Characteristics of Small Vortices in a Turbulent Axisymmetric Jet

Abstract

Characteristics of small vortices were studied in axisymmetric jets wherein the Kolmogorov scale was approached by progressively decreasing the Reynolds number while still maintaining turbulent flow. A periodic forcing introduced far upstream of the jet nozzle ensured that the jet was turbulent. A vortex eduction tool was developed and applied to the high-pass filtered 2D velocity field in the axial plane of a turbulent jet while varying Re between 140 and 2600. Vortex population, energy, vorticity, and rms (root-mean-square velocity fluctuations) of the high-pass filtered field were measured to elucidate vortex characteristics. The observed population of vortices decreases dramatically at the Kolmogorov scale. The observed increase in vortex population with decreasing vortex size appears to be in accord with the space-filling argument, in that the vortex population in a two-dimensional domain should grow as R−2. The energy density curve obtained from vortex statistics reproduces the −5∕3 slope for the inertial subrange, and the high-pass filtered field accounts for approximately two-thirds of the total rms.