation of streamwise vorticity in the near wake, which is transformed into strong coherent vortices in the far wake. Those vortex structures, to some extent similar to the counter-rotating vortex pair in the wake of yawed wind turbines, are responsible for (i) displacing the wake thanks to their induced velocities and (ii) deforming the shape of the wake.

Drag reduction characteristics of the placoid scale array skin sup-ported by micro Stewart mechanism based on penalty immersed boundary method

Sharkskin performs an excellent flow drag reduction property, leading to numerous biomimetic research to obtain artificial drag reduction structures for underwater vehicles. The existing work mainly focused on replicating or simplifying the morphology of the placoid scale, however, such bionic structures cannot fully reproduce the drag reduction effects of sharks swimming in natural environments. This is because the existing research has not considered the influence of the multi-degree freedom motion characteristics of the placoid scale. Therefore, a new bionic drag reduction skin is proposed by combining micro Stewart mechanisms and placoid scales, where the micro Stewart mechanism is able to achieve the multi-degree freedom motion characteristics. The numerical results indicate that micro Stewart mechanisms inhibit the generation and development of the streamwise and spanwise vortex structures in the bionic placoid scale array, which can delay flow separation and improve the drag reduction effect of the placoid scale array. Compared with the bionic placoid scale skin and the blade groove skin without multi-degree freedom motion foundation, the new bionic skin achieves relative drag reduction efficiency of 15.78 % and 14.18 % at maximum, respectively, by reasonably adjusting the bionic skin parameters including the leg stiffness, leg damping, upper platform mass, upper platform center of mass height of the micro Stewart mechanism and the skin element distribution spacing. The research presents a novel sharkskin bionics design and reveals the mechanism of skin drag reduction to some extent.

Numerical investigation on the transverse jet into a supersonic crossflow with different pressure ratios

The jet can be applied to the yaw control of a projectile, however, the complex interaction of the jet with the supersonic mainstream makes the flow field complex and yaw force unpredictable. To reveal the evolution of flow structures under different pressure ratios (PRs), or momentum flux ratios, a transverse sonic jet injected into a supersonic laminar crossflow has been studied numerically. Large-eddy simulations are employed to simulate the flow fields and evolution tendency of flow structures under different PRs of 10, 50, 100, 300, and 500. Our results show clearly the shock and flow structures of the jet interaction with crossflow under different PRs. Moreover, we find that, with the increase of PR, a larger upstream recirculation zone (RZ) and jet shock core appear, which accelerates the transformation of the bow shock (BoS) and the instability of the jet shear layer due to its stronger interaction with the crossflow. In addition, a high PR also accelerates RZ instability and produces a strong compressing effect on the major counter-rotating vortex pair in the jet flow, which makes the streamwise vortex tube stronger in the wake. These findings provide important information for applications of jet control of projectiles.

Heat transfer analysis in a tube contained with louver-punched triangular baffles

The present research assesses the thermal effectiveness of a heat exchange tube incorporating louver-punched triangular baffle (LPTB) vortex generators under turbulent conditions. For Reynolds numbers between 4760 and 29,270, the heat transfer and flow behaviors in the consistent heat-fluxed tube equipped with LPTBs were studied numerically and experimentally. A single baffle height/blockage ratio (b/D = BR = 0.25) and relative baffle pitch (P/D = PR = 1) were used for both baffle attack angles, (α) 30° and 45°, along with three louver size ratios (e/b = LR = 0.24–0.56) as well as five louver angles (θ = 0°, 20°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°). The results show that as the LR and θ values decrease, the Nusselt number (Nu) and friction factor (f) of the LPTB rise owing to the improved fluid mixing process generated by streamwise vortices with stronger turbulence kinetic energy. The LPTB with LR = 0 and θ = 0° provides the greatest f and Nu of about 22.18 and 5.1 times, respectively, although the one with LR = 0.24 and θ = 45° has the largest TEF of about 2.39 and 2.5 for the α = 30° and 45° LPTBs, respectively. Furthermore, an examination into the thermal and flow patterns was conducted through a three-dimensional computation; the validation of the numerical and experimental data yielded satisfactory results. Using measured data, the f and Nu correlations of the α = 30° and 45° LPTBs were additionally established.

Stall characteristics of wavy leading-edge airfoil in subsonic and transonic airflows

Based on the bioinspired wavy leading-edge, the stall characteristics of the NACA0012 airfoil are optimized. In this paper, the semicircle plus line segment is used to obtain the wavy leading edge. The aerodynamic forces of the airfoil are measured by a high-precision balance, and the detailed flow features of the airfoil are obtained by the oil flow tests. Then, combined with numerical simulation, the optimization mechanism is obtained. The operating conditions are as follows: Mach number ranging from 0.4 to 0.8, and angle of attack ranging from −4° to 25°. The results show that in high speed airflows, compared with the basic airfoil, the lift coefficient of the wavy leading-edge airfoil does not decrease sharply with the increase of the angle of attack, and the drag coefficient of the wavy leading-edge airfoil is similar to the basic airfoil; among the three types of airfoils studied, the larger wavy leading-edge feature size has better aerodynamic characteristics; combined with the numerical simulation results, it can be seen that the stall mechanism of airfoils varies at different Mach numbers. The wavy leading-edge generate streamwise vortex. The streamwise vortices increase energy transport in the boundary layer. Therefore, the separation zone moves toward the trailing edge of the airfoil, and the stall characteristics of the airfoil are optimized.

Embedded large eddy simulation of boundary layer transition behind a micro-ramp

Boundary layer transition induced by surface roughness elements plays an important role in aerodynamic and aero-thermodynamic design of subsonic/supersonic/hypersonic vehicles. However, the effect of three-dimensional isolated roughness element in the process of promoting/suppressing boundary layer transition is far from being fully understood, particularly in the incompressible laminar flow. In the present study, the laminar-to-turbulent transition induced by a three-dimensional isolated micro-ramp element immersed in an incompressible laminar boundary layer is investigated numerically. The embedded large eddy simulation (ELES) combining the intermittency transition model and the wall-modeled large eddy simulation (WMLES) S − Ω model is employed for the first time. Numerical results on the time-averaged/instantaneous flow field and the statistical flow fluctuations are analysed and validated thoroughly by the existing experimental measurements. It is found that the interaction of the secondary and the tertiary streamwise vortices causes a high level of wall shear and an inflectional velocity distribution in the near-wall region. An additional eddy system that develops nonlinearly from the unstable inflectional flow may trigger the boundary layer transition. The present study validates that the ELES combined with the WMLES S − Ω model is an efficient simulation tool for industrial wall-bounded flows allowing effective compromise between flexibility, cost, and accuracy.

Analysis of exergy and heat transfer in a tube fitted with flapped V-baffles

Vortex generator is a device that shows promise in generating streamwise vortices that can be utilized for boosting the rate of heat transmission inside a cooling/heating system with a relatively smaller penalty in terms of friction loss. The primary goal of the current research is to maximize the comparative Nusselt number ratio (Nu/Nu0) to be as large as possible to lower the size of the system while keeping thermal performance as high as feasible to save more energy. Thus, in the current study, the impacts of inserting the flapped V-baffle vortex generator (FBVG) on the thermal effectiveness improvement of a round tube were experimentally investigated. At a fixed attack angle (α = 60°) and baffle blockage ratio (BR = b/D = 0.3), the geometrical behaviors of FBVGs placed periodically along two edges of a straight tape were six different flap angles (θ = 0°, 25°, 35°, 45°, 65° and 90°) and three ratios of baffle pitches (P/D = PR = 2.0, 1.5, and 1.0). The current V-baffles, which were positioned on both tape edges, were designed to reduce friction loss caused by interrupting the central core flow when placed on both tape sides. The measurement results focused on the friction loss and thermal behaviors, including exergy and entropy analyses for Reynolds number from 4750 to 29,270. In the findings, the Nusselt number and friction factor of FBVG at θ = 0° and PR = 1 are, respectively, up to 5.6 and 35.24 times larger than those of the smooth tube. The entropy generation (S˙gen′) seems to decline as θ and PR increase, with the smallest S˙gen′ found at θ = 0° and PR = 1 for lower Re. The FBVG has the greatest exergy efficiency (ηEx) at θ = 0° and PR = 1. To find the true benefits of FBVG, its thermal performance is estimated and seen to reach a maximum at about 2.44 with NuR = 4.65 at θ = 45° and PR = 1. The optimal scenario at θ = 25° and PR = 1 was preferred, however, since it yielded the largest NuR = 5.42 at TEF = 2.39.

Modeling Lobe‐And‐Cleft Instabilities on a River Plume

AbstractThe lobe‐and‐cleft instability is a widely recognized mechanism leading to along‐front structure on density current fronts. Early studies based on laboratory and numerical simulations suggested that the lobe‐and‐cleft instability is due to convective instability in the nose of gravity currents traveling over a nonslip boundary. Horner‐Devine and Chickadel (2017, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017gl072997) reported the presence of lobe‐and‐cleft instabilities at the Merrimack River, which are generated at the river front in the absence of a no‐slip boundary. Hence, the observed lobe‐and‐cleft instabilities must be due to other mechanisms. In this study, we carried out non‐hydrostatic large eddy simulations of a riverine outflow into an idealized 3D domain. With a fine grid resolution of 0.15 × 0.31 m in two horizontal directions and about 0.125 m in the vertical direction, the model reproduced the lobe‐and‐cleft feature, with the magnitude and size of lobes consistent with the field observation. The model results revealed that instabilities start from the primary Kelvin‐Helmholtz instability, followed by the secondary instability through stretching and tilting, generating counter‐rotating streamwise vortices in the plume and at the plume head. The upwelling associated with streamwise vortex cells brings a slower flow to the plume surface, resulting in lobe‐and‐cleft patterns at the front and positive and negative vertical vorticity at the plume surface. The model also predicted a lobe width of about two to three times the plume thickness, consistent with the field observation and the lobe/cleft spacing associated with pairs of counter‐rotating streamwise vortices. Modeled turbulent dissipation rate shows a trend of exponential decay from 10−4 to 10−3 m2/s3 at the frontal head to 10−7 to 10−6 m2/s3 behind the front, similar to the findings in the previous field studies.

Numerical study on influence of protrusion heights on Reynolds stress and viscous stress variations in turbulent vortical structures

Analysing the influence mechanism of the riblet protrusion height on turbulent drag components is more beneficial in organising the vortical structure over the riblet surface. Therefore, the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is used to investigate the vortex structure over the riblet surface with different protrusion heights. Then, the variations of Reynolds stress and viscous shear stress in a turbulent channel are analysed. As a result, the drag reduction rate increases from 3.4% when the riblets are completely submerged in the turbulent boundary layer to 7.9% when the protrusion height is 11.2. Further analysis shows that the protrusion height affects the streamwise vortices and the normal diffusivity of spanwise and normal vortices, thus driving the variation of Reynolds stress. Compared with the smooth surface, the vorticity strength and the number of streamwise vortices are weakened near the wall but increase in the logarithmic layer with increased protrusion height. Meanwhile, the normal diffusivity of spanwise vorticity decreases with the increase of protrusion height, and the normal diffusivity of normal vorticity is the smallest when the protrusion height is 11.2. Moreover, the protrusion height affects the velocity gradient of the riblet tip and riblet valley, thus driving the variation of viscous shear stress. With the increase of protrusion height, the velocity gradient of the riblet tip increases dramatically but decreases in the riblet valley.

Numerical investigation on cavitation and induced noise reduction mechanisms of a three-dimensional hydrofoil with leading-edge protuberances

In this work, a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 66 hydrofoil with leading-edge protuberances is designed. The large eddy simulation combined with the Schnerr–Sauer cavitation model is used to obtain a satisfactory result as compared with the experimental measurement, integrating the permeable Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings equation for cavitation-induced noise analysis. It is found that the special leading-edge geometric structure deflects the incoming flow, creating two counter-rotating streamwise vortices at the peak shoulders. These lead to upwash and downwash effects and alter the pressure distribution on the suction side. The low pressure localized in the trough facilitates the advancement of the leading-edge cavitation while severely limiting the spanwise development of the cloud cavity, shortening the cavitation evolution by about 20% and reducing the maximum cavitation volume by about 35%. Analysis using the vorticity transport equation indicates that different vorticity transport equation splitting terms play dominant roles at different stages of cavitation evolution. Although the cavitation induces disturbances in the primary vortex, the effect is limited. Acoustic simulation shows that the bionic structure can reduce the total sound pressure level by 7.8–8.3 dB. The spherical noise reduction is not as effective as expected due to the similar cavitation volume acceleration processes of the two hydrofoils. However, the pressure fluctuation caused by the collapse of the cloud cavity is reduced by cavitation suppression, which reduces the linear noise. In addition, the protuberances suppress the generation of large-scale vortex systems and transform them into smaller ones, resulting in reduced spanwise correlation and coherence of the shedding vortices. This is a critical factor in noise reduction. Finally, we hypothesize that the unstable noise reduction is related to the streamwise vortices in the trough regions. These vortices increase the momentum exchange within the boundary layer, affecting its stability and weakening the acoustic feedback loop.

Regulating turbulent separation by surface microstructures on a blunt plate

Microstructured surfaces can induce secondary flow and regulate flow structures of the turbulent separation flow. However, the mechanism governing the relationship between the microstructure size and the characteristic flow size remains unclear. In this study, the separated flow over a blunt flat plate with surface microstructures is studied using time-resolved particle image velocimetry experiments and implicit large-eddy simulations for the plate-thickness-based Reynolds number from 5.08×103 to 1.31×104. The ratio of the height of microstructures to the plate thickness (h/d) ranges from 0.01 to 0.1. Combining experimental and numerical results, the relationships between the separation bubble size and the microstructure size under different Reynolds numbers exhibit similarity when normalized by the separation bubble size of the smooth plate. The dimensionless separation bubble size decreases when the microstructure height increases and large microstructures (h/d = 0.1) exhibit good performance on reducing the flow separation. Near the leading edge, the distortion of two-dimensional vortices and the generation of three-dimensional hairpin vortices are promoted by the first several rows of large microstructures. Additionally, in the main separation region, secondary positive spanwise vortices emerge from large microstructures. Subsequently, the secondary vortices lift up and evolve into streamwise vortices. The characteristic scale of secondary vortices is represented by a significant peak in the spectra of spanwise wavenumbers, which is of the same magnitude as the height of large microstructures. Furthermore, increasing the microstructure height weakens the streamwise correlation of the flow, and the characteristic scale of the correlation is comparable to the height of large microstructures.

The lift enhancement mechanism caused by the deformation of the surface of the wide-speed waverider

The optimization method provides an effective approach to enhance the low-speed lift of the vortex lift waveriders by deforming the aerodynamic shape refinedly. However, the vortex lift enhancement mechanism of the optimized configuration is unclear. In this study, the flow evolutions of the original and the optimized configurations are studied by employing the delayed detached-eddy simulation. Results indicate that the convex deformation of the leeward surface plays a dominant role in enhancing the vortex lift by enhancing the low-pressure suction at the upstream breakdown location and delaying the vortex breakdown. For the enhancement of the low-pressure suction, the convex deformation intensifies the streamwise vorticity below the axis of the primary vortex of the leading-edge vortex, in turn enhancing the downwash effect and causing the primary vortex to move downward. This reduces the pressure coefficient induced by the primary vortex on the leeward surface, thus enhancing the vortex lift. In terms of the delay of the vortex breakdown, the convex deformation compresses and accelerates the flow between the spanwise convex and the leading edge. These intensities enhance the washing effect along the spanwise direction on the outward wing and cause the primary vortex to deflect toward the outboard wing. Subsequently, the primary vortex and the shedding vortices generated by the shear layer instability merge, which increase the primary vortex intensity, and enhance the streamwise velocity in the vortex axis. Correspondingly, the primary vortex breakdown is delayed. Ultimately, the increased low-pressure region caused by the delay of the vortex breakdown enhances the vortex lift.

Direct numerical simulation of mechanism and control of secondary instability induced transition in a supersonic boundary layer

Mechanisms and control of secondary-instability-induced-transition in a supersonic boundary layer are studied numerically via direct numerical simulation. The aim is to investigate and compare the transition mechanisms of fundamental, subharmonic, asymmetric subharmonic, and detuned resonances, and to control these secondary instabilities using a local wall cooling strip. The results indicate that the nonlinear interaction between the high-amplitude primary mode and low-amplitude secondary modes is the main contributor to transition. The mutual- and self-interactions of the primary and secondary modes generate other harmonic modes with laminar breakdown soon appearing. The asymmetric subharmonic resonance induces the earliest transition, while the fundamental subharmonic has the latest. Wall cooling effects are also studied. The results show that a lower wall temperature significantly suppresses the secondary instabilities, and steady modes become dominant and lead to obvious streamwise vortexes. Numerical data demonstrate that all secondary-instability-induced transitions result in fully developed turbulent boundary layers, as supported by the skin friction and scaled velocity profiles. The transition control cases indicate that the local wall cooling strip can significantly delay the transition by suppressing the growth of the primary mode. An upstream control strip is found to have a more obvious suppression effect. The fundamental and asymmetric subharmonic resonances are sensitive to the location of the local wall cooling strip and show a stronger transition delaying effect.

Research on the Drag Reduction Performance of Bionic Micro-gradient Surfaces

Long range and high speed are important performance indicators for modern naval equipment such as submarines and ships. Taking the special shield scale structure of shark epidermis as the research object, models of riblets, discontinuous riblets, equal-gradient riblets and shark-like micro-gradient riblets were established, and their effects on flow field characteristics were analyzed. Compared with smooth surfaces, the bionic micro-gradient surface had a maximum drag reduction rate of 9.93% under the combined action of streamwise vortices and spanwise secondary vortices, and maintained a good drag reduction effect over a wide speed range. The bionic micro-gradient surface provides a potential reference for underwater mechanical drag reduction design.

Effect of U-shaped notches on nozzle performance and jet flow structures

In nacelle design, optimization of nozzle shape is crucial for flow control. To understand the effect of nozzle shape on its aerodynamic performance and jet flow structures, the numerical experiment is performed using the dual separate flow reference (DSFR) nozzle released by the Aero Systems Engineering (ASE) FluidDyne Laboratory. A pair of U-shaped notches are made on the nozzle. The results show that the discharge coefficient and thrust angle increase with the size of the notches in all the simulated operating conditions. The notches induce a pair of streamwise vortices, which enhance turbulent mixing and decrease turbulent kinetic energy in the mixing layer.

Crosswise heat flux and temperature profiles over downstream surface of gas-fueled pool fires in relatively strong wind

This paper reveals the crosswise profiles of heat flux and temperature over the downstream surface (ground) of a pool fire in relative strong wind, which was not well addressed in the past. Two square gaseous burners (25 cm, 30 cm) are used with propane as the fuel producing different heat release rates to simulate pool fires. The wind speed ranges from 1.5 m/s to 4 m/s (with 0.5 m/s intervals for various cases), concerning relatively strong wind conditions (Fr > 0.87). The crosswise heat flux profile first shows to be nearly stable (fluctuation less than 20 %) in the continuous flame region, then a sharp decrease in the intermittent flame region and finally goes to near zero. The temperature profile shows a similar trend as heat flux. For the near stable region, the flame boundary layer goes into the counter-rotating streamwise vortex pairs to form the streak like flames. And the counter-rotating pair (CVP) on the flame makes the streaks on the sides of the burner to be even larger, as verified by the CFD simulation. The heat flux is different under the streaks and troughs of the flame (higher under trough than in streaks), which interprets the fluctuation in the nearly stable region. Then the sharp decrease happens in the intermittent flame region. The flame half-width is obtained, which sits at about the middle of the sharp decrease region. And finally, for the position further away in the crosswise direction, the profile turns to be nearly zero. The crosswise profiles can be well represented by a Boltzmann function. The obtained experimental results and the proposed functions on the crosswise profiles of heat flux and temperature provide an essential base to estimate the heat feedback to the downstream surface of a wind-driven fire.