Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications 12 (2011) 34133420

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Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nonrwa
Similarity solution of axisymmetric non-Newtonian wall jets with swirl
Vclav Kol

Institute of Hydrodynamics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 166 12 Prague 6, Czech Republic
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 3 March 2010
Accepted 1 June 2011
Keywords:
Similarity solution
Wall jets
Non-Newtonian fluids
Power-law fluids
Swirl
a b s t r a c t
The similarity solution of axisymmetric wall jets with swirl on bodies of revolution for
non-Newtonian power-lawfluids is presented. The physical and geometrical meaning of all
parameters appearing in the course of similarity procedure is treated in detail. Especially,
the functional dependence of length, velocity, and pressure similarity scales on the shape
and swirl parameters and the power-law flow behaviour index is determined. The already
published results related to the similarity solution obtained are discussed.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Different types of wall jets are used in mechanical, chemical, and aerospace engineering. For example, they are used
for solid surface conditioning associated with heat and/or mass transfer. The knowledge of relevant flow characteristics
and governing flow parameters is necessary for studying these transport phenomena. It is worth mentioning that forced or
natural convection from a surface of axisymmetric bodies frequently of arbitrary contour has been usually investigated
throughboundary-layer approximationand similarity analysis [111], as well as magnetohydrodynamic flows of electrically
conducting fluids [12,13].
Unlike free (submerged) jets, the flow-structure complexity of wall (submerged) jets arises from the presence of a wall,
the inner wall-jet region being significantly affected by the body surface. Glauert [14] was the first to solve the plane and
radial wall-jet problem theoretically. He employed boundary-layer equations with adequate wall-jet boundary conditions
to obtain a similarity solution for laminar and turbulent flowregimes. The turbulent wall jet (of a Newtonian fluid) in various
flow geometries is probably the most investigated wall-jet problem in the past fifty years (e.g. [15] and references therein).
A special case of the non-swirling radial wall jet for power-law fluids has been solved by Mitwally [16]. The wall-jet flow
of power-law fluids over a curved (both convex and concave) surface has been analysed by Gorla [17]. Wall jets in a stirred
tank have been treated by Bittorf and Kresta [18], and Kresta et al. [19]. Adane and Tachie [20] have presented a numerical
investigation of three-dimensional wall jet for both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids.
This paper presents the similarity solution of swirling wall jets on bodies of revolution for non-Newtonian power-law
fluids. The physical and geometrical meaning of all parameters of the similarity solution is discussed in detail. The governing
role of parameters characterizing the surface geometry and the rate of rotation is explicitly shown.
Based on the original idea of [14] applied to plane and radial wall jets, the corresponding integral energy equations
dealing with the so-called flux of exterior momentum flux have been introduced for the case of wall jets on bodies of
revolution in [21] for non-swirling jets, and in [22] for swirling jets. The latter study (dealing with turbulent flow regime)
presents a detailed similarity analysis of length, velocity, and pressure scales as functional dependences on the so-called
swirl parameter (expressing the rate of rotation) and the shape parameter (characterizing the surface geometry). Filip et al.

Tel.: +420 233109095; fax: +420 233324361.

E-mail address: kolar@ih.cas.cz.
1468-1218/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.nonrwa.2011.06.004
Downloaded from http://www.elearnica.ir
3414 V. Kol / Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications 12 (2011) 34133420
Nomenclature
A(x), B(x), E(x), T
1
(x), T
3
(x), P
1
(x) similarity coefficients

A( ),

B( ) similarity coefficients
C, C
1
, C
2
, D constants
e swirl parameter
f (),

f ( ), h(), T
2
(), T
4
(), T(), P
2
() similarity functions
F F(n) quantity defined by (45)
K, n power-law model parameters
p pressure
q velocity resultant in the -direction (Fig. 2)
r local radius of the body of revolution
u, v, w velocity components in coordinate syst. (x, y, )
x, y coordinates in axial plane (Fig. 1)
x
0
,
0
quantities representing the jet virtual origin
W, Z integral invariants defined by (44) and (55) resp.
(x),

( ) jet width
curvilinear surface coordinate (following the resulting helical fluid motion, Fig. 2)
, similarity variables defined by (13) and (37) resp.
quantity defined by (27)
polar angle coordinate
fluid density
shear-stress resultant in the -direction (Fig. 2)

xy
,
y
stress tensor components
stream function, u = r
1
/y, v = r
1
/x

stream function, q =
1

/y, v =
1

/
p transverse pressure difference, p p p

[23] have shown how to cope with the non-swirling wall-jet flow past axisymmetric bodies for non-Newtonian power-law
fluids.
The above-mentioned results [22,23] can be further extended for the case of swirling wall jets for power-law fluids. It
shouldbe notedthat inmany shear-flowproblems numerical solutions andsophisticatedflowmodelling shouldbe preceded
or completed by the similarity analysis revealing analytically the role of relevant flow parameters and their clear physical
and geometrical meaning. Moreover, in the present case, the similarity analysis provides a significant simplification of the
given problem formulation for further (analytical and/or numerical) calculations.
2. Problem formulation
Taking into account the axisymmetric shape of the body of revolution, we use the curvilinear coordinate system (x, y, )
with the curvilinear surface coordinate x defined in axial plane according to Fig. 1 where r is a local body radius, r r(x).
The swirling wall jets past axisymmetric bodies for power-law fluids are described by the set of (three) equations of
motion (/ 0 with respect to axisymmetry)
u
u
x
+v
u
y
w
2

(x)
r(x)
=
1

xy
y
, (1)
w
2

(1 r
2
(x))
1/2
r(x)
=
1

(p)
y
, (2)
u
w
x
+v
w
y
+uw
r

(x)
r(x)
=
1

y
y
(3)
where according to power-law model (within the frame of boundary-layer approximations)

xy
= K

u
y

2
+

w
y

n1

u
y
, (4a)

y
= K

u
y

2
+

w
y

n1

w
y
, (4b)
V. Kol / Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications 12 (2011) 34133420 3415
Fig. 1. Geometry of the curvilinear coordinate system with the curvilinear surface coordinate x (axial cross-section).
by the continuity equation

x
(r(x)u) +

y
(r(x)v) = 0, (5)
and by the corresponding wall-jet boundary conditions
u(x, 0) = 0, (6a)
v(x, 0) = 0, (6b)
w(x, 0) = 0, (6c)
lim
y+
u(x, y) = 0, (7a)
lim
y+
w(x, y) = 0, (7b)
lim
y+

xy
(x, y) = 0, (8a)
lim
y+

y
(x, y) = 0, (8b)
lim
y+
p(x, y) = p

. (9)
The jet flow is governed by the explicitly shape-dependent centrifugal and Coriolis forces; see (1)(3). The equations of
motion are derived under the following assumptions:
usual boundary-layer approximations;
r

(x) does not attain extreme values;

(x) r(x); hence, the curvature terms in the equations of motion as well as the longitudinal pressure change following
the assumptions of Boltze for boundary-layer flow on bodies of revolution (according to Schlichting [24]) are neglected.
The assumption that (x) is comparatively small to the shape parameter r(x) has been widely (though implicitly) used
for boundary-layer similarity solutions for power-lawfluids; e.g. [8,9,2528]. This assumption is also a basis for modified
Manglers transformation applicable to non-swirling boundary-layer flows past axisymmetric bodies for power-law
fluids; see [27]. In addition, divergent shapes are considered, i.e. r

(x) > 0.
The conditions (6a)(6c) represent the standard no-slip boundary condition (i.e. zero fluid velocity relative to the
impermeable boundary). It is worth mentioning that Hron et al. [29] have recently analysed selected incompressible flows
of a generalized fluid, including power-law fluids, by considering Navier slip at the boundary (Navier boundary condition).
The similarity procedure below employs the Glauert-type integral energy equations dealing with the so-called flux of
exterior momentum flux (derived from (1), (3), (5)(8))

0
r(x)u

y
r(x)u
2
dy

dy =

0
r(x)u

y
r

(x)w
2
dy

dy

0
r
2
(x)u
xy
dy, (10)

0
r(x)u

y
r
2
(x)uwdy

dy =

0
r
3
(x)u
y
dy. (11)
3416 V. Kol / Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications 12 (2011) 34133420
3. Similarity analysis
It is assumed that the flow field is similar, so let us introduce generalized similarity transformations in the form
(x, y) = A(x) f (), (12)
(x, y) = B(x) y ( y/(x)), (13)
w(x, y) = E(x) h(), (14)

xy
(x, y) = T
1
(x) T
2
(), (15)

y
(x, y) = T
3
(x) T
4
(), (16)
p(x, y) p(x, y) p

= P
1
(x) P
2
(). (17)
Substituting the above similarity transformations into Eqs. (1)(3) we obtain
T

2
+
AA

B
r
2
T
1
ff

+
1
T
1
[
r

A
2
B
r
3

AA

B
r
2

A
2
B

r
2
]
f
2
+
r

E
2
rBT
1
h
2
= 0, (18)
P

2

(1 r
2
)
1/2
E
2
rP
1
B
h
2
= 0, (19)
T

4
+
A

E
rT
3
fh

+
1
T
3
[

AE

r

r

AE
r
2
]
f

h = 0 (20)
where the primes indicate differentiation with respect to the arguments. Eq. (19), i.e. the transformed Eq. (2), serves only
for the determination of the transverse pressure distribution after the determination of the velocity field.
A detailed similarity procedure, quite analogous to that in [22], leads to the partial similarity results summarized as
follows:
(i) for the similarity functions:
f

() h() for all [0, +) (21)

T
2
() T
4
() ( T()) for all [0, +) (22)
T

+C
1
ff

+C
2
f
2
= 0, (23)
(ii) for the similarity coefficients:
A(x), B(x), E(x), . . . are determined as A(x; C
1
, C
2
), B(x; C
1
, C
2
), E(x; C
1
, C
2
), . . . ,
(iii) for the spatial flow geometry:
w(x, y)
u(x, y)
=

y
(x, y)

xy
(x, y)
=
e
(r
2
(x) e
2
)
1/2
(24)
where e is the swirl parameter (to be discussed later).
It should be noted that the similarity structure of the stress tensor components
xy
,
y
is, at first, a priori assumed
(transformations (15) and (16)). Second, as can be easily verified, the obtained partial similarity results, namely (21) in item
(i), are consistent with the original power-law model given by (4a) and (4b) within the frame of the generalized similarity
transformations adopted, namely (12)(14).
4. Transformation of the original problem formulation
The spatial flow geometry given by (24) is considered as a crucial starting point for introducing the velocity and shear-
stress resultants, q and respectively, see Fig. 2
q = (u
2
+w
2
)
1/2
= ru/ = rw/e, (25)
= (
2
xy
+
2
y
)
1/2
= r
xy
/ = r
y
/e, (26)
where
(x) = (r
2
(x) e
2
)
1/2
, (27)
and for introducing a differential element d in the resulting flow direction past the axisymmetric body surface ( may
be considered as the curvilinear surface coordinate following the resulting helical fluid motion past the body surface, see
Fig. 2)
d = d/r

. (28)
V. Kol / Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications 12 (2011) 34133420 3417
Fig. 2. Axial cross-section and the flow resultants projected onto the tangential plane at the point P.
By combining (27) and (28), we have
d
dr
=
d
dx
=
r

. (29)
Substituting relations (25)(29) in Eqs. (1), (3), (4a), (4b), (5), (6a)(6c), (7a), (7b), (8a) and (8b) we obtain a simplified
formulation of the original problem in the form
q
q

+v
q
y
=
1

y
, (30)

(q) +

y
(v) = 0 (31)
where
= K

q
y

n1

q
y
, (32)
with the boundary conditions
q( , 0) = 0 (33a)
v( , 0) = 0 (33b)
lim
y+
q( , y) = 0, (34)
lim
y+
( , y) = 0. (35)
The set of equations andconditions (30)(35), obtainedinterms of the flowdirection, velocity andshear-stress resultants,
represents nothing but non-swirling problem formulation of the wall-jet flows past axisymmetric bodies for power-law
fluids already solved in [23].
It appears that inthe course of the above procedure, we lost the valuable informationdealing withthe transverse pressure
distribution. However, just after recovering the desired similarity solution for the original velocity components u, w using
(25) the pressure distribution can be determined from Eq. (2), or from the corresponding similarity equation (19).
3418 V. Kol / Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications 12 (2011) 34133420
5. Similarity solution
The solution is sought in the similarity form

( , y) =

A( )

f ( ), (36)
( , y) =

B( ) y ( y/

( )) (37)
where the stream function

fulfils
q =
1

/y, (38a)
v =
1

/ . (38b)
The transformations (25)(29) are exclusively x-dependent, consequently the universal transverse similarity structure
of the velocity field remains unchanged, so

f f . Numerical results for the similarity function f are obtained for the
corresponding similarity equation and boundary conditions, namely
n |f

|
n1
f

+ff

+C f
2
= 0, (39)
f (0) = 0, (40a)
f

(0) = 0, (40b)
f

() = 0 (40c)
in [23] where numerical calculations are based on the application of modified fourth order RungeKutta method. The
constant C depends on the flow behaviour index n, C C(n) (for a given n there is a unique value of C) and the above-
mentioned solution is presented in the range 0.6 n 1.9.
The length and velocity similarity scales of interest, i.e. jet width

( ) and maximum velocity in the -direction q
max
,
q
max
=
1

A

B, are determined as (cf. [23])

( (x)) =
1
D

K
F
D
2n1

(1+C)F

1

n+1
d

(1+C)F
, (41)
q
max
( (x)) = D

K
F
D
2n1

CF

n+1
d

CF
(42)
where
D =

C+1
C
d

C
, (43)
W =

0
q
C+1
C
dy ( const for a given value of n), (44)
F( F(n)) = (n +1 +(2n 1)C)
1
. (45)
To obtain quantities (x)

( (x)) and q
max
(x) q
max
( (x)) from (41) and (42) we have to return to the transformation
relations (27) and (28). For the integral appearing in (41) and (42) it follows directly

n+1
d =

x
x
0
r(x)(r
2
(x) e
2
)
n/2
dx. (46)
The final results regarding velocity field in terms of the original coordinates and velocity components can be summarized
as
u = q(r
2
e
2
)
1/2
/r, (47a)
w = qe/r (47b)
where
q = D

K
F
D
2n1

CF

x
x
0
r(x)(r
2
(x) e
2
)
n/2
dx

CF
f (), (48)
y/(x), (49)
(x) =
1
D

K
F
D
2n1

(1+C)F
(r
2
(x) e
2
)
1/2

x
x
0
r(x)(r
2
(x) e
2
)
n/2
dx

(1+C)F
. (50)
V. Kol / Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications 12 (2011) 34133420 3419
The parameters C, D, F appearing in (48) and (50) have been already introduced. Note that in (43) we put simply
with respect to the only characteristic transverse length scale (x)

( (x)). However, the integral invariant W, the swirl
parameter e, and the jet virtual origin x
0
need an additional explanation; see next section. Numerical calculations of the
similarity function f () are described in detail in [23] considering the range of the flow behaviour index n, 0.6 n 1.9.
For the special case of a Newtonian fluid, n = 1, the similarity equation (39) significantly simplifies. The solution of (39),
(40a)(40c) for n = 1 was found by Glauert [14].
Finally, the substitution of the peripheral velocity component w in Eq. (2), or in the adequate similarity Eq. (19), from
(47b) and (48) yields the pressure scale P
1
(x) and the pressure similarity function P
2
()
P
1
(x) = D

K
F
D
2n1

(1C)F

1 r
2
r
2
e
2

1/2

e
2
r
3

x
x
0
r(x)(r
2
(x) e
2
)
n/2
dx

(1C)F
, (51)
P
2
() =

f
2
()d. (52)
6. Discussion
The integral quantity W represents a specific wall-jet flowinvariant which can be obtained within the frame of similarity
analysis only (cf. [23]). This quantity which may be understood as a generalized flux of momentum flux, serves as a certain
substitution for the Glauert-type integral invariant dealing with the flux of exterior momentum flux

0
(x)q

y
(x)q
2
dy

dy = const (53)
which is valid exclusively for the wall-jet flow of a Newtonian fluid, n = 1.
The obtained solution (43)(50) holds for an arbitrary swirl parameter e and in a limit case e 0 naturally reduces to
the solution obtained in [23]. Again, within the frame of similarity analysis, the swirl parameter e can be expressed as
e = Z/W (54)
where Z represents another integral invariant of the form
Z =

0
rwq
1
C
dy ( const for a given value of n). (55)
In practice, the parameters Z, W, and the jet virtual origin x
0
are naturally subject to an individual experimental
arrangement. Z and W may be approximated by outflow parameters at the nozzle exit using a suitable iterative approach
(note that both Z and W contain the quantity defined by (27)). The location of the jet virtual origin x
0
approaches the
position of high-speed nozzle exit for a nozzle width 0 and an outflow velocity .
Obviously, for the integral invariant W we obtain in the limit case e 0
lim
e0
W lim
e0

0
q
C+1
C
dy

0
ru
C+1
C
dy, (56)
i.e. just the integral quantity introduced in [23] for the case of non-swirling wall jets on bodies of revolution for power-law
fluids.
7. Conclusions
The similarity solution of axisymmetric wall jets with swirl on bodies of revolution for non-Newtonian power-lawfluids
has been presented. The analytical expression for the length, velocity, and pressure similarity scales has been explicitly
determined. All the relevant parameters shape and swirl parameters, power-lawmodel parameters, integration constants
and integral conditions appearing in the similarity solution obtained possess a specific physical and geometrical meaning
which should be carefully considered.
The similarity procedure adopted is based on two main steps:
(i) using generalized similarity transformations to obtain partial results, especially those for the spatial flow geometry;
(ii) to employ these partial similarity results for the transformation of the original swirling problem formulation into the
formally non-swirling problem formulation.
As shown in the present work, the step (ii) provides a significant simplification for (analytical and/or numerical)
calculations of relevant flowcharacteristics. Moreover, it may provide a significant simplificationof the problemformulation
for calculations of the associated heat and mass transfer to/from the axisymmetric body surface.
3420 V. Kol / Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications 12 (2011) 34133420
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Grant Agency of the Acad. of Sci. of the Czech Rep. through grant IAA200600801, and by
the Acad. of Sci. of the Czech Rep. through AV0Z20600510.
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