The determination of formation number for starting buoyant jets

Ruo Qian Wang, Adrian Wing Keung Law, E. Eric Adams, Oliver B. Fringer

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Starting buoyant jets are widely observed in nature as well as in engineering applications. The interactions between the leading vortex ring and the trailing stem play a significant role on the development of the staring processes, and the Formation Number is established to be the criterion that demarcates the presence of the trailing stem and thus, the occurrence of pinch-off. In this study, the buoyant formation number for a starting buoyant jet which includes the momentum inducement due to presence of buoyancy is examined numerically. The investigation is based on the results of a series of numerical simulations with the Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) approach to reproduce the starting buoyant jet in a wide range of conditions from pure jets to lazy plumes. Based on the results, the buoyant formation number can be obtained following the occurrence of a step-jump in the vortex ring circulation in the following manner. First, the vorticity is integrated through the half central plane of the computational domain, which a trough can be observed to follow the head vortex ring in the vertical distribution. The trailing stem and the head vortex ring are differentiated based on this trough location. Subsequently, if and just before a pitch off occurs, a step-jump in the circulation of the head vortex ring is typically observed. The jump value is then traced back to the total circulation, and the non-dimensional time that it occurs. This non-dimensional time is found to the same as the formation number for the runs conducted. Using this method, a comparison of the numerical results with the experimental data for a starting pure jet is performed, and the widely accepted formation number (≈4.0) is obtained which verifies that the method is satisfactory. The effect of buoyancy on the formation number is then investigated for two turbulent discharge conditions of Re=2000 and 2500 and with a wide range of buoyancy fluxes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationISCM II and EPMESC XII - Proc. of the 2nd Int. Symposium on Computational Mechanics and the 12th Int. Conf. on the Enhancement and Promotion of Computational Methods in Engineering and Science
Pages1636-1641
Number of pages6
EditionPART 1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes
Event2nd International Symposium on Computational Mechanics, ISCM II, and the 12th International Conference on the Enhancement and Promotion of Computational Methods in Engineering and Science, EPMESC XII - Hong Kong, Macau, China
Duration: Nov 30 2009Dec 3 2009

Publication series

NameAIP Conference Proceedings
NumberPART 1
Volume1233
ISSN (Print)0094-243X
ISSN (Electronic)1551-7616

Conference

Conference2nd International Symposium on Computational Mechanics, ISCM II, and the 12th International Conference on the Enhancement and Promotion of Computational Methods in Engineering and Science, EPMESC XII
Country/TerritoryChina
CityHong Kong, Macau
Period11/30/0912/3/09

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Physics and Astronomy(all)

Keywords

  • Large-Eddy simulation
  • buoyant formation number
  • plume
  • trailing stem
  • vortex ring

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