Tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry Measurements Research Articles

Generation of nearly homogeneous isotropic turbulence using a novel oscillating grid system

The creation and control of homogeneous isotropic turbulence in laboratory settings is of practical significance. In this paper, we propose a novel design for a turbulence generation apparatus driven by two pairs of oscillating grids, with the object of striking a balance between the stochastics of momentum injection and the flexibility of control of turbulent kinematic energy (TKE). To validate the performance of this system, tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements are conducted. Based on Reynolds decomposition, we characterize the secondary flow pattern and examine the impact of the mean velocity on the TKE transport. Analysis of one- and two-point statistics indicates that the generated turbulence exhibits reasonable approximations of homogeneity and isotropy. The TKE and the dissipation rate are linearly proportional to the grid oscillation frequency, with the Taylor-scale Reynolds number Reλ ranging from 47 to 154, suggesting a convenient control of turbulence with low-to-moderate intensity.

Tomographic particle image velocimetry measurement on three-dimensional swirling flow in dual-stage counter-rotating swirler

Three-Dimensional (3D) swirling flow structures, generated by a counter-rotating dual-stage swirler in a confined chamber with a confinement ratio of 1.53, were experimentally investigated at Re = 2.3 × 105 using Tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry (Tomo-PIV) and planar Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Based on the analysis of the 3D time-averaged swirling flow structures and 3D Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) of the Tomo-PIV data, typical coherent flow structures, including the Corner Recirculation Zone (CRZ), Central Recirculation Zone (CTRZ), and Lip Recirculation Zone (LRZ), were extracted. The counter-rotating dual-stage swirler with a Venturi flare generates the independence process of vortex breakdown from the main stage and pilot stage, leading to the formation of an LRZ and a smaller CTRZ near the nozzle outlet. The confinement squeezes the CRZ to the corner and causes a reverse rotation flow to limit the shape of the CTRZ. A large-scale flow structure caused by the main stage features an explosive breakup, flapping, and Precessing Vortex Core (PVC). The explosive breakup mode dominates the swirling flow structures owing to the expansion and construction of the main jet, whereas the flapping mode is related to the wake perturbation. Confinement limits the expansion of PVC and causes it to contract after the impacting area.

On the aerodynamic loads and flow statistics of airfoil with deformable vortex generators

The aerodynamic performances and flow statistics for a Delft University-91-W2-250 airfoil with deformable vortex generators (DVG) were experimentally studied in a wind tunnel across various angle of attacks and wind speeds. A high-resolution force sensor was used to measure the time-averaged lift force, while a planar particle image velocimetry system was applied to characterize the mean velocity and vortex shedding over airfoil surface. The results highlighted that, similar to conventional rigid vortex generators (RVG), DVG can effectively enhance lift coefficient after the stall angle of airfoil with clean surface under low incoming winds. However, the deformation of DVGs increased with the growth of wind speed; this suppressed the effectiveness of wake mixing where the aerodynamic performance of DVGs gradually converged to clean surface configurations. The flow measurements demonstrated that the deformation of DVG can lead to significant decrease in near-wall flow velocities close to the airfoil trailing edge and generate more dispersed vorticity distributions. To further investigate the linkage between DVG deformation and its wake mixing effectiveness, complementary tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements were conducted. The results indicated that the vorticity strength presented monotonic decay with the bending angle of DVG within both near and intermediate wake regions. The capability of DVGs passively adjusts their bending angle, and therefore, the airfoil lift coefficients provide a novel approach to reduce aerodynamic load fluctuations for aircraft within unsteady flows.

Flow enhancement of tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements using sequential data assimilation

Sequential data assimilation (DA) was performed on three-dimensional flow fields of a circular jet measured by tomography particle image velocimetry (tomo-PIV). The work focused on an in-depth analysis of the flow enhancement and the pressure determination from volumetric flow measurement data. The jet was issued from a circular nozzle with an inner diameter of D= 20 mm. A split-screen configuration including two high-speed cameras was used to capture the particle images from four different views for a tomography reconstruction of the voxels in the tomo-PIV measurement. Planar PIV was also performed to obtain the benchmark two-dimensional velocity fields for validation. The adjoint-based sequential DA scheme was used with the measurement uncertainty implanted using a threshold function to recover the flow fields with high fidelity and fewer measurement errors. The pressure was determined by either the direct mode, with implementation directly in the DA solver, or by the separate mode, which included solving the Poisson equation on the DA-recovered flow fields. Sequential DA recovered high signal-to-noise flow fields that had piecewise-smooth temporal variations due to the intermittent constraints of the observations, while only the temporal sequence of the fields at the observational instances was selected as the DA output. Errors were significantly reduced, and DA improved the divergence condition of the three-dimensional flow fields. DA also enhanced the dynamical features of the vortical structures, and the pressure determined by both modes successfully captured the downstream convection signatures of the vortex rings.

Experimental investigation of aerofoil tonal noise at low Mach number

This paper presents an experimental investigation of aerofoil tones emitted by a controlled-diffusion aerofoil at low Mach number ( $0.05$ ), moderate Reynolds number based on the chord length ( $1.4 \times 10^{5}$ ) and moderate incidence ( $5^{\circ }$ angle of attack). Wall-pressure measurements have been performed along the suction side of the aerofoil to reveal the acoustic source mechanisms. In particular, a feedback loop is found to extend from the aerofoil trailing edge to the regions near the leading edge where the flow encounters a mean favourable pressure gradient, and consists of acoustic disturbances travelling upstream. Simultaneous wall-pressure, velocity and far-field acoustic measurements have been performed to identify the boundary-layer instability responsible for tonal noise generation. Causality correlation between far-field acoustic pressure and wall-normal velocity fluctuations has been performed, which reveals the presence of a Kelvin–Helmholtz-type modal shape within the velocity disturbance field. Tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements have been performed to understand the three-dimensional aspects of this flow instability. These measurements confirm the presence of large two-dimensional rollers that undergo three-dimensional breakdown just upstream of the trailing edge. Finally, modal decomposition of the flow has been carried out using proper orthogonal decomposition, which demonstrates that the normal modes are responsible for aerofoil tonal noise. The higher normal modes are found to undergo regular modulations in the spanwise direction. Based on the observed modal shape, an explanation of aerofoil tonal noise amplitude reduction is given, which has been previously reported in modular or serrated trailing-edge aerofoils.

Detached eddy simulations and tomographic PIV measurements of flows over surface combatant 5415 at straight-ahead and static drift conditions

A coupled experimental and computational study is performed to discuss the overall trend in surface combatant 5512 forces and moment and flow pattern with the change in hull drift angle (β) from straight-ahead (β = 0°) to static drift β = 10°–20° conditions. The local flow measurements were performed using tomographic particle image velocimetry (TPIV), which involved uncertainties ranging from <1% to 17% and the uncertainties decreased with the vortex progression. The surge force increased quadratically with the drift angle, whereas the sway force and yaw moment increased cubically. The wave elevation showed diverging wave pattern from both starboard and port sides. The wave angle increased and decreased on the port and starboard sides, respectively, with the increase in β. But the total wave envelop angle remained almost constant. Both experiments and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions showed very similar vortical structures. The β = 0° flow showed structures emanating from the sonar dome, forebody keel, and bilge keel aligned which progressed along the hull. The static drift flows showed structures emanating from the sonar dome tip, bilge keel tip, and aft body keel which advected away from the hull. The primary vortices for the static drift case were circular and showed Gaussian or bell-shaped planar distribution. The vortex strength increased with β, and decreased with progression as vortices diffused. The momentum deficit in vortex core was sustained for β = 0° due to interaction with boundary layer. Whereas for β = 10° and 20°, the deficit increased due to turbulence generation in the core because of helical instability. The TPIV measurements, for the first time, provided detailed measurements for the progression of the vortical structures and associated mean and turbulent flow characteristics for ship flows. However, they have larger uncertainties near the hull, which limits analysis of the vortex onset characteristics. Future work should focus on time resolved particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) to address these issues.

Dynamics of the jet flow issued from a lobed Nozzle: Tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements

This study focuses on the dynamics of the three-dimensional jet flow issued from a lobed nozzle. Flow field measurements were performed using a split-screen dual-camera tomographic particle image velocimetry (tomo-PIV) system. The lobed nozzle was constructed using three-circle configuration at the nozzle exit, where the ratio of the circular centre offset to the circle radius was a/b=0.8. Two high-speed cameras were used with an appropriate combination of prismatic and planar mirrors to split each camera into two views. The Reynolds number was fixed at Re=2400, and the circular jet at the same Reynolds number was also measured for comparison. Fourier mode decomposition was used to identify the large-scale structures superposed in the unsteady flow field. The lobe trough in the jet decreased the jet’s width due to the smooth connection between the pipe section and the lobed exit. Turbulence was intensified in the jet shear layer, and the passing fluid puffs in the circular jet instantaneous flow field were also broken in the lobed jet. The successively passing fluid puffs in the circular jet were observed to be the axisymmetric large-scale structure in Fourier modes dominating at St=0.39. However, breakdown of the axisymmetric structures was induced by the lobed nozzle at St=0.51 and 0.65, and the double helical modes arose at St=0.28 and 0.38 (also 0.4) in the shear layer of the jet potential core and interacted with the entire jet column.

Three-dimensional flow structure in an axisymmetric separated/reattaching supersonic flow

The turbulence structure in massively separated supersonic flows is highly complex and dominated by three-dimensional turbulence mechanisms. Analysis of large ensembles of tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements acquired in the near-wake of a Mach 2.49 blunt-based cylinder wake reveals multiple coherent high-energy turbulence mechanisms. These mechanisms have strong contributions to the turbulent kinetic energy, and several of them appear consistent with past computational simulations of this flow.

Determination of single and double helical structures in a swirling jet by spectral proper orthogonal decomposition

This paper studies the coherent structures found in an annular swirling jet flow undergoing vortex breakdown with control parameters, the Reynolds number Re = 8500 and the swirl number Sw = 0.38. The flow field is simulated using the large eddy simulation method with a dynamic k model. The first- and second-order statistics of the velocity fields are compared to tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements of the same flow configuration to validate the numerical simulation. The fast Fourier transform of the sampled velocity and pressure signals indicates a precessing vortex core with a frequency of 22 Hz. This frequency is in line with the one detected by spectral proper orthogonal decomposition, which is utilized to identify the coherent structures in the near-field region of the swirling flow in the present work. In detail, apart from the single helical structure usually found in swirling flows, a double helix, rarely observed in turbulent swirling jets, is also identified. This structure is not a second-order harmonic mode of the single one, as shown by statistical analysis of the mode temporal coefficients. Moreover, the calculation of energy production shows that this coherent precessing motion extracts energy from the mean flow field in the wake behind the bluff-body and in the breakup region of the vortex.

Simultaneous 10 kHz three-dimensional CH2O and tomographic PIV measurements in a lifted partially-premixed jet flame

High-speed, three-dimensional (3D) scalar-velocity field measurements are demonstrated in a lifted partially-premixed dimethyl-ether/air jet flame using simultaneous laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) of formaldehyde (CH2O) and tomographic particle image velocimetry (TPIV). The 3D LIF measurements are performed by raster scanning the laser beam from a 100 kHz pulse-burst laser across the probe volume using an acousto-optic deflector. The volumetric reconstruction of the LIF signal from ten parallel planes provides quasi-instantaneous 3D LIF measurements that are synchronized with 10 kHz TPIV measurements. The temporally resolved CH2O-LIF and velocity field data are used to analyze Lagrangian particle trajectories and displacement speeds at the base of the lifted flame. The particle trajectories reveal flow structures that are difficult to observe in an Eulerian reference frame. Positive and negative displacement speeds are observed at the CH2O-LIF surfaces at the inner and outer regions of the jet flame with a maximum displacement speed of approximately eight times the laminar flame speed of a stoichiometric dimethyl-ether/air mixture. The observations in present study support formation of lean premixed flames near the flame base whose role in flame stabilization should be investigated in more detail.

Modeling capabilities of unsteady RANS for the simulation of turbulent swirling flow in an annular bluff-body combustor geometry

In this paper, we investigate the capabilities of the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) equations for capturing the helical structures found in a three-dimensional, incompressible and isothermal annular swirling jet undergoing vortex breakdown. The flow topology is representative of a bluff-body combustor operating at a Reynolds number Re = 8500 and swirl number S = 0.39. As a turbulence model, the SSG Reynolds stress model (RSM) was chosen. The numerical simulation is validated by means of tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements of the same flow configuration. To detect the coherent structures in the flow field, the recently introduced spectral proper orthogonal decomposition technique is adopted, which gives both temporal and spatial information on the large scale coherent structures. The spectral analysis of the sampled velocity signals identified a precessing vortex core with a frequency of 24.3 Hz. In particular, two different large-scale helical flow structures are identified: a single and a double helix. Both of them are wound in the counter-swirl direction and wrapped around the central breakdown bubble. Those findings are quite similar to recent experimental tomographic particle image velocimetry results (Vanierschot et al., Phys. Rev. Fluids (2018) & J. Fluid Mech. (2020)). This study demonstrates that the unsteady RANS approach with RSM is able to predict the coherent structures found in an annular swirling jet undergoing vortex breakdown both temporally and spatially with reasonable accuracy and this approach can hence be used in the design of bluff-body combustors, where a multi-dimensional parameter space may require many simulations to find the optimal design.

Three-dimensional vortical structures generated by plasma synthetic jets in crossflow

In the present study, phase-locked tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements are performed to obtain the complex three-dimensional vortex system created by the interaction of plasma synthetic jets with external crossflow. Three orifice configurations (round, transverse slot, and longitudinal slot) are investigated. For the round orifice case, the vortex system consists of a starting vortex ring surrounding the jet head, a hanging vortex pair residing in the two lateral sides of the jet body, several shear layer vortices bridging the two legs of the hanging vortex pair, and a hairpin vortex induced by the low-speed secondary jet. For the slot orifice cases, the above vortex system is also present; nevertheless, the interconnections of the vortices are further intersected by the rib vortices that are branched out of the elongated vortex ring during axis switching. The counter-rotating vortex pair observed in the far field is essentially evolving from the hanging vortex pair in the near field.

Hairpin vortex structures in a supersonic, separated, longitudinal cylinder wake

The near-wake flow structure behind a blunt-based cylinder aligned with a Mach 2.49 freestream is studied experimentally using tomographic particle image velocimetry (TPIV), which acquires three-component velocity measurements throughout a volumetric region. TPIV measurements were acquired in three different volumetric regions throughout this flow, including two regions in the separated shear layer and one in the high-speed portion of the trailing wake, with a large ensemble of measurement volumes (approximately 2500) acquired in each region. The quality of these data is validated using point-by-point comparisons to previous experimental data with known uncertainty estimates. Hairpin vortex structures were observed to exist commonly throughout this flow field (in both subsonic and supersonic regions), and they induced strong turbulent fluctuations aligned with a consistent direction. Inverted hairpin vortex structures were also observed to commonly exist in this flow, inducing strong turbulent fluctuations in a direction opposite to that of the upright hairpins, but their presence was limited to subsonic flow regions. These coherent structures are demonstrated to be significant drivers of kinematic Reynolds shear stress and turbulent kinetic energy throughout this flow. A planar turbulent quadrant analysis was used to provide a measure of the spatial dependencies of these structures within the flow, and a linear stochastic estimation was used to provide robust statistical evidence of their frequent existence in various subregions. Upright hairpins were demonstrated to statistically grow with streamwise progression, and the strength of their induced velocity fluctuations increased in the presence of the adverse pressure gradient associated with flow field reattachment.

Single- and double-helix vortex breakdown as two dominant global modes in turbulent swirling jet flow

In this paper, we study the shape and dynamics of helical coherent structures found in the flow field of an annular swirling jet undergoing vortex breakdown. The flow field is studied by means of time-resolved tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements. The obtained flow fields are analysed using both classic and spectral proper orthogonal decomposition. Despite the simple geometrical set-up of the annular jet, the flow field is very complex. Two distinct large-scale helical flow structures are identified: a single and a double helix, both co-rotating with the swirl direction, and it is revealed that these structures are not higher harmonics of each other. The structures have a relatively low energy content which makes it hard to separate them from other dynamics of the flow field, notably turbulent motions. Because of this, classic proper orthogonal decomposition fails to identify both structures properly. Spectral proper orthogonal decomposition, on the other hand, allows them to be identified accurately when the filter size is set at around eight times the precession period. The precession frequencies of the single and double helices correspond to Strouhal numbers of 0.273 and , respectively. A global stability analysis of the mean flow field shows that these structures correspond to two separate global modes. The precessing frequencies obtained by the stability analysis and the related spatial structures match very well with the experimental observations. The current work extends our knowledge on turbulent vortex breakdown and on mean field global stability theory in general. It leads to the following conclusions. Firstly, single- and double-helix vortex breakdown are both manifestations of global modes. Previous studies have shown that both and modes can coexist in swirling jets. However, the mode has been identified as a second harmonic of the first mode, while this study identifies both as two independent global modes. Secondly, this work shows that the simultaneous occurrence of multiple helical global modes is possible within a turbulent flow and their shapes and frequencies are very well predicted by mean field stability analysis. The latter finding is of general interest as it applies to a wide class of fluid problems dominated by multiple oscillatory structures.

Study of Leading-Edge Dimple Effects on Airfoil Flow Using Tomographic PIV and Temperature Sensitive Paint

Airfoil blades can experience a significant change of angle of attack during operation cycles, which may lead to static or dynamic stall in various applications. It is unclear how elements distributed at the leading edge would affect the aerodynamic performance and stall behaviors. In the present study, a distributed dimples configuration was investigated and compared to a baseline smooth NACA0015 airfoil at low Reynolds numbers. Two- and four-camera, tomographic particle image velocimetry (PIV), and temperature sensitive paint (TSP) techniques were set up to gather flow and surface information near the curved leading-edge surface and to study flow separation. Results suggest that distributed dimples configuration create abrupt separation leading to stall and induce a similar stall compared to the smooth model. However, the stall is induced more abruptly and with different flow patterns. Results show that patterns of separated shear layer at stalled conditions were enhanced by the current configuration. Effect of these structures on the boundary layer transition were also analyzed based on combined tomographic PIV and TSP measurement techniques.

An application of tomographic PIV to investigate the spray-induced turbulence in a direct-injection engine

Fuel sprays produce high-velocity, jet-like flows that impart turbulence onto the ambient flow field. This spray-induced turbulence augments rapid fuel-air mixing, which has a primary role in controlling pollutant formation and cyclic variability in direct-injection engines. This paper presents tomographic particle image velocimetry (TPIV) measurements to analyze the 3D spray-induced turbulence during the intake stroke of a direct-injection spark-ignition (DISI) engine. The spray produces a strong spray-induced jet (SIJ) in the far field, which travels through the cylinder and imparts turbulence onto the surrounding flow. Planar high-speed PIV measurements at 4.8 kHz are combined with TPIV at 3.3 Hz to evaluate spray particle distributions and validate TPIV measurements in the particle laden flow. A comprehensive uncertainty analysis is performed to assess the uncertainty associated with individual vorticity and strain rate components.TPIV analyses quantify the spatial domain of the turbulence in relation to the SIJ and describe how turbulent flow features such as turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), strain rate (S) and vorticity (Ω) evolve into the surrounding flow field. Access to the full S and Ω tensors facilitate the evaluation of turbulence for individual spray events. TPIV images reveal the presence of strong shear layers (visualized by high S magnitudes) and pockets of elevated vorticity along the immediate boundary of the SIJ. S and Ω values are extracted from spatial domains extending in 1 mm increments from the SIJ. Turbulence levels are greatest within the 0–1 mm region from the SIJ boarder and dissipate with radial distance. Individual strain rate and vorticity components are analyzed in detail to describe the relationship between local strain rates and 3D vortical structures produced within strong shear layers of the SIJ. Analyses are intended to understand the flow features responsible for rapid fuel-air mixing and provide valuable data for the development of numerical models.

Experimental study on dominant vortex structures in near-wall region of turbulent boundary layer based on tomographic particle image velocimetry

Vortex structures are very popular research objects in turbulent boundary layers (TBLs) because of their prime importance in turbulence modelling. This work performs a tomographic particle image velocimetry measurement on the near-wall region ($y&lt;0.1\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}$) of TBLs at three Reynolds numbers $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=1238$, 2286 and 3081. The main attention is paid to the wall-normal evolution of the vortex geometries and topologies. The vortex is identified with swirl strength ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}_{ci}$), and its orientation is recognized by using the real eigenvector of the velocity gradient tensor. The vortex inclination angles in the streamwise–wall-normal plane and in the streamwise–spanwise plane as functions of wall-normal positions are investigated, which provide useful information to speculate on the three-dimensional shape of the vortex tubes in a TBL. The difference between the orientations of vorticity and swirl is discussed and their inherent relationship is revealed based on the governing equation of vorticity. Linear stochastic estimation (LSE) is further deployed to directly extract three-dimensional vortex models. The LSE velocity fields for ejection events happening at different wall-normal positions shed light on the evolution of the topologies for the vortices dominating ejection events. LSE based on a centred prograde spanwise vortex provides a typical packet model, which indicates that the population density of the packets in a TBL is large enough to leave footprints in conditionally averaged flow fields. This work should help to settle the severe debate on the existence of packet structures and also lays some foundation for the TBL model theory.

Double helix vortex breakdown in a turbulent swirling annular jet flow

Double helical vortex breakdown is rarely observed in experiments and is mostly reported for laminar flows. A double helical breakdown structure in a turbulent annular jet is identified and its dynamics analyzed based on time-resolved tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements.

Coherent structures in the near-field of swirling turbulent jets: A tomographic PIV study

The present paper reports on high-speed tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements of large-scale coherent structures in the near field of swirling turbulent jets. Three flow cases are considered: a jet without superimposed swirl; a jet with low swirl; and a high-swirl jet with bubble-type vortex breakdown and a central recirculation zone. Local pressure fluctuations and their correlations with velocity were evaluated based on the Poisson equation and an effective viscosity model. Spatial Fourier transform and proper orthogonal decomposition were applied to evaluate the energies of different azimuthal modes for different cross-sections of the jet and to extract coherent structures. Toroidal vortices were observed in the mixing layer of the non-swirling and low-swirl jets. In the latter case, the vortices broke up earlier due to the swirl effect and formed longitudinal vortex filaments in the outer mixing layer of the jet. Deviation of the jet centreline from the axis of nozzle symmetry was detected for both non-swirling and low-swirl jets. In the latter case, this deviation was attributed to the intermittent vortex core precession. The amplitude of the axisymmetric mode increased downstream of the non-swirling and low-swirl jets, with development of the ring-like vortices. For the low-swirl jet, this increase was also associated with intensive velocity and pressure fluctuations along the jet axis. Although the high-swirl jet was more turbulent, a long helical vortex could be distinguished from other smaller eddies in the outer mixing layer. The flow dynamics was associated with a strong flow precession around the central recirculation zone. The first azimuthal mode had the largest amplitude until two nozzle diameters downstream and contained a rotating coherent structure. The second most intensive mode was related to the opposite axisymmetric oscillations of the axial velocity of the annular jet and reverse flow in the central recirculation zone.

Analysis of the pressure fields in a swirling annular jet flow

In this paper, we investigate the flow structures and pressure fields of a free annular swirling jet flow undergoing vortex breakdown. The flow field is analyzed by means of time-resolved tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements, which enable the reconstruction of the three-dimensional time-resolved pressure fields using the governing flow equations. Both time-averaged and instantaneous flow structures are discussed, including a characterization of the first- and second-order statistical moments. A Reynolds decomposition of the flow field shows that the time-averaged flow is axisymmetric with regions of high anisotropic Reynolds stresses. Two recirculation zones exist that are surrounded by regions of very intense mixing. Notwithstanding the axisymmetric nature of the time-averaged flow, a non-axisymmetric structure of the instantaneous flow is revealed, comprising a central vortex core which breaks up into a precessing vortex core. The winding sense of this helical structure is opposite to the swirl direction and it is wrapped around the vortex breakdown bubble. It precesses around the central axis of the flow at a frequency corresponding to a Strouhal number of 0.27. The precessing vortex core is associated with a low-pressure region along the central axis of the jet and the maximum pressure fluctuations occur upstream of the vortex breakdown location, where the azimuthal velocity component also reaches peak values as a result of the inward motion of the fluid and the conservation of angular momentum. The POD analysis of the pressure fields suggests that the precessing helical vortex formation is the dominant coherent structure in the instantaneous flow.