EXP.NO.

3 VELOCITY PROFILE OF THE WALL-JET

AIM
To study the jet decay characteristics along the jet axis and to obtain lateral
spreadcharacteristics of the jet.
APPARATUS REQUIRED
Wall-jet test setup, 2-D traversing mechanism, pitot probe for total pressure measurements,U-
tube manometer and meter scale.
THEORY
Jets can be classified in a variety of ways. They can be classified as compressible
orincompressible jets based on the speed of the jet. They can also be classified as laminar
orturbulent jets based on the Reynolds number. Based on the jet cross section shape, they
areclassified as circular or non-circular jets. Jets come under the category of free shear
flows.Jets which have free and unconstrained boundaries are called free jets. Examples are
nozzleexhaust jet into atmosphere, water jet issuing from a conduit or a tap etc.The flow of a
jet can be divided into two regions; the mixing region and the potentialcore. The potential core
is that portion in the centre of the jet and near the exit of the orificethrough which the jet
flows. In the potential core, the viscous effects are negligible and thefluid can be considered to
be inviscid. The first part of the mixing region is the boundary ofthe jet near the exit of the
nozzle. This mixing region widens as the flow goes downstream.Far downstream, the whole jet
will be a mixing region. In the mixing region, the effects ofviscosity and heat conduction have to
be considered. In the mixing region there are largevariations in velocity and density. In contrast
to a free-jet, a wall jet is a constrained jet. Itmay be partially constrained depending upon the
environmental and operating conditions in practical engineering applications. Some examples
of wall-jets are: rocket nozzle exhaust of aspace launch vehicle at the time of launch(the jet
comes in contact with some
solid boundary), an air coolant jet grazing the surface of a combustion chamber wall to providec
ooling to the chamber walls (in gas turbine combustion chamber application) etc. The effectof
wall on the jet flow is of vital practical importance.
DESCRIPTION OF EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
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22The experimental set-up consists of a diverging duct connected to a high pressure

compressortank. The high pressure air is passed into the diverging duct through a moisture
separator,dust collector and a pressure regulating valve to control the mass flow rate through
the duct.To laminarize the flow, three meshes are fitted inside the diverging duct. The duct
alsoconsists of a settling chamber to which an orifice plate is attached. The orifice plate
consistsof a circular hole of 20 mm diameter to issue a free-jet into the open atmosphere. The
speedof the free-jet can be controlled by controlling the mass flow rate through the
pressureregulating valve. The effect if wall is studied by placing a circular plate in the jet flow
path.For this, a stand consisting of a circular disc is provided and the distance between the
circulardisc and the orifice plate through which the jet is issued can be varied.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
In this experiment, the variation of jet total pressure along the centerline of a free jet
ismeasured to understand its decay characteristics. The jet is of circular shape with diameter
20mm. To find its lateral spread characteristics the total pressure variations the lateral
directioni.e. r direction at different X positions i.e. X = 2,4,8 and 16 cm are measured. The
total pressure probe is mounted in a 2-D traversing mechanism, which ensures the movement o
fthe probe along the jet axis i.e. x-axis up to 600 mm. The circular disc stand which provideswall
effect is kept at a desired distance from the orifice plate.
FORMULAE TO BE USEDFor velocity calculation:
From Bernoulli’s relation we have
P
o
=P

+ 0.5
ρ
V
2
where P is static pressure, P
o
is total pressure, V is velocity and
ρ
is densityof air.With respect to the present experimentP
o
=P
a

+0.5ρu
2
, where P
o
is the local total pressure and u is the local velocity.From the above relation we getU =
If ∆h is the water deflection in mm in manometer, the corresponding pressure in Pascals can
be calculated using the relationP
o
=ρ
w
g ∆h /1000 Pa. Here ρ
w
is water density in kg/m
3
. g = 9.8 m/s
2
.
TABLE1: JET DECAY CHARACTERISTICSS.NoDistance along jet axis in cmTotal pressurereadings in
cm ofwater in manometercolumnsDifferencein heights
∆h in cm
Reference jetvelocity in m/sLeft right1
2345678910
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1. Variations of total pressure and local reference velocity with distance along centerline ofthe
jet2. Variations of total pressure and local reference velocities in lateral direction at different
Xvalues.3. Comparisons of velocity profiles in lateral direction of the jet at different X values.
CONCLUSION
Thus, the experiment has been carried out to understand the jet decaycharacteristics along the
axis of the jet and lateral spread characteristics of the jet.