AM5018 Experimental Techniques in Fluid Mechanics

Assignment # 2
Design of Experiment
Factors Affecting Jet- transition From Laminar to
Turbulent Flow
Vasanth Kumar G, Dominic Sam Sebastian, Shubham, Mukesh K and Vishal
February 27, 2019

1 Objective
To determine the factors affecting jet break-up as it leaves the injector and determine the
relation between parameters on outcome of the experiment.

Figure 1: Ref: Liquid Jet in crossflow- effects of liquid entry condition

2 Choice of factors
[] From theoretical understanding it is determined that the jet characteristics are altered by:

• L/D ratio of the injector

1
 • flow rate of jet with which it is ejected from the injector

The above factors are considered to be allowed to vary factors. In other words, the above
mentioned factors influence outcome of experiment over range of values it takes.

Apart from the above mentioned factors that affect the outcome, there might be noise
factors which affect the experiment. Noise can be cross-flow as the fluids exits injector,
ambient pressure at different locations due to location of the experimental set-up. The noise
factors can be eliminated by repeating the experiment and carrying out ANOVA.

2.1 Range and level of parameters

Based on our understanding that L/D ratio of injector and flow rate of jet, we need to set
the range of values over which experiment needs to be performed.

• Keep velocity constant (flow rate) and vary L/D ratio from 10-100.

• Keep L/D ratio constant and vary exit velocity from 1 m/s-10 m/s.

2.1.1 Levels of parameter

The two parameters listed might end-up having 91 + 10 = 101 experiments! To avoid this
scenario, we will set the levels of parameter over which it must be varied.

• Keep velocity constant and vary L/D ratio in steps of 10. This step will help us narrow
down the critical L/D ratio where the flow becomes turbulent at a region much smaller
that the diameter of the injector.

[Here, diameter of injector is used like very small length which can be considered to
be negligible compared to the length the jet travels in transverse direction]

• Keep L/D constant and vary diameter in steps of 2 m/s.

Here comes the problem of too many experiments. In the levels, it was mentioned that
”keep L/D constant” and ”keep velocity constant”. To avoid repeating experiment for all
possible combination of velocity and L/D, we will keep L/D equal to 10 and vary velocity in
steps of 2 m/s and keep velocity as 1 m/s, vary L/D in steps of 10.

The above said idea to keep one of the parameters at particular value is based on logic
that lowest value of L/D or velocity might not affect the variation of other parameter. In
other words, the experiment is similar to blocking the effect of one parameter and studying
effect of the other.

2
3 Other factors
Understanding underlying physics of fluid flow gives the two parameter mentioned in section
2 but there might be errors creeping in due to surface roughness of the injector, measurement
of velocity using instruments. Repeating and analysis of results required to study the effect
of said choices on experiment.