Two-dimensional features of correlations in the flow and near pressure fields of Mach number 0.9 jets

International audienceIn the present study, two-dimensional spatial correlations are calculated in the flow and the near pressure fields of two isothermal round jets at a Mach number of 0.9, computed by highly-resolved simulations using cylindrical coordinates (r , θ, z). The two jets have diameter-based Reynolds numbers of 3, 125 and 100, 000, and they are initially weakly and strongly disturbed, respectively. For both jets, correlations are evaluated between signals at a given point, namely flow fluctuations on the jet axis at the end of the potential core and pressure fluctuations in the jet near field, and 2-D fields acquired in sections (z, r). The full signals but also the axisymmetric and first azimuthal modes are considered. Overall, despite the significant differences in Reynolds number and nozzle-exit conditions, the results for the two jets are very similar. Strong levels of correlations are obtained over large spatial regions and long time periods, providing information on noise generation mechanisms. In particular, the 2-D correlation fields reveal the presence of a wavepacket-like structure growing in the jet mixing layers, centered on a correlation spot in the potential core, and peaking in amplitude around the end of the jet core, which leads to the emission of sound waves in the downstream direction

Large eddy simulation of a turbulent non-premixed propane-air reacting flame in a cylindrical combustor

Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is applied to investigate the turbulent non-premixed combustion flow, including species concentrations and temperature, in a cylindrical combustor. Gaseous propane (C3H8) is injected through a circular nozzle which is attached at the centre of the combustor inlet. Preheated air with a temperature of 773 K is supplied through the annulus surrounding of this fuel nozzle. In LES a spatial filtering is applied to the governing equations to separate the flow field into large-scale and small-scale eddies. The large-scale eddies which carry most of the turbulent energy are resolved explicitly, while the unresolved small-scale eddies are modelled using the Smagorinsky model with Cs = 0.1 as well as dynamically calibrated Cs. The filtered values of the species mass fraction, temperature and density, which are the functions of the mixture fraction (conserved scalar), are determined by integration over a beta probability density function (β-PDF). The computational results are compared with those of the experimental investigation conducted by Nishida and Mukohara. According to this experiment, the overall equivalence ratio of 0.6, which is calculated from the ratio of the air flow rate supplied to the combustion chamber to that of the stoichiometric reaction, is kept constant so that the turbulent combustion at the fuel nozzle exit starts under the fuel-rich conditions

Second order closure modeling of turbulent buoyant wall plumes

Non-intrusive measurements of scalar and momentum transport in turbulent wall plumes, using a combined technique of laser Doppler anemometry and laser-induced fluorescence, has shown some interesting features not present in the free jet or plumes. First, buoyancy-generation of turbulence is shown to be important throughout the flow field. Combined with low-Reynolds-number turbulence and near-wall effect, this may raise the anisotropic turbulence structure beyond the prediction of eddy-viscosity models. Second, the transverse scalar fluxes do not correspond only to the mean scalar gradients, as would be expected from gradient-diffusion modeling. Third, higher-order velocity-scalar correlations which describe turbulent transport phenomena could not be predicted using simple turbulence models. A second-order closure simulation of turbulent adiabatic wall plumes, taking into account the recent progress in scalar transport, near-wall effect and buoyancy, is reported in the current study to compare with the non-intrusive measurements. In spite of the small velocity scale of the wall plumes, the results showed that low-Reynolds-number correction is not critically important to predict the adiabatic cases tested and cannot be applied beyond the maximum velocity location. The mean and turbulent velocity profiles are very closely predicted by the second-order closure models. but the scalar field is less satisfactory, with the scalar fluctuation level underpredicted. Strong intermittency of the low-Reynolds-number flow field is suspected of these discrepancies. The trends in second- and third-order velocity-scalar correlations, which describe turbulent transport phenomena, are also predicted in general, with the cross-streamwise correlations better than the streamwise one. Buoyancy terms modeling the pressure-correlation are shown to improve the prediction slightly. The effects of equilibrium time-scale ratio and boundary condition are also discussed

Self-sustained oscillations in variable-density round jets

International audienceThe stability properties of round variable-density low-Mach-number jets are studied by means of direct numerical simulation (DNS) and linear stability analysis. Fully three-dimensional DNS of variable-density jets, with and without gravity, demonstrate that the presence of buoyancy causes a more abrupt transition to turbulence. This effect helps to explain differences between normal gravity and microgravity jet diffusion flames observed in the laboratory. The complete spectrum of spatial eigenmodes of the linearized low-Mach-number equations is calculated using a global matrix method. Also, an analytic form for the continuous portion of this spectrum is derived, and used to verify the numerical method. The absolute instability of variable-density jets is confirmed using Brigg's method, and a comprehensive parametric study of the strength and frequency of this instability is performed. Effects of Reynolds number, the density ratio of ambient-to-jet fluid (S1), shear-layer thickness and Froude number are considered. Finally, a region of local absolute instability is shown to exist in the near field of the jet by applying linear stability analysis to mean profiles measured from DNS. © Cambridge University Press 2007