Numerical Simulation of Two-Dimensional Laminar Incompressible Wall Jet Flow Under Backward-Facing Step

Abstract

Two-dimensional laminar incompressible wall jet flow over a backward-facing step is solved numerically to gain insight into the expansion and recirculation of flow processes. Transient streamfunction vorticity formulation of the Navier-Stokes equation is solved with clustered grids on the physical domain. The behavior of the jet has been studied for different step geometry (step length, l, step height, s) and Reynolds number (Re). It is found that the presence of a step in the wall jet flow creates recirculation and the reattachment length follows an almost linear trend within the range considered for both parameters Re and step geometry. Simulations are made to show the effect of entrainment on recirculation eddy. Detailed study of u velocity decay is reported. The velocity profile in the wall jet region shows good agreement with experimental as well as similarity results. The distance where the similarity profile forms is reduced by increasing the step geometry whereas an increment in Re increases this distance. The effects of Re, step length, and step height on wall vorticity are presented. The parametric study is helpful to predict the reattachment location for wall jet flows over step.