Particle image velocimetry and planar laser-induced fluorescence

measurements on lobed jet mixing flows

H. Hu, T. Kobayashi, T. Saga, S. Segawa, N. Taniguchi
Abstract An experimental investigation of the vortical and
turbulent structures in lobed jet mixing ows was con-
ducted. The techniques of planar laser-induced uores-
cence (PLIF) and particle image velocimetry (PIV) were
used to accomplish ow visualisation and velocity led
measurements of the lobed jet mixing ows. Compared
with a conventional circular jet ow, the lobed jet mixing
ows were found to have a shorter laminar region, a
smaller scale of spanwise KelvinHelmholtz vortices,
quicker transition to turbulence and earlier appearance of
small-scale vortical and turbulent structures. The intensive
mixing of the core jet ow with ambient ow was found to
concentrate within the rst two nozzle diameters in the
lobed jet mixing ow. More rapid growth of the shear layer
at the near eld and quicker decay of the central line
velocity were also found in the lobed jet mixing ow. All
these indicated a better mixing enhancement performance
of the lobed nozzle compared with the conventional cir-
cular nozzle in the near-eld region.
Based on the PLIF and PIV results, two aspects of the
mechanism of mixing enhancement in a lobed jet mixing
ow were suggested. One is that a lobed nozzle can cause
big azimuthal perturbations in the jet ow due to its
special geometry, and the streamwise vortices produced by
the lobed nozzle can enhanced the azimuthal perturba-
tions. The ``cut and connect'' process of the large-scale
spanwise KelvinHelmholtz vortex rings was accelerated.
This is responsible for the avalanche of three-dimensional
and smaller-scale motions and the generation of high
turbulence. Another is that the ``stretch effect'' of
streamwise vortices generated by the lobed nozzle on the
spanwise KelvinHelmholtz vortical rings reduced the
scale of the spanwise KelvinHelmholtz vortices, which
also results in the creation of much small-scale intense
turbulence and enhances the mixing of the core jet ow
with the ambient ow.
1
Introduction
A lobed nozzle, which consists of a splitter plate with a
convoluted trailing edge, is a promising uid mechanic
device for efcient mixing of two co-ow streams with
different velocities, temperatures and/or species. This has
been paid a great deal of attention by many researchers in
recent years and has also been widely applied to aerospace
engineering. For example, in commercial aero-engines,
lobed nozzles have been used to reduce take-off jet noise
and specic fuel consumption (SFC) (Tillman and Presz
1993; Presz et al. 1994; Hu et al. 1996). In order to reduce
the infrared radiation signals of military aircraft to improve
their survivability in modern war, lobed nozzles have also
been used to enhance the mixing process of the high
temperature and high speed gas plume from air-engines
with ambient cold air (Power et al. 1994). More recently,
lobed nozzles have also emerged as an attractive approach
to enhancing mixing between fuel and air in combustion
chambers to improve the efciency of combustion and
reduce the formation of pollutants (Smith et al. 1997).
In connection with the mechanism of the mixing
enhancement in lobed jet mixing ow, Peterson (1982) was
the rst to measure the velocity and turbulent character-
istics downstream of a lobed nozzle/mixer systematically
by using laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV). He concluded
that a lobed nozzle/mixer could cause large-scale stream-
wise vortices shed at the trailing edge of lobes. So, the
downstream of the ow eld is embedded with many
arrays of large-scale streamwise vortices of alternating
sign, which are believed to be primarily responsible for the
enhanced mixing.
Much of the later work on lobed nozzles concentrated
on discovering the underlying physics of the lobed mixing
process. The work of Werle et al. (1987) and Eckerle et al.
(1990) suggested that the formation process of the large-
scale streamwise vortices in a lobed mixing ow is an
inviscid one, which was proposed to take in three basic
steps: vortices form, intensify and rapidly break down into
small-scale turbulent structures.
Elliott et al. (1992) found that both the streamwise
vortices shed from lobed trailing edge and the increased
initial interfacial area associated with the lobe geometry
are signicant for increasing the mixing compared with
that occurring within conventional at plate splitter. At a
velocity ratio close to 1.0, the increased mixing is due
mainly to the increased contact area, whereas the
streamwise vortices have a larger role at a velocity ratio of
2.0, and its importance rises as the velocity ratio increases.
Experiments in Fluids [Suppl.] S141S157 Springer-Verlag 2000
H. Hu (&)
1
, T. Kobayashi, T. Saga, S. Segawa, N. Taniguchi
Institute of Industrial Science
University of Tokyo, 7-22-1 Roppongi
Minato-Ku, Tokyo 106-8558, Japan
Present address:
1
Turbulent Mixing and Unsteady Aerodynamics Laboratory
A22 Research Complex Engineering
Michigan State University
East Lansing, 48824, MI, USA
e-mail: huhui@egr.msu.edu
S141
The study by McCormick and Bennett (1994) revealed
more details for the ow patterns downstream of a lobed
mixer. Based on pulsed-laser sheet ow visualization with
smoke and three-dimensional velocity measurements with
a hot lm anemometer (HFA), they suggested that the
interaction of KelvinHelmholtz (spanwise) vortices with
the streamwise vortices produces the high levels of mixing.
The streamwise vortices deform the spanwise vortices into
pinch-off structures and increase the stirring effect in the
mixing ow. These result in the creation of intense small-
scale turbulence and mixing.
In the work of the Belovich and Samimy (1997), a
summary of the results of the previous research showed
that the mixing process in a lobed mixing ow is con-
trolled by three primary elements. The rst is the
streamwise vortices generated in the mixing ow due to
the lobed shape. The second is the increase in interfacial
area between the two ows due to the special geometry of
the lobed structure, and the third is the BrownRoshiko-
type structures occurring in any shear layer due to the
KelvinHelmholtz instability.
Although many important results have been obtained as
a result of these previous investigations, much work is still
needed to understand the uid dynamic mechanism of
mixing enhancement in a lobed jet mixing ow more
clearly. Especially in relation to research on the vortical
and turbulent structure changes in a lobed jet mixing ow
compared with a conventional circular jet ow, and the
mechanism of how the large-scale streamwise vortices
generated by a lobed nozzle enhance the jet ow mixing
process. Meanwhile, most of the previous research was
conducted by using a Pitot probe, LDV or HFA, with
which it is very hard to reveal the vortical and turbulent
structures in a jet mixing ow instantaneously and globally
due to the limitation of those experimental techniques. In
the present study, both planar laser-induced uorescence
(PLIF) and particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques
were used to research the lobed jet mixing ow instanta-
neously and globally. By using the directly perceived ow
visualization results and the quantitative velocity vector
elds, the evolution and interaction characteristics of the
spanwise KelvinHelmholtz vortices and streamwise vor-
tices in the lobed jet mixing ow were studied. The physics
of the jet mixing ow and mechanism of the mixing
enhancement in a lobed jet mixing ow were also dis-
cussed based on the PLIF and PIV measurement results.
2
Experimental set-up
Figure 1 shows schematically the experimental set-up used
in the present research. The test nozzles (a lobed nozzle
and a baseline circular nozzle) were xed in the middle of
a water tank (600 mm 600 mm 1000 mm). Fluores-
cent dye (Rhodamine B) for PLIF and PIV tracers (poly-
styrene particles d = 2030 lm, density 1.02) was
premixed with water in a jet supply tank, and the jet ow
was supplied by a pump. The ow rate of the jet ow,
which was used to calculate the representative velocity and
Reynolds numbers, was measured by a ow meter. A
cylindrical plenum chamber was installed upstream of the
test nozzles to insure that the turbulent levels of the core
jet ows at the exit of test nozzles were less than 3%.
The pulsed laser sheet (thickness about 1.0 mm, dura-
tion of the pulsed illumination 6 ns) to illuminate the ow
eld for PLIF visualization and PIV measurement was
supplied by a double-pulsed Nd:YAG laser at a frequency
of 10 Hz and power of 200 mJ/pulse. For the PIV
measurement, the time interval between the two pulses can
be adjustable, which is about 25 ms for the present study.
1 K by 1 K CCD cameras (PIVCAM 1030) were used to
capture the PLIF and PIV images. The double-pulsed
Nd:YAG laser and the CCD camera were connected to a
work station (host computer, RAM 1,024 MB, HD 20 GB)
via a synchronizer (TSI Laserpulse Synchronizer), which
Fig. 1. The schematic of the experimental set-up
S142
controlled the timing of laser illumination and CCD
camera image acquisition.
Rhodamine B was used as the uorescent dye in the
present research. The induced uorescent light for PLIF
visualization and the scattered laser light for PIV
measurement were separated from each other by the
installation of high pass and low pass optical lters at
the head of the CCD cameras. A low concentration
Rhodamine B solution (0.5 mg/l) was used to insure that
the strength of uorescent light was linear with the
concentration of the uorescent dye and that the effect
of laser light attenuation was negligible as the laser light
sheet propagated through the ow (Hu et al. 1999).
Rather than tracking individual particles, the cross-
correlation method (Willert and Gharib 1991) was used in
the present study for PIV image processing to obtain the
averaged displacement of the ensemble particles. The im-
ages were divided into 32 32 pixel interrogation win-
dows, and 50% overlap grids were employed. The spatial
resolution of the PIV images for the present research case
is about 120 lm/pixel. The post-processing procedures,
including sub-pixel interpolation (Hu et al. 1998) and
spurious velocity deletion (Westerweel 1994) were used to
improve the accuracy of the PIV result.
Figure 2 shows the two nozzles used in the present
study: a baseline circular nozzle and a lobed nozzle with
six lobes. The height of the lobes is 15 mm (i.e.,
H = 15 mm) and the inner and outer lobe penetration
angles are about 22 and 14 respectively. The equivalent
diameters of the two nozzles at the exit are the same, i.e.
D = 40 mm. In the present study, the core jet velocities
(U
0
) were set at about 0.1 m/s and 0.2 m/s. The Reynolds
numbers of the jet ows, based on the nozzle exit diameter
and the core jet velocities, were about 3,000 and 6,000.
Compared with a circular jet ow, the changes in the
turbulent and vortical structures in the lobed jet mixing
ow were investigated rst in three axial slices: the lobe
trough slice, the lobe peak slice and the lobe side slice
(Fig. 2c). Then, PLIF visualization and PIV measurements
were conducted at several cross sections for the lobed jet
mixing ows and circular jet ows.
For the PIV measurement results, the mean velocity
elds, time-averaged streamwise vorticity distributions,
turbulent kinetic energy elds and in-plane turbulence
intensity distributions were used to analyze the mixing
characteristics of the lobed mixing ows and circular jet
ows. The mean values were calculated based on the
average of 400 frames of PIV instantaneous velocity vector
elds, which were obtained at a frequency of 10 Hz. The
uncertainty of the PIV instantaneous measurement results
in the present study should be less than 2%. The deviations
of the ensemble averaged values, such as turbulence en-
ergy, turbulent intensity and mean vorticity, based on the
400 frames of instantaneous PIV velocity elds for the
present study should be about 5%.
3
Results and discussion
3.1
In the axial slices
Figure 3 shows the PLIF visualization and PIV measure-
ment results of a conventional circular jet ow at the
Reynolds number of 6,000. For the circular jet ow, a
Fig. 2ac. The test nozzles and three studied axial slices.
a Circular nozzle; b Lobed nozzle; c Three axial slices for the
lobed jet mixing ow
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laminar region downstream of the circular nozzle can be
seen clearly in the ow eld. At the end of the laminar
region (X=D 1:5 2:0), spanwise KelvinHelmholtz
vortex rings were found to roll up. Pairing and combining
of these spanwise vortex rings and the jet ow transition to
turbulence were found to conduct downstream
(X=D 4 6), much of which is out of the CCD camera
view of the present study. Neither small-scale vortices nor
turbulence structures can be found in the investigated
region (X=D < 3:0). The PLIF visualization result of the
circular jet ow obtained in the present study is qualita-
tively similar to the result reported by Liepmann and
Gharib (1992).
Figure 3c and d shows the mean velocity distribution
and turbulent kinetic energy distribution in the circular jet
ow. In the present paper, the turbulent kinetic energy is
dened as:
K
1
2
u
02
2v
02
=U
2
0
1
as v
0
and w
0
have been assumed to be equivalent.
From the gures, it can be seen that the circular jet ow
began to expand just after the spanwise KelvinHelmholtz
vortices rolled up downstream of X=D > 1:5. A potential
core region (the regions where the turbulent kinetic energy
value is less than 0.005 in Fig. 3d in the center of the jet
ow extended downstream of X=D > 3:0 for the circular
jet ow, while the intensive mixing regions (the regions
where the turbulent kinetic energy values are greater than
0.025 in Fig. 3d) were found to appear downstream of
X=D > 2:0, and extended much farther downstream.
Figure 4 shows the PLIF visualization and PIV mea-
surement results of the lobed jet mixing ow in the axial
slice passing lobe trough. Compared with the circular jet
ow, the laminar region downstream of the lobed nozzle
trailing edge became much shorter in this axial slice, and
the spanwise KelvinHelmholtz vortices were found to roll
up almost from the trailing edge of the lobed nozzle. It is
also found that the sizes of these spanwise Kelvin
Helmholtz vortices are much smaller compared with that
in the circular jet ow. The spanwise KelvinHelmholtz
vortices increased their wavelength (due to vortex pairing)
and broke down, then the jet ow transit to turbulence at
the downstream of X=D 1:0 with many small-scale
vortical and turbulent structures appeared in the ow eld.
These results are consistent with the results observed by
McCormick and Bennett (1994) in a two-dimensional
lobed mixing layer.
From the mean velocity and turbulent kinetic energy
distribution at this axial slice (Fig. 4c and d), it can be seen
that the lobed jet mixing ow began to expand almost from
the trailing edge of the lobed nozzle. The expansion rate
of the lobe jet mixing ow was found to be bigger than that
in the circular jet ow (Fig. 3c and d) at the rst two
diameters of the lobed nozzle. Unlike that in the circular jet
ow, the intensive mixing regions (the regions where the
turbulent kinetic energy values are greater than 0.025 in
Fig. 4d) were found to be concentrated downstream of
X=D < 2:0 in the lobe jet mixing ow. The potential core
region (the region where turbulent kinetic energy value is
less than 0.005) at the center of the lobed jet mixing owwas
much smaller and shorter than that in the circular jet ow.
Figure 5 shows the PLIF ow visualization and PIV
measurement results of the lobed jet mixing ow in the
axial slice passing the lobe peak. The laminar region at the
exit of the lobed nozzle in this axial slice was not a straight
cylinder like that in the circular jet, and looked like an
expansive cut-off cone along the lobe peak instead.
Compared with that in the lobe trough slice, the laminar
region in the lobe peak axial slice was slightly longer
(X=D 0:5), but still much shorter than that in the cir-
cular jet ow. This may be caused by the different thick-
ness of the boundary layer at the exit of the lobed nozzle.
[The diffusion of the ow at lobe peak passages may result
in the accumulation of the boundary layer, which was
veried by the work of Brink and Foss (1993). The thicker
boundary layer at the lobe peak needs a longer streamwise
distance to roll-up the KelvinHelmholtz vortices (Huss-
ain and Husain 1989)]. Downstream of X=D > 1:0, the
lobed jet ow was found to transit to turbulence, and
many small-scale turbulent and vortical structures ap-
peared in the ow eld. As in the lobe trough slice dis-
cussed above, most intensive mixing regions were found
to be concentrated in the rst two diameters of the lobed
nozzle in the lobe peak slice. The potential core region at
the center of the lobed jet mixing ow in this axial slice
was also much smaller and shorter than that in the cir-
cular jet ow.
Figure 6 shows the PLIF ow visualization and PIV
measurement results in the axial slice passing the lobe side
of the lobed jet mixing ow. Some streak ow structures
can be seen clearly downstream of the lobe structure
trailing edge in this axial slice. These streak structures
were the KelvinHelmholtz vortical tubes shed periodically
from the lobe training edge, which was observed and called
``normal vortex'' by McCormick and Bennett (1994).
Downstream of the location at about X=D < 1:0, the lobed
jet mixing ow was found to transit to turbulence, and
small-scale vortical and turbulent structures were found to
appear in the ow eld.
3.2
In the cross planes
Figure 7 shows the PLIF ow visualization results of the
lobed jet mixing ow in six cross planes. At the location of
X=D 0:25 (X=H 0:7, Fig. 7a), the existence of the
streamwise vortices in the form of six petal ``mushrooms''
at the lobe peaks can be seen clearly. The spanwise Kel-
vinHelmholtz vortices rolled up earlier at the lobe
troughs were found to be six ``crescents'' at this cross
section.
As the streamwise distance increased to X=D 0:5
(X=H 1:3), the ``mushrooms'' at the lobe peak grew
(Fig. 7b), which indicated the intensication of the
streamwise vortices generated by the lobed nozzle. As
the streamwise vortices distance increased to X=D 0:75
(X=H 2:0), the streamwise vortices generated by the
lobed nozzle in the form of a ``mushroom'' structure
kept on intensifying. Six new counter-rotating stream-
wise vortex pairs can be found at lobe troughs. Although
the existence of the horseshoe vortex structures in the
lobed mixing ow had been suggested by Paterson (1982)
two decades ago, this is the best known visualization
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Fig. 7af. PLIF visualization of the lobed jet mixing ow in several cross planes (Re = 3,000). a X/D 0.25 (X/H 0.7); b X/D 0.5
(X/H 1.3); c X/D 0.75 (X/H 2.0); d X/D 1.0 (X/H 2.7); e X/D 1.5 (X/H 4.0); f X/D 2.0 (X/H 5.3)
S149
result and provides unquestionable evidence of their
existence.
At the location of X=D 1:0 (X=H 2:7, Fig. 7d), some
small-scale vortical and turbulent structures were found to
appear in the ow, and the interaction between the
streamwise vortices and spanwise KelvinHelmholtz vor-
tices made adjacent ``mushrooms'' merge with each other,
which may indicate a process whereby the streamwise
vortices deform the spanwise KelvinHelmholtz vortical
tube into pinch-off structures, suggested by McCormick
and Bennett (1993). At the location of X=D 1:5
(X=H 4:0, Fig. 7e) and X=D 2:0 (X=H 5:3, Fig. 7f),
the ``mushroom''-shaped structures almost disappeared
and the ow was almost fully lled with small-scale turbu-
lent and vortical structures.
However, for the circular jet mixing ow at the same
Reynolds number level, the jet mixing ow is still in this
laminar region at the location of X=D 1:0 (Fig. 8a). The
spanwise KelvinHelmholtz vortices began to roll up at the
location of X=D 2:0 (Fig. 8b). At the downstream loca-
tion of X=D > 3:0 (Fig. 8c), streamwise vortices due to the
azimuthal instability (Liepmann and Gharib 1992) were
found to appear in the ow eld. However, neither small-
scale turbulent structures nor small-scale vortices can be
found in the ow eld at these cross planes for the circular
jet ow.
Figures 912 give the PIV measurement results at
four typical cross planes in the lobed jet mixing ow. As
in the PLIF visualization results, the large-scale
streamwise vortices generated by the special geometry of
the lobe nozzle can be seen clearly both from the in-
stantaneous velocity eld and the mean velocity eld at
the cross plane of X/D = 0.5 (X/H = 1.3, Fig. 9a
and b). Figure 9c and d shows the in-plane turbu-
lence distribution and streamwise vorticity distribution
in this cross plane. In the present paper, in-plane
turbulence intensity and streamwise vorticity are
dened as:
T

v
02
w
02

p
=U
0
2
-
x

D
U
0
ow
oy

ov
oz

3
From Fig. 9c, it can be seen that the contours of in-plane
turbulence intensity were found to be in the same ge-
ometry as the lobed nozzle. Intensive mixing regions were
concentrated downstream of the lobe troughs, which may
be caused by the earlier rolling-up of the spanwise Kelvin
Helmholtz vortices at the lobe troughs. From the
streamwise vorticity distribution shown in Fig. 9d, it can
be seen that each lobe can generate a pair of large-scale
streamwise vortices (the solid line indicate positive and
dashed line indicate negative). The sizes of the streamwise
vortices are equal to the height of the lobe structures,
which is consistent with the results of the previous re-
search (Paterson 1982).
As the streamwise distance increased to X/D = 1.0 (X/
H = 2.7, Fig. 10), the instantaneous velocity eld was found
to be more turbulent than that at X/D = 0.5 (X/H = 1.3)
cross plane. However, the geometry of the lobed nozzles can
still be identied from the PIV instantaneous velocity eld.
As in the PLIF visualization results, the streamwise horseshoe
vortices with a smaller scale at the lobe troughs can also be
seen from the mean velocity eld and streamwise vorticity
eld besides the six large-scale streamwise vortices pairs
generated by the lobed nozzle. The intensive mixing regions
were found to expand outward and inward.
As the streamwise downstream increased to X/D = 1.5
(X/H = 4.0, Fig. 11) and X/D = 2.0 (X/H = 5.3, Fig. 12),
the instantaneous velocity elds became much more
turbulent, which indicates that more intensive mixing
occurs in these sections. The geometry of the lobed
nozzle can almost not be identied from the instanta-
neous velocity elds. The large-scale streamwise vortices
generated by the lobed nozzle were found to break down
into many smaller vortices; the strength of the stream-
Fig. 8ac. PLIF visualization of the circular jet mixing ow in
several cross planes (Re = 3,000). a X/D 1.0; b X/D 2.0;
c X/D 3.0
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wise vortices were also found to dissipated considerably,
which will be discussed later. The intensive mixing re-
gions expanded inwards and outwards much more seri-
ously at these locations, which almost fully lled the
window studied.
3.3
The decay of the streamwise vorticity x
x
The streamwise vortices generated by the lobed nozzle has
been suggested to be the primary reason for the mixing
enhancement of lobed jet mixing ows in the previous
research. In order to study the evolution of the streamwise
vortices in the lobed jet ow, the decay of the maximum
value of the mean streamwise vorticity max (x
x
) based on
the above PIV measurement results are shown in Fig. 13.
At the rst one diameter of the lobed jet ow (X/D < 1.0,
X/H < 2.7), the maximum value of the mean streamwise
vorticity was found to be almost constant, which is about
one-third of the maximum value of the spanwise vorticity
at the nozzle exit plane. The streamwise vortices gener-
ated by the lobed nozzle were also found to grow and
intensify at this region (from the above PLIF visualization
and PIV measurement results). This may correspond to
the steps of the streamwise vortices formation and in-
tensication suggested by Werle et al. (1987) and Eckerle
et al. (1990). However, the maximum streamwise vorticity
was found to decay very rapidly in the region of 2.0 < X/
D < 1.0 (5.3 < X/H < 2.7). The PLIF and PIV results also
showed that the large-scale streamwise vortices generated
by the lobed nozzle broke down into many small-scale
vortices in this region, which may correspond to be
broken-down step of the streamwise vortices suggested by
Fig. 9ad. PIV measurement results at X/D = 0.5 (X/H = 1.3) cross plane for the lobed jet mixing ow (Re = 3,000). a instantaneous
velocity eld; b mean velocity eld; c in-plane turbulance intensity distribution; d mean streamwise vorticity distribution
S151
Werle et al. (1987) and Eckerle et al. (1990). Downstream
of X/D > 2.0 (X/H > 5.7), the streamwise vortices gener-
ated by the lobed nozzle were dissipated so seriously
that the strength of the maximum streamwise vorticity
was just about 1/4 1/5 of that at the exit of the lobed
nozzle.
3.4
Shear layer growth
In order to give a more quantitative comparison of the
mixing characteristics in a lobed jet mixing ow with a
conventional circular jet ow, the growth of the shear layer
in terms of momentum thickness h are given in Fig. 14.
Following the denition of McCormick and Bennett
(1994), the momentum thickness h, which is a measure of
the momentum entrained into the shear layer, is calculated
using following equation:
h
Z
U
1
UU U
2

DU
dy
Z
U
0
U=U
U
0
dy 4
where DU = U
1
) U
2
, U
1
and U
2
are velocities of the two
streams at the inlet of the mixing region, U is the local
velocity of the PIV ensemble averaged values, which are
shown in Figs. 3c, 4c and 5c. In the present study, U
2
= 0,
U
1
= U
0
and DU = U
1
= U
0
.
Since the existence of the long laminar regions
downstream of the circular nozzle, the conventional
circular jet data remain constant for the rst diameter of
the test nozzle, and then grow linearly over the mea-
surement range. However, for the lobed jet ow, the
Fig. 10ad. PIV measurement results at X/D = 1.0 (X/H = 2.7) cross plane for the lobed jet mixing ow (Re = 3,000). a instantaneous
velocity eld; b mean velocity eld; c in-plane turbulance intensity distribution; d mean streamwise vorticity distribution
S152
growth rate is very high for the rst one-lobed nozzle
diameter (X/D < 1.0, X/H < 2.7) in the lobe peak slice,
with a growth rate less than the circular jet farther
downstream. In the lobe trough slice of the lobed jet
mixing ow, the lobed jet was found to grow at a me-
dium rate, which is still higher than the circular jet for
the rst two lobed nozzle diameters (X/D < 2,
X/H < 5.7). These results are consistent with the decay of
the streamwise vorticity discussed previously. At the rst
two nozzle diameters (X/D < 2.0, X/H < 5.3), the large-
scale streamwise vortices generated by the lobed nozzle
enhance the mixing of the core jet ow with the ambient
ow. Farther downstream (X/D > 3.0, X/H > 8.0), the
streamwise vortices dissipated and the momentum
transport was conducted via a conventional gradient-
type turbulent mechanism as in the circular jet ow, so
the momentum growth rate decreased. The growth
rate farther eld (X/D > 3.0) in the lobed jet mixing
ow is below that of the conventional circular jet ow,
also consistent with the conclusion of McCormick and
Bennett (1994) in a two-dimensional lobed mixing
layer.
3.5
Central line velocity decay in the jet flow
A comparison of the central line velocity decay in the
conventional circular jet and the lobed jet mixing ow is
shown in Fig. 15. The central line velocity of the circular
Fig. 11ad. PIV measurement results at X/D = 1.5 (X/H = 4.0) cross plane for the lobed jet mixing ow (Re = 3,000). a instantaneous
velocity eld; b mean velocity eld; c in-plane turbulance intensity distribution; d mean streamwise vorticity distribution
S153
jet ow keeps almost constant in the region studied
(X/D < 4.0), which is consistent with the result that the
length of potential core region of a conventional circular
jet ow ranges from about 4D to 6D (Hinze 1959). How-
ever, the central line velocity of the lobed jet mixing ow
began to decay from the downstream X/D = 1.0, which is
also consistent with the lobed jet mixing ow's transition
to turbulence downstream of X/D < 1.0 revealed in the
above PLIF and PIV results. This means that the length of
the potential core region in the lobed jet ow is just
about a quarter to one-sixth of the conventional circular
jet ow, which also indicates the mixing enhancement
performance of a lobed nozzle over a conventional circular
nozzle in the near-ow eld.
3.6
Mechanism of the mixing enhancement
in lobed jet mixing flow
Compared with a circular jet ow, a lobed jet mixing ow
was found to have a smaller scale of KelvinHelmholtz
vortices, an accelerated process of vortices pairing, and a
quicker transition to turbulence from the above PLIF vi-
sualization and PIV measurement results. More rapid
growth of the shear layer at the near eld and faster decay
of the central line velocity were also found in the lobed jet
mixing ow. All these indicated the mixing enhancement
of a lobed jet mixing ow over a circular jet ow. However,
how did the lobed nozzles enhance uid mixing in a lobed
mixing ow? McCormick and Bennettt (1994) suggested
Fig. 12ad. PIV measurement results at X/D = 2.0 (X/H = 5.3) cross plane for the lobed jet mixing ow (Re = 3,000). a instantaneous
velocity eld; b mean velocity eld; c in-plane turbulance intensity distribution; d mean streamwise vorticity distribution
S154
that the interaction of KelvinHelmholtz vortices with
streamwise vortices generated by the lobed nozzles pro-
duces high levels of mixing, which is mainly responsible
for the enhanced mixing. Yet, they did not explain by what
means these processes were conducted.
It is well known that the mixing process of the jet ow is
also the transportation process of the energy and vorticity
from large-scale vortices to small-scale vortices. For a
conventional circular jet ow, it is well known that the
spanwise vortex rings would be rolled up rst due to the
KelvinHelmholtz instability (rst instability) existing at
any shear layer. As the spanwise vortex rings move
downstream, they cannot be two-dimensional vortical
rings due to the self-interaction and cross-interaction
effects between these spanwise vortical rings (Fig. 16).
They will be the combinations of helical vortical tubes, i.e.,
toroidal vortical rings through the effect of an additional
instability (secondary instability or azimuthal helical
Fig. 14. The momentum
thickness development in the
circular jet ow and lobed jet
mixing ow (Re = 6,000)
Fig. 15. Central line velocity decay of the
circular jet ow and lobed jet mixing ow
(Re = 6,000)
Fig. 13. The decay of the mean stream-
wise vorticity in the lobed jet mixing ow
S155
instability), So, the two-dimensional spanwise vortex
rings caused by the KelvinHelmholtz instability will be
wrapped and develop into three-dimensional structures
through secondary instability. Undergoing interactions,
the large-scale toroidal vortical rings will be broken down
into many substructures through the ``cut and connect''
process (Hussain 1986), which may be responsible for the
avalanche of three-dimensional and smaller-scale motions
and for the generation of high turbulence and Reyolds
stress. However, the evolution of such a process will always
need quite a long streamwise distance to complete in a
conventional circular jet ow.
For a lobed nozzle, because of its special geometry, it
can cause large perturbations along the azimuth of the jet
ow. For example, the ow direction is different in the
lobe peaks and lobe troughs at the exit of the lobed nozzle.
The non-uniform momentum thickness of the boundary
layer along the azimuth of the jet ow results in the rolling
up of KelvinHelmholtz vortices at different streamwise
distances in the lobe peaks and lobed troughs, which is
revealed in the PLIF visualization and PIV measurement
results. The streamwise vortices produced by the lobed
nozzle enlarge the azimuthal perturbations by means of
deformation of the KelvinHelmholtz vortical tubes into
pinch-off structures [suggested by McCormick and Ben-
nett (1994), and also revealed in the PLIF visualization and
PIV measurements results]. All these enhance the earlier
creation of the complex three-dimensional vortices and
the secondary helical instability of the jet ow. i.e., the
``toroidal effect'' of the spanwise vortical structures is en-
larged, and then the ``cut and connect'' process of the
vortical rings is accelerated (which is the merge process of
the adjacent ``mushroom'' observed on the above PLIF
ow visualization in the cross plane). This means that the
process of a large-scale vortical structure breaking into a
smaller scale vortical structure is conducted more rapidly,
therefore, the mixing of the core jet ow with ambient ow
is enhanced, and the transition of jet ow to turbulence
conducted very quickly.
Besides this, the interaction between the large-scale
streamwise vortices produced by a lobed nozzle and the
spanwise vortices caused by the KelvinHelmholtz insta-
bility also results in stretching of the spanwise vortical
rings (Fig. 17). According to the Helmholtz vorticity
conservation law, the scale of the vortices will be reduced
quickly when the vortices are stretched, which also results
in rapid reduction of the scale of the vortices. (This may be
the reason why the scale of the spanwise KelvinHelmholtz
vortices in the lobed jet ows is smaller than that in the
circular jet ow visualized in the PLIF results.) This also
results in the creation of much small-scale intense turbu-
lence and the mixing enhancement of the core jet ow with
the ambient ow.
4
Conclusion
PLIF visualization and PIV measurement results revealed
the great differences in the turbulent and vortical struc-
tures in a lobed jet mixing ow compared with those in a
Fig. 17. Stretch effect of streamwise vortices on the spanwise
KelvinHelmholtz vortical tube
Fig. 16. Idealization of the vortical evolution in a circular jet ow
conjectured by Hussain (1986)
S156
circular jet ow. The lobed jet mixing ow was found to
have a shorter laminar instability region, a smaller scale of
the spanwise KelvinHelmholtz vortices, earlier appear-
ance of the small-scale turbulent structures and a faster
transition to turbulence. More rapid growth of the shear
layer at the near eld and quicker decay of the central line
velocity were also found in the lobed jet mixing ow. All
these indicated the mixing enhancement performances of a
lobed jet mixing ow over a conventional circular jet ow.
Based on the PLIF visualization and PIV measurement
results, two aspects of the mechanism of mixing en-
hancement of in a lobed jet mixing ow are suggested: one
is that a lobed nozzle can cause azimuthal perturbations in
the jet ow, and the streamwise vortices produced by the
lobed nozzle enhanced these azimuthal perturbations.
These accelerate the ``cut and connect'' process of the
large-scale spanwise KelvinHelmholtz vortex rings to
transfer the energy and vorticity from large-scale vortices
to small-scale vortices. Another is that the ``stretch effect''
of the streamwise vortices on the spanwise KelvinHelm-
holtz vortex tubes also accelerate the reduction of the scale
of the spanwise vortices. Both result in the creation of
much smaller-scale intense turbulence and mixing
enhancement of the core jet ow with ambient ow.
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