Trajectory measurements of a wall jet impinging onto a forward facing step entering a cross-flow

This study examines a horizontal wall jet impinging onto a forward facing step in a cross-flow. Planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) experiments in a water channel indicate that the wall-jet flow after impinging onto the step, becomes a vertical jet with an elliptical cross section. Experiments indicate that the jet trajectory scales with the perimeter of the elliptical jet issuing vertically into the cross-flow. The trajectory consists of three regions: the near-field region which is well described by a power law with an exponent of 1/2, the mid-field region where the jet is fully bent over which is described by a power law with an exponent of 1/3, and a far-field region where the jet is dominated by the cross-flow. This paper provides a prediction of the plume behaviour based on the geometric and initial conditions of the jet (diameter, step height, distance from jet to step, and velocity ratio) alone. The Briggs entrainment model for a round jet was also used to predict the trajectories of the jet in the cross-flow. It was found that the entrainment coefficients, alpha and beta, for the elliptical jet case had average values of 0.15 and 0.58 respectively.