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Scalar gradient trajectory measurements using high-frequency cinematographic planar Rayleigh scattering

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Abstract

In this work, we perform an experimental investigation into statistics based on scalar gradient trajectories in a turbulent jet flow, which have been suggested as an alternative means to analyze turbulent flow fields by Wang and Peters (J Fluid Mech 554:457–475, 2006, 608:113–138, 2008). Although there are several numerical simulations and theoretical works that investigate the statistics along gradient trajectories, only few experiments in this area have been reported. To this end, high-frequency cinematographic planar Rayleigh scattering imaging is performed at different axial locations of a turbulent propane jet issuing into a CO2 coflow at nozzle-based Reynolds numbers Re 0 = 3,000–8,600. Taylor’s hypothesis is invoked to obtain a three-dimensional reconstruction of the scalar field in which then the corresponding scalar gradient trajectories can be computed. These are then used to examine the local structure of the mixture fraction with a focus on the scalar turbulent/non-turbulent interface. The latter is a layer that is located between the fully turbulent part of the jet and the outer flow. Using scalar gradient trajectories, we partition the turbulent scalar field into these three regions according to an approach developed by Mellado et al. (J Fluid Mech 626:333–365, 2009). Based on the latter, we investigate the probability to find the respective regions as a function of the radial distance to the centerline, which turns out to reveal the meandering nature of the scalar T/NT interface layer as well as its impact on the local structure of the turbulent scalar field.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the NRW-Research School BrenaRo and the Cluster of Excellence Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass, which is funded by the Excellence Initiative of the German federal state governments to promote science and research at German universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Combustion Technology, RWTH Aachen Templergraben 64, 52056, Aachen, Germany

    Markus Gampert & Norbert Peters

  2. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Venkat Narayanaswamy

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  1. Markus Gampert
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  2. Venkat Narayanaswamy
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Correspondence to Markus Gampert.

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Gampert, M., Narayanaswamy, V. & Peters, N. Scalar gradient trajectory measurements using high-frequency cinematographic planar Rayleigh scattering. Exp Fluids 54, 1621 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-013-1621-4

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