Modulation of large-scale meandering and three-dimensional flows in turbulent slot jets

Abstract

We investigate a vertically discharged shallow wall-bounded turbulent water jet both experimentally (LIF, TomoPIV) and numerically (LES). We identify the well-known meandering motion of the jet core generating large-scale planar vortices similar to the Karman vortex street. The modulation of the meandering amplitude is identified in experiments and simulations, which is attributed to the competition between sinusoidal and symmetric instability modes. TomoPIV data confirms that elongated streamwise vortices represent the smaller scale vortical structure of the jet in the near and far fields.