Analysis of the pressure fields in a swirling annular jet flow

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the flow structures and pressure fields of a free annular swirling jet flow undergoing vortex breakdown. The flow field is analyzed by means of time-resolved tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements, which enable the reconstruction of the three-dimensional time-resolved pressure fields using the governing flow equations. Both time-averaged and instantaneous flow structures are discussed, including a characterization of the first- and second-order statistical moments. A Reynolds decomposition of the flow field shows that the time-averaged flow is axisymmetric with regions of high anisotropic Reynolds stresses. Two recirculation zones exist that are surrounded by regions of very intense mixing. Notwithstanding the axisymmetric nature of the time-averaged flow, a non-axisymmetric structure of the instantaneous flow is revealed, comprising a central vortex core which breaks up into a precessing vortex core. The winding sense of this helical structure is opposite to the swirl direction and it is wrapped around the vortex breakdown bubble. It precesses around the central axis of the flow at a frequency corresponding to a Strouhal number of 0.27. The precessing vortex core is associated with a low-pressure region along the central axis of the jet and the maximum pressure fluctuations occur upstream of the vortex breakdown location, where the azimuthal velocity component also reaches peak values as a result of the inward motion of the fluid and the conservation of angular momentum. The POD analysis of the pressure fields suggests that the precessing helical vortex formation is the dominant coherent structure in the instantaneous flow.