Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 24 (2001) 169175

www.elsevier.nl/locate/etfs

Dynamics of the vortex structure of a jet impinging on a convex surface

A.S. Fleischer
a c

a,1

, K. Kramer b, R.J. Goldstein

c,*

Mechanical Engineering, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085, USA b Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Technology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 125 Mechanical Engineering Building, 111 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0111, USA Received 6 June 2000; received in revised form 16 February 2001; accepted 13 March 2001

Abstract Smokewire ow visualization is used to investigate the behavior of a round jet issuing from a straight tube and impinging on a convex surface. Video analysis of the impinging jet shows the initiation and growth of ring vortices in the jet shear layer and their interaction with the cylindrical surfaces. Eects of relative curvature, nozzle-to-surface distance, and Reynolds number on vortex initiation, vortex separation from the surface and vortex breakup are described. Examples of vortex merging are discussed. 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Jet impingement; Jet impingement cooling; Jet dynamics; Curved surface; Flow visualization

1. Introduction Impinging jets have been known to provide large heat transfer rates on surfaces for many years, and several comprehensive reviews of their performance are available [15]. Jet impingement cooling has applications in many systems that benet from high heat transfer rates. Examples include the cooling of electronic equipment and advanced gas turbine blades. A number of studies have reported on ow visualization and heat transfer to jets impinging on at surfaces. However, many systems must be modeled as curved surfaces. Yet, few works exist on the impingement cooling of curved surfaces. For this reason, the eect of surface geometry on jet impingement cooling warrants investigation. In the present study, a fundamental understanding of the uid ow characteristics is of primary interest. Among the works available on jet impingement on curved surfaces, Hrycak [6] studied the heat transfer
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-612-625-5552; fax: +1-612-625-3434. E-mail addresses: amy.eischer@villanova.edu (A.S. Fleischer), rjg@me.umn.edu (R.J. Goldstein). 1 Tel.: +1-610-519-4996; fax: +1-610-519-7312

from concave hemispherical plates with Reynolds numbers from 12,000 to 88,000 and small relative curvature values (d=D 0:0340:1). He showed the ow at the stagnation point is more turbulent, and the heat transfer higher, than for jets impinging on at plates. Gau and Chung [7] investigated the heat transfer from semicylindrical concave and convex surfaces with slot jets at Reynolds numbers from 6000 to 350,000 and slot width to surface diameter ratios of 0.0220.125. Although ow visualization is presented, the detail is not sucient to interpret the ow pattern. Kornblum and Goldstein [8] investigated arrays of circular jets impinging on low relative curvature (d=D 0:01970:0394) convex and concave surfaces. Their ow visualization indicates a substantial recirculation of exhaust ow from the concave surface into the main ow. Lee et al. [9] studied the eects of relative curvature on local heat transfer for round jets with small relative curvature (d=D 0:034 0:089) on a convex hemisphere. None of these papers provides ow visualization results in sucient detail to understand the primary ow characteristics. A recent study by Popiel and Trass [10] gives insight into the vortex structure development in both free and impinging jets. The ow visualization of toroidal vortex initiation, vortex pairing and uid entrainment processes are presented for both a free jet and a jet impinging on a at surface. They found the most vortices

0894-1777/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 8 9 4 - 1 7 7 7 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 5 1 - 6

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Nomenclature D surface diameter (256.8 mm) d jet tube diameter (mm) H jet-to-surface distance (mm) L jet tube length (mm) Re Reynolds number (based on d) vortex breakup location Xb vortex initiation distance Xi vortex separation angle hs s vortex period

Denitions vortex breakup location: location where the Xb core of the vortex begins to exhibit instability vortex initiation distance: location from the jet Xi exit of the initial instability s vortex period: time lapse for a vortex to pass between two given points in space vortex separation angle: location where the hs uid ow separates from the curved surface

forming with low nozzle-to-plate distances. Impingement on curved surfaces was not considered. The present study was undertaken to provide insight into the eect of high relative curvature on impinging jet ow characteristics. A smokewire technique is used to obtain a cross-sectional view of the impinging jet. Tests are performed with jets issuing from straight tubes and impinging on a convex surface with relative curvature values from d=D 0:180:38 and H =d 14. The effects of Reynolds number, jet exit-to-surface spacing and relative curvature on vortex initiation, vortex separation from the surface and vortex breakup are examined. 2. Experimental apparatus The impinging jets are created using the equipment shown in Fig. 1. The equipment is same as that used in [11]. Air supplied by the building compressor is controlled by a pressure regulator upstream of an orice plate. Flexible tubing allows variation of the jetsurface spacing. The jets are formed from one of three aluminum tubes with diameters of 47.2, 72.6 and 98.6 mm.

Fig. 1. Experimental apparatus.

The tubes connect to the exible tubing to complete the piping system. The tube length to diameter ratio (L=d) is 10 for all the tubes; however, honeycomb and mesh screens inserted in the tube entrance to smooth the ow shorten the eective length of the tube. A thermocouple in the tube, approximately 100 mm from the jet exit, measures the jet air temperature. Contoured nozzles are not used and the jets are formed directly from the exit of the pipe. The round jets impinge on a convex semicylinder made of PVC pipe with an inner diameter of 25.2 mm and a thickness of 4.76 mm. A smokewire technique is used to visualize the ow structure in the jets. The smokewire technique allows the visualization of a uid stream without disruption of the ow. Flow disruption does not occur because the diameter of the wire is small enough that the uid recovers its structure shortly after owing past it. The 0.1 mm diameter wire is placed across the jet 1 mm downstream from the tube exit. The wire was coated with oil prior to each run. Small, evenly spaced droplets of the oil form along the length of the wire. The wire is connected to a 10 A power supply. When the power supply is turned on, Joule heating causes the wire to become hot enough to produce smoke from the oil. The resultant smoke is carried by the jet ow allowing a crosssectional view of the jet. The resultant patterns are illuminated and recorded using a Panasonic WV-BD400 CCTV camera with a shutter speed of 1/10,000 s at 30 frames/s. The Panasonic WV-BD400 CCTV camera is mounted on a tripod 1.52 m away from the jet. Videotaping the ow is challenging due to the required precision in the adjustment of the shutter speed, lighting and zoom. The correct selection of lighting was the biggest challenge. The nal system utilized has three 1000 W halogen bulbs. Initially, a high-speed strobe light synchronized to the camera was considered. A strobe allows stop motion action of even the fastest ows due to the illumination time of 1/100,000 of a second. However, a strobe that can synchronize to a video signal without an external trigger could not be located. Most strobes use an external voltage or current trigger to synchronize to the video, but our camera did not have this trigger. For this reason, a constant light source was selected. The constant light source eliminates the need for synchronization, but creates a new set of challenges. The

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171

brightness of the lighting is of paramount importance. Initially, a 100 W halogen bulb was used to illuminate the ow. This was insucient because the light acted as a ood light rather than a spotlight. Any excess light in the video eld caused overexposure and reections. A 1,000,000-candlepower spotlight and two 750,000candlepower spotlights could provide a sucient amount of light while focusing the light into a small area, eliminating the reections and overexposure in the video. However, the spotlights needed to be close to the jet, overheating the jet stream and curved surface. In the nal design, three 1000 W halogen studio lights, manufactured by Arrilite of West Germany, are focused as spotlights on the jet. They are bright enough to allow the placement of the lights far enough from the jet and the surface to minimize heating eects. Black non-reecting cloth is used as a shroud on all reecting surfaces. 3. Data reduction The video is digitized using a Silicon Graphics O2 computer, a JVC BR-S11U VCR, JVC BR-S800U and BR-S500U editing recorders, a JVC RM-G800U editing controller and a JVC KM-F250 frame synchronizer. The video is recorded at 30 frames/s. This means that 60 elds/s are recorded, where a eld is one-half of the information contained in a frame. The video camera scans the top half of the picture in one eld and the bottom half in another eld. Because of the high jet velocities, each eld recorded the jet structure at a slightly dierent point in time. When digitized, this resulted in motion blur. The blur is eliminated by digitally recording a slow motion, freeze-frame sequence of each video run. The digitization process allows the enhancement of the video through brightness, contrast, and gain adjustment. The main sources of error in the data are from the accuracy of scaling the locations o the digitized video and from the repeatability of the test runs. Through use of the digital tools, the scaling is accurate to 5%. The repeatability of the test runs is the overriding error source, with repeatability between test runs of 20%. Thus, the locations are presented as a range, instead of an absolute value. 4. Flow visualization results In this experiment, jet impingement on a cylindrical convex surface is extensively studied. The eects of Reynolds number and jet-to-surface spacing (H =d) and relative curvature (d=D) on vortex initiation distance, period, vortex separation from the surface and vortex breakup location are examined. A distinct inuence is seen for each of these parameters, and will individually be discussed in detail. Vortex initiation distance (Xi ) is dened as the distance from the jet exit that the instability that causes

vortex formation is rst observed. Vortex period (s) is the time lapse for a vortex to pass between two given points in space. Vortex breakup location (Xb ) is the location where the core of the vortex begins to exhibit instability, rather than coherent vortex motion. Vortex merging occurs when one vortex overtakes the vortex in front of it and the two vortices merge into one. 4.1. Vortex initiation distance and period Vortex initiation distance is identied by locating the initial instability in the laminar shear layer. This instability wave grows and eventually rolls up into a vortex entraining ambient air [10]. Thus, Xi can be found by locating the occurrence of the initial instability wave. This is done by reviewing the videotapes of each jet ow. Several runs are recorded for each experimental arrangement. The location of the instability is scaled o the digitized video as in Figs. 2 and 3. The vortex period

Fig. 2. Vortex initiation location for a 98.6 mm jet with Re 6000 and H=d 3.

Fig. 3. Vortex initiation location for a 98.6 mm jet with Re 6000 and H=d 4.

172 Table 1 Vortex initiation and period Jet diameter (mm) 47.2 (d=D 0:18)

A.S. Fleischer et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 24 (2001) 169175

Reynolds number 6000

H =d 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

Xi (diameters) 11.3 0.91.1 0.60.7 0.5 1.61.7 1.92 1.51.6 0.790.83 1.41.5 1.92.0 1.01.2 0.670.73 0.70.9 1.41.5 0.91.1 0.70.8 1.11.2 1.51.7 1.41.5 0.80.9 1.21.4 1.2 1.01.2 0.70.8

s (s) 0.040.06 0.080.14 0.060.26 0.040.12 0.160.20 0.140.26 0.160.22 0.16 0.12 0.100.16 0.120.14 0.100.28 0.400.64 0.400.42 0.490.56 0.360.38 0.160.26 0.240.26 0.240.34 0.140.18 0.120.22 0.080.12 0.060.14 0.120.34

72.6 (d=D 0:28)

6000

10,000

98.6 (d=D 0:38)

6000

10,000

15,000

is identied by recording the elapsed video time for a vortex to pass a given location. This information is presented in Table 1. For all the jets, at all jet exitsurface spacings, increasing Reynolds number decreases the period, indicating faster movement of the vortices. The inuence of jet exitsurface spacing is not as straightforward. In four of six cases, maximum Xi occurs at H =d 3 and decreases as the jet tube is either raised or lowered. In the other two cases (d 47:2 mm/Re 6000, d 98:6 mm/ Re 15; 000) maximum Xi occurs at H =d 4 (See Table 1). Typically, a jetsurface spacing of H =d 4 results in the jet impacting the surface near the end of the potential core of the jet and the vortices merge and break up before or during impact with the surface. As H decreases, the surface moves inside the potential core. For H =d 2 and H =d 1, vortex initiation occurs immediately prior to impingement on the surface. For H =d 3, the stable jet impacts the surface prior to the end of the potential core with vortices formed well upstream of the surface. It is thought that for the two cases in which the maximum vortex initiation distance occurs at H =d 4, the surface is still barely within the potential core of the jet. It appears that impact at distances much larger than the potential core length, or at locations immediately upstream of the surface act to decrease vortex initiation distance. As the relative curvature increases, Xi increases to a maximum at d=D 0:28, and then tails o. Period in-

creases with d=D. At the same Reynolds number and H =d location, s increases as much as 23 times as d=D increases from 0.18 to 0.28, and as much as 10 times as d=D increases from 0.18 to 0.38. This indicates a strong inuence of the degree of surface curvature on the upstream jet dynamics. 4.2. Angle of vortex separation with surface Vortex separation angle (hs ), the location where the uid ow separates from the curved surface, is an indication of where the heat transfer with jet impingement will diminish. The rst instance of ow separation is observed on the digitized video for a number of experimental runs, and the location scaled o the video frame. An example can be seen in Fig. 4. The complete data is recorded in Table 2. Increasing the Reynolds number has no clear eect on hs . In some cases, hs decreases while in others it increases. Any Reynolds number eect does not seem to be strong enough to overcome other inuences. Decreasing jet surface spacing has an eect on hs , though it is slight. As H =d decreases, hs either decreases slightly or remains constant. At high H =d values, the vortices dissipate prior to striking the surface, and no separation is observed. The only parameter that has a clear eect on hs is relative curvature. Increasing d=D results in a larger separation angle. Thus, the vortices stayed on the surface longer for the higher curvature surfaces.

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Fig. 4. Vortex separation angle for a 98.6 mm jet with Re 15; 000 and H =d 1.

4.3. Vortex breakup location The vortex breakup location (Xb ) indicates a transition to a turbulent ow that will not support the largescale vortices. As turbulent ow may enhance heat transfer rates, it is of interest to determine where this transition begins. The location where the vortex core becomes unstable was observed on the digitized video for a number of experimental runs, and the location scaled o the video frame. There are two dierent types
Table 2 Vortex breakup location and separation angle Jet diameter (mm) 47.2 (d=D 0:18) Reynolds number 6000 H =d 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1

of vortex breakup. For large H =d, the vortices break up as they reach the end of the potential core of the jet, prior to impingement. This is typically caused by vortex merging, which will be discussed in the following section. In these cases, Xb is scaled in diameters from the jet exit, as was done for Xi . An example is shown in Fig. 5. For smaller H =d, the vortices break up rapidly after separation from the surface. In these cases, Xb is scaled in degrees from the impingement point, as is done for hb . An example is shown in Fig. 6. Table 2 lists Xb for each jet. The eect of increasing the Reynolds number depends on whether the vortices break up before or after impingement with the surface. If the vortices break up prior to impingement (large H =d), increasing the Reynolds number decreases Xb . As seen earlier, increasing Reynolds number leads to a decrease in Xi . This decrease in vortex initiation distance seems to carry over to vortex breakup with Xb also decreasing with increasing Reynolds number. If the vortices break up after impingement, increasing the Reynolds number slightly increases the angle at which breakup occurs. A stronger eect of Reynolds number is seen in this case than for hs , where the eect of Re is inconclusive. With decreasing H =d, the vortices break up at smaller distances from the nozzle prior to impingement, and at smaller angles from the impingement point after impingement. This is similar to the inuence on hs , where decreasing H =d results in a slight decrease in hs . Since the vortices are separating sooner, they are breaking up sooner as well.

Xb 2.0 dia. 37 32.1 31.0 3.03.1 dia. 38.944.1 36.236.5 35.738.8 2.72.8 dia. 41.5 40.7 35.0 3.84.0 dia. 39.243.5 46.753.5 41.144.1 2.42.6 dia. 2.5 dia. 53.450.8 40.043.9 2.42.8 dia. 2.1 2.3 dia. 1.92.0 dia. 37.539.8

hs (degrees) None None 30.331.0 31.228.6 None 35.541.1 32.333.5 31.034.6 None 33.338.3 36.938.5 30.838.0 36.238.2 19.627.5 32.835.6 36.837.6 None None 43.750.8 34.835.6 None None 35.838.1 30.032.4

72.6 (d=D 0:28)

6000

10,000

98.6 (d=D 0:38)

6000

10,000

15,000

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A.S. Fleischer et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 24 (2001) 169175

Fig. 5. Vortex breakup location for a 98.6 mm jet with Re 15; 000 and H =d 3.

Fig. 6. Vortex breakup location for a 98.6 mm jet with Re 6000 and H =d 1.

Increasing relative curvature also has a signicant eect on Xb . As d=D increases, the vortex breakup location prior to impingement, and the vortex breakup angle after impingement both increase. The same inuence is seen on hs . Increasing d=D increases hs , so the vortices remain on the surface longer. Breakup does not typically occur until separation, so breakup is also delayed. The increase in Xb for breakup prior to impingement is more interesting. Since d=D strongly inuences the period, the vortices are much further apart for the high d=D cases. Thus the vortices must travel a larger distance prior to merging, and breakup will occur at a larger distance, scaled in diameters, from the nozzle. 4.4. Vortex merging The digitized video clearly shows vortex merging, which occurs when a vortex catches up to the one in

Fig. 7. Sequence of vortex merging.

front of it and the two vortices merge prior to impingement on the surface. The merging action of the vortices causes the central jet to move just slightly to the left or right of the impingement point. The next vortex merging then occurs on the opposite side of the jet, pushing the jet in the other direction. This happens continuously, causing an oscillation of the jet around

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the impingement point. Fig. 7, in a sequence of video stills, shows an example of vortex merging. Vortex merging occurs frequently in both the 98.6 mm jet and the 72.6 mm jet for H =d 3 and 4, indicating the vortices do not move downstream fast enough to prevent them from being entrained in the uid ow. However, no visible merging was found for the 47.2 mm jet. This may be due to the higher uid velocity for the jet, resulting in the vortices moving fast enough to impact the surface prior to merging. 5. Conclusions Detailed ow visualizations provide insight into the ow dynamics of round jets impinging on a convex surface. The eects of Reynolds number, jet-to-surface spacing and relative curvature on vortex initiation, vortex separation from the surface and vortex breakup are investigated. The vortex period decreases with Reynolds number. The inuence of jet-to-surface spacing shows a maximum vortex initiation location and period when the surface is located just within the potential core of the jet. Relative curvature is found to exhibit a strong eect on both vortex initiation distance and period. The period increases as much as 10-fold with increasing d=D, indicating a clear inuence of the degree of surface curvature on the upstream jet dynamics. The only parameter that exhibits a strong eect on the vortex separation angle is relative curvature. Increasing d=D results in a larger separation angle. Two distinct types of vortex breakup are identied: breakup from vortex merging prior to impingement, and breakup due to ow separation from the surface. If the vortices break up due to vortex merging, increasing the Reynolds number decreases Xb . If the vortices break up due to ow separation, increasing the Reynolds number slightly increases the angle at which breakup occurs. Decreasing jet-to-surface spacing uniformly hastens the vortex breakup, while increasing relative curvature delays vortex breakup. Clear evidence of vortex merging is presented for the 72.6 and 98.6 mm jets at large H =d values. Vortex merging, which is characterized by a second vortex

catching up to the rst and merging prior to impingement on the surface, results in a strong oscillation of the jet around the impingement point. Acknowledgements This material is based upon work completed while A.S. Fleischer was supported under a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Support by the Engineering Research Program of the Oce of Basic Energy Sciences at the Department of Energy is gratefully acknowledged. References
[1] K. Jambunathan, E. Lai, M.A. Moss, B.L. Button, A review of heat transfer data for singular jet impingement, Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow 13 (1992) 106115. [2] R. Viskanta, Heat transfer to impinging isothermal gas and ame jets, Exp. Thermal Fluid Sci. 6 (1993) 111134. [3] H. Martin, Heat and mass transfer between impinging gas jets and solid surfaces, Adv. Heat Transfer 13 (1977) 160. [4] D.L. Button, D. Wilcox, Impingement heat transfer a bibliography 18901975, Previews Heat Transfer 4 (1978) 8398. [5] S.J. Downs, E.H. James, Jet impingement heat transfer a literature survey, ASME Paper 87-H-35, ASME, New York, 1992. [6] P. Hrycak, Heat transfer from a row of jets impinging on concave semi-cylindrical surfaces, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 28 (1981) 175181. [7] C. Gau, C.M. Chung, Surface curvature eect on slot-air-jet impingement cooling ow and heat transfer process, J. Heat Transfer 113 (1991) 858864. [8] Y. Kornblum, R.J. Goldstein, Jet impingement on semicylindrical concave and convex surfaces: Part two heat transfer, in: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Physics of Heat Transfer in Boiling and Condensation, 1997, pp. 597602. [9] D.H. Lee, Y.S. Chung, D.S. Kim, Turbulent ow and heat transfer measurements on a curved surface with a fully developed round impinging jet, Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow 18 (1997) 160169. [10] C.O. Popiel, O. Trass, Visualization of a free and impinging round jet, Exp. Thermal Fluid Sci. 4 (1991) 253264. [11] C. Cornaro, A.S. Fleischer, R.J. Goldstein, Flow visualization of a round jet impinging on cylindrical surfaces, Exp. Thermal Fluid Sci. 20 (1999) 6678.