Experiments in Fluids 22 (1997) 251 —260 ( Springer-Verlag 1997
Two parallel plane jets: mean flow and effects of acoustic excitation
A. Nasr, J. C. S. Lai
Abstract The flow field generated by unventilated two parallel
jets has been investigated using LDA. The two nozzles each
with an aspect ratio of 24 were separated by 4.25 nozzle widths.
Results show that a recirculation zone with sub-atmospheric
static pressure was bounded by the inner shear layers of the
individual jets and the nozzles plate. It was shown that the
two-dimensionality of the flow was greatly enhanced by the
installation of side plates and that the flow was independent
of Reynolds number between 8300 and 19300. Acoustic exci-
tation introduced at the outer shear layer mode has been
shown to reduce the size of the potential core, recirculation
zone, merging length and combined length but enhance jet
spreading, streamwise velocity decay and volume entrainment.
List of symbols
b half-width which is the distance between the posi-
tion of the local maximum x-component velocity
(U ) and the location where the local x-compo-
m
nent velocity (U) is 0.5 U
m
l length of nozzle
Q volume flow rate
Q volume flow rate at the nozzle exit
0
P atmospheric pressure
!5.
P static pressure measured along the x-axis
c
Re Reynolds number, U w/l
0
s separation between nozzles
U mean x-component (streamwise) velocity
U mean x-component velocity on the x-axis
c
U local maximum x-component velocity
m
U maximum x-component velocity on the x-axis
.!9
(occurs at the combined point)
U nozzle exit velocity
0
u x-component fluctuation velocity
u@ x-component turbulence intensity (rms of u)
Received: 18 November 1994/Accepted: 26 July 1996
A. Nasr, J. C. S. Lai
School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University College
The University of New South Wales,
Australian Defence Force Academy
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Correspondence to: J. C. S. Lai
A. Nasr would like to acknowledge the receipt of a scholarship from
Scholarship Department of Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Higher
Education to undertake this research and the support given by the
Department of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering.
251
u@ /U x-component turbulence intensity on the x-axis
c 0
V mean y-component (lateral) velocity
v y-component fluctuation velocity
v@ y-component turbulence intensity (rms of v)
v@ /U y-component turbulence intensity on the y-axis
c 0
uv Reynolds shear stress
x x-coordinate of the combined point
cp
x x-coordinate of the merging point
mp
x x-coordinate of the location of maximum pressure
p
on the x-axis
w nozzle width
l kinematic viscosity
1
Introduction
Parallel turbulent jets have numerous technological applica-
tions such as entrainment and mixing processes in boiler and
gas turbine combustion chambers, injection and carburettor
systems, waste disposal plumes from stacks; all of which
require an optimum nozzles’ spacing to achieve desirable
conditions. Parallel jets are classified in the literature as venti-
lated if they are issued from two free-standing nozzles or un-
ventilated if the space between the two nozzles is blocked by
a wall. The flow pattern of unventilated two parallel plane jets is
schematically shown in Fig. 1. Due to the mutual entrainment
of the two jets, a sub-atmospheric region between the nozzle
plate and inner shear layers is formed, thus resulting in the
individual jet’s axis being deflected towards the axis of sym-
metry (x-axis). In general, the flow field of the two parallel
jets can be classified into three distinct regions: converging
region, merging region and the combined region. The converg-
ing region includes a recirculation zone which is bounded by
the common wall of the two nozzles and the inner layers of
the individual jets. The recirculation zone terminates at the
merging point (mp) and the two individual jets continue to
merge until at the combined point (cp) where the x-compo-
nent velocity on the axis of symmetry becomes maximum. Far
downstream from the combined point, the two individual
jets will combine to resemble a single jet. The term ‘‘parallel
jets’’ have been used in the literature to refer to jets issued
from ‘‘parallel’’ nozzles. As seen from Fig. 1, resulting jets
may not be parallel. In fact, the lower the nozzle spacing
ratio (s/w) is, the less parallel the two jets are. There have been
several experimental studies on unventilated two parallel
plane jets (see, for example, Miller and Comings 1960; Tanaka
1970, 1974; Murai et al. 1976; Militzer 1977; Ko and Lau 1989;
Lin and Sheu 1991). Table 1 shows the nozzle configurations,

252
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of unventilated two parallel plane jets
experimental conditions, measurement techniques and various
parameters of unventilated jets reported in the literature. The
following comments can be made on various studies listed in
Table 1.
In the work of Ko and Lau (1989), while the nozzle spacing
(s/w) was small, the nozzle aspect ratio was low. Since side
plates (for the ceiling and floor of the nozzles) were not used,
there was essentially no flow convergence. Other studies, as
listed in the Table 1, were mainly focussed on large nozzle
spacings (s/w) with slow flow convergence rate. Quantitative
measurements of the whole flow field are generally incomplete
and there is a lack of documentation of nozzle exit conditions.
Consequently, it is rather difficult to make comparisons bet-
ween measurements obtained under different experimental
conditions. For example, the following empirical results are
reported by Tanaka (1974) for 8.5\s/w\16:
x /w\5.06(s/w)0.27, x /w\7.08(s/w)0.27
mp cp
x /w\5.82(s/w)0.27, U /U \1.96(s/w)~0.5 (1)
p .!9 0
Here, U and x refer to the maximum x-component velocity
.!9 p
and the location of maximum pressure on the axis of symmetry
(x-axis), respectively. These results may not be generalised
to small s/w. As shown in Table 2, the agreement between
parameters such as x (merging length), x (combined
mp cp
length), x and U /U determined from measurements and
p .!9 0
those obtained by Eq. (1) is quite reasonable for s/w\6 but
there are substantial discrepancies for s/w\6. Such discrepan-
cies indicate the need for studies of parallel jets with small
nozzle spacing which produces faster flow convergence.
As pressure and hot-wire measurements are subject to
severe errors in the converging and merging regions, a non-
intrusive measurement technique which can discriminate
against reversed flow such as laser Doppler anemometry (LDA)
should be used in these regions. However, no such data are
available in the literature.
It is well known that the evolution, development and
merging processes of coherent structures play an important
role in the energy and momentum transport phenomena.
Various methods of instability control have been studied by
many investigators to manipulate the instability characteristics
of shear layers (Fiedler and Mensing 1985; Hussain 1986; Lai
1984; 1989; Lai and Simmons 1980; Thomas 1990; Zaman and
Hussain 1981). However, no studies of control of unventilated
parallel jets have been reported in the literature.
The objectives of this paper are, therefore, to document LDA
measurements of the flow field formed by two parallel plane

Table 1. Summary of experimental studies of unventilated parallel plane jets

Author Aspect s/w Re Measurement x /w x /w Main regions and

mp cp
ratio technique quantities considered

Miller & Commings 40 6 17800 Disk type static pressure 6.8 12.4 Pressure, velocity and turbulence
(1960) probes and hot-wires intensity in the merging and com-
bined regions.
Tanaka 60—80 8.5—26.3 4290—8750 Single hot-wire and Eq. (1) Eq. (1) Streamwise velocity, turbulence inten-
(1970, 1974) disk type pressure probe sity and pressure distributions in
merging and converging regions and
velocity in combined region.
Murai et al. 20.6 4.1 3350—18600 Static and total pressure — 9.8 Pressure and streamwise velocity in
(1976) 17.5 probes single hot-wire 21 the converging and combined region
20.6 23.7 considering the effect of nozzle con-
23.7 26 verging angle
31 31
Militzer 13.32 6 55600 Pressure probe and 7.1 12 Pressure and velocity in the converg-
(1977) hot-wire ing and merging regions.
Ko & Lau 5.6 2.5 40000 Single and x-wires — 10.5 Streamwise velocity, turbulence inten-
(1989) sities, Reynolds shear stress, and time
and frequency domain instability
measurements in the merging region.
Lin & Sheu 90 30 7600 Split-film 21.6 30.5 Streamwise mean velocity, turbulence
(1990, 1991) 40 27.6 40 intensities and Reynolds stress in the
combined region.
Table 2. Comparison between various parameters determined by X-wire sensors were gold-plated tungsten wires with a diameter
measurements and calculations (in parentheses) from Eq. (1) of 0.005 mm and an active length of 2-mm. The hot-wire signal
was digitised using a TSI IFA 200 A/D 12 bit converter. Both
Refs. Present study Ko & Lau Miller Militzer
Para- s/w \4.25 (1989) (1960) (1977)
IFA 100 and IFA 200 were controlled by a PDP 11/23 computer
meters s/w\2.5 s/w\6 s/w\6 for data acquisition and processing. Frequency spectra of the
x-component velocity fluctuations u( f ) were determined by an
x /w 4 (7.5) 1.5 (6.48) 6.8 (8.2) 7.1 (8.2) Onosokki CF-350 FFT analyser from the signal of a single
mp
x /w 8 (10.4) 10.5 (9.06) 12.4 (11.48) 12 (11.48) hot-wire linearized using a DISA 55D10 linearizer. Both LDA
cp
x /w 4.7 (8.6) — 7.4 (9.44) 8.1 (9.44) and HWA probes were traversed by stepping motors control-
p
U /U 0.81 (0.95) — 0.76 (0.8) 8 (8)
.!9 0 led by an NEC 286 computer.
For the excited jets, controlled excitation was introduced
by two Realistic Minimus 7W loudspeakers located symmetric- 253
jets with a small nozzle spacing ratio (namely, s/w\4.25) and ally in the settling chamber upstream of the nozzles. The
to study the spatial development of parallel plane jets excited at loudspeakers were driven by a Bruel and Kjaer 2706 power
the fundamental vortex roll up frequency in the outer shear amplifier with a sinusoidal signal at 2400 Hz supplied by a Feed
layer. The effects of using side plates to enhance two-dimen- Instrument function generator FG 601. As the acoustic wave-
sionality of the flow on the spatial development of the two length is relatively large compared with the nozzle width, the
parallel jets will also be examined. acoustic wave field in the settling chamber is uniform. The
excitation level, defined as v@ /U by Gutmark et al. (1986),
ex 0
was 0.019. Here v@ is transverse velocity fluctuation mea-
2 ex
sured at x/w\0.8 on the jet axis. In this study, experiments
Experimental method were conducted in a relatively large and quiet basement in
order to reduce the effect of surrounding noise. The spectra
2.1 of fluctuation velocity obtained at the nozzle exit on the jet
Apparatus axis indicate no spatial disturbances associated with the jet rig.
Two identical two-dimensional nozzles each of width w\
10 mm and length l\240 mm (and hence an aspect ratio of 2.3
24) were made in aluminium plates. The non-dimensional Experimental procedure
spacing ratio (s/w) between the nozzles is 4.25. The nozzle plate For LDA measurements, the flow was seeded using Rosco Fog
thickness is 7.5 mm and nozzle profile consists of a relatively Fluid. The particle concentration was optimized to achieve
short inner smooth section with a straight conduit of 6 mm. optimum visibility factor. In the BSAs, amplitude discrimina-
Side plates were placed horizontally at the top (ceiling ) and tions such as oversize rejection, quality factor, envelope and
bottom (floor) sides of the nozzles in order to enhance the pedestal, can be applied to the caputured Doppler signals. This
two-dimensional behaviour of the flow by eliminating air capability and the possibility of applying different acquisition
entrainment between the jets through the top and bottom sides modes such as continuous, burst, controlled dead time and
of the jets. Air from a blower was passed through a series of external modes were tested to reject large particles and to
grids which reduced turbulence intensity. The nozzle exit reduce bias errors. All results reported here were acquired in
Reynolds number was 11000 with rms x-component velocity burst mode based on both pedestal and envelope. Electronic
fluctuation u@/U of 0.02 on the jet axis at the exit of each noise was minimised and the laser beam intensity was set at
0
nozzle. The ambient temperature variation was within 1 °C. about 200 mW to reduce shot noise. Noise from the surround-
The nozzle exit momentum thickness in the inner and outer ings was negligible. The number of bursts used for each mea-
shear layer has been determined to be 0.0061w and 0.00137w, surement was at least 2000. All velocity data were weighted
respectively. Detailed mean streamwise and lateral velocity with a residence time weighting function. For hot-wire mea-
profiles and turbulence intensity profiles at the nozzle exit are surements, the sampling rate was set at 5 kHz. As the flow
documented by Nasr (1995). field is symmetric, only half of the flow field in the positive
y-direction was measured and presented.
2.2 Detailed uncertainty analysis conducted on LDA measure-
Instrumentation ments made on the x-axis and in the converging region indica-
Except for the x-component fluctuation velocity spectra, u@( f ), tes that the uncertainty in mean velocities and turbulence
which were obtained using a single hot-wire, all measurements intensities is within ^0.08 m/s and that of Reynolds shear
reported here were obtained using a DANTEC two colour laser stress is within ^0.4 m2/s2.
Doppler anemometer. The laser light source for a two colour
laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) was a Coherent INNOVA-70 3
Series Argon-ion laser with a maximum power of 10 W. Two Results
DANTEC model 57N10 Burst Spectrum analysers (BSA) were Traditional hot-wire techniques are subjected to measurement
used to extract the Doppler frequencies. The BSA units were errors in the converging region. Attempt was made to identify
controlled by an NEC 386 computer through an IEEE interface the extent to which hot-wires could be used for measurements
for data acquisition using DANTEC BURSTware application of parallel jets. Both LDA and HWA measurements were first
program. A two channel TSI IFA 100 constant temperature validated in a single free jet. Comparisons of measurements
hot-wire anemometer (HWA) was also used. Both single and made by LDA and HWA in the coverging and merging regions
 indicate that while the agreement between LDA and HWA
results is good in the outer shear layer, there are significant
differences between the LDA and HWA results in the inner
shear layer, in the coverging region and in the vicinity of
the merging point (Nasr 1995). These differences are being
attributed to the presence of recirculation flow in the con-
verging region and the flow angle in the initial merging region
that may exceed the calibration angle of X-wires.

3.1
Natural jets
254
3.1.1
Effect of side plates
The variation of the normalised mean x-component velocity
on the x-axis (U /U ) with downstream distances, with and
c 0 Fig. 2. Effect of side plates on the variation of U /U with downstream
without side plates, is shown in Fig. 2. It can be seen that U /U c 0
c 0 distances
is negative in the merging region, thus indicating reversed
flow. At the merging point, U /U is zero and owing to the
c 0
merging process, it continues to increase up to the combined
point. Downstream of the combined point, the two individual
jets have combined to resemble a single jet and U /U decreases
c 0
as the jet spreads. For unventilated parallel jets with low nozzle
aspect ratio, there could be significant entrainment of the
surrounding air through the top and bottom sides of the jets if
side plates were not installed. In the absence of side plates, the
magnitude of U /U is lower in the merging region than that
c 0
with side plates installed, because of the entrainment of air
between the jets through the top and bottom sides of the jets.
Consequently, the rate of convergence of the individual jets
is smaller, resulting in less curving of the individual jet axis
towards x-axis. This interpretation is supported by Fig. 3
which shows higher turbulence intensities (u@/U , v@ /U ) on the
c 0 c 0
x-axis in the merging region when side plates were installed.
Fig. 3. Effect of side plates on the variation of turbulence intensities
3.1.2 (u@/U , v@ /U ) on the x-axis
Effect of Reynolds number c 0 c 0
The distributions of mean x-component velocity (U/U ) at
0
x/w\2 in Fig. 4 indicate that they are virtually independent of
the nozzle exit Reynolds number in the range 11000—19300.
This is also supported by the variation of U /U with x/w as
c 0
shown in Fig. 5. Similar results were reported by Tanaka (1970)
who examined the effect of Reynolds number on the location of
maximum pressure and the magnitude of the maximum
velocity on the axis of symmetry.

3.2
Excited jets

3.2.1
Spectral measurements
The dynamic behaviour of the free shear layers is governed by
the formation and evolution of the flow instabilities. In their
studies of parallel interacting jets, Ko and Lau (1989) found
Fig. 4. Distributions of x-component velocities (U/U ) at x/w\2
respective trains of coherent structures in the merging and 0
combined regions. They stated that besides the pairing of
successive initial vortices which involves deceleration and The development of instabilities in the outer shear layer of
outward movement of the leading vortex and acceleration and the parallel jets and of a single free jet at various downstream
inward movement of the trailing vortex, there is an amalgama- distances can be illustrated by the frequency spectra of the
tion or combination of successive vortices without rotation. x-component fluctuation u( f ) at the edge of the potential
 255

Fig. 5. Variation of U /U for various Re Fig. 7. Spectra of u@ in the inner and outer shear layer of parallel jets
c 0

core, as shown in Figs. 6a and b, respectively. Similar behavi-

our of instability waves, though not presented here, were obser-
ved in the inner shear layer of the parallel jets. As expected,
since the nozzle exit conditions are identical, the parallel
jets and single free jet have the same fundamental vortex
roll-up frequency of 2400 Hz. However, in a single free jet,
the structures appear to be stronger and their development is
more distinct than in parallel jets. The associated subharmonic
development in both the parallel jets and single jet can be
clearly identified.
Figure 7 shows the spectra of x-component fluctuation
velocity u( f ) obtained at x/w\0.7 in the inner and outer
edges of the potential core under excited and unexcited
conditions. In both inner and outer layers, the fundamental
vortex rolls up at 2400 Hz. However, the development of the
Fig. 8. Hot-wire signal u@ in the inner shear layer of parallel jets
fundamental vortex appears to be faster and stronger in
the outer shear layer than in the inner shear layer whose
development is constrained by the recirculation zone. Under excited jet than in the unexcited jet. Subharmonics and higher
excitation, the second subharmonic ( f /4) has already appea- order harmonics are also present in the excited jet. Higher
0
red by x/w\0.7 while only the first subharmonic (f /2) has harmonic peaks were also observed in the spectra of an excited
0
just started to develop in the inner shear layer. Figure 8 plane jet by Thomas (1990) and in the spectra of an excited
shows the instability behaviour of the jet in time domain at circular jet by Zaman and Hussain (1981). The higher har-
x/w\1 at the inner edge of the potential core. It is clear that monic peaks have been attributed by Zaman and Hussain
the instability wave is more organised and periodic in the (1981) to distortions of the signal and as far as the large-scale

Fig. 6. a Evolution of instabilities in the

outer shear layer of parallel jets;
b evolution of instabilities in the shear
layer of a single free jet
 motions are concerned, only the peaks at the fundamental and
subharmonics were considered by them to be of significance.
3.2.2
Variation of static pressure on x-axis
The static pressure distribution plays a significant role in
determining the flow characteristics of parallel jets. Fig. 9
displays the static pressure distribution, (P [P )/0.5 oU2, on
c !5. 0
the x-axis for various Reynolds numbers. The static pressure
decreases to a minimum around the streamwise location of the
standing vortex centre (x/w\3), increases near the merging
256
point to a maximum above atmospheric, and decreases to
below atmospheric as the individual jets merge and spread.
This trend of pressure distribution is in agreement with those
of Miller and Comings (1960), Tanaka (1974), Murai et al.
(1976) and Militzer (1977). The locations of minimum and
maximum pressure as shown in Fig. 9 are virtually indepen-
dent of Reynolds numbers. These locations occur further
downstream when side plates were not used, which are con-
sistent with observations in Figs. 2 and 3.
The locations of minimum and maximum static pressure
have been reduced by excitation from x/w\3 to 2.5 and from
x/w\4.7 to 4, respectively. Downstream of the merging point,
the static pressure on the x-axis decreases to below atmo-
spheric as the two jets combine to spread as a single jet.
Fig. 9. Distribution of static pressure
3.2.3
Mean velocity distributions
The spatial development of the mean x-component velocity
U/U is plotted in Fig. 10. Unlike single free jets, the interacting
0
parallel jets have inclined velocity profiles in the potential core
region due to the deflection of the individual jet’s axis towards
the axis of symmetry (x-axis). Reversed flow in the recircula-
tion zone can be seen up to x/w\4 where the two jets merge.
Downstream of the combined point, at x/w\8, the two jets
combine to spread like a single free jet. The nondimensio-
nal x-component velocity profiles (U/U ) in the combined
m
region displayed in Fig. 11 show that the flow appears to be
approaching fully developed ‘‘state’’ by x/w\20 as the mea-
sured velocity profile there agrees with the theoretical curve
of Gortler (1942) to within 5% up to y/b\2. These results
are consistent with those obtained at higher s/w by Lin and
Sheu (1990).
Figure 10 shows that under excitation, the reversed flow
is stronger (larger negative U) and the deflection of the indivi-
dual jet axis towards the axis of symmetry (x-axis) is higher.
Figure 12 displays the nondimensional y-component velocity
(V/U ) profiles for both the unexcited and excited jets. In the
0
vicinity of the nozzle plate out to the standing vortex centre
(x/w\3.5 and 2.5 for unexcited and excited jets respectively),
V is positive and larger under excitation than that without
excitation, thus indicating stronger upward motion of the
recirculating flow for the excited jet. This is primarily due to
the higher spreading rate of the excited inner shear layer (Sects.
3.2.6 and 3.3.2.7), resulting in a smaller recirculation zone.
Downstream of the standing vortex centre within the recir-
culation zone, V turns negative and is larger in magnitude for
the excited jet than for the unexcited jet, thus indicating
stronger downward motion of the flow for the excited jet.
Hence both U and V results suggest stronger recirculating
motion for the excited jet than for the unexcited jet. As the flow
proceeds further downstream, the magnitude of V decreases
for both the unexcited and excited jets until at around x/w\4.5
(the location of maximum pressure for the unexcited jet), it is
less than that for the unexcited jet, thus indicating the merging
process for the excited jet is at a more advanced stage than that
for the unexcited jet. As the flow proceeds downstream of the
combined point (x/w\7 and 8 for excited and unexcited jets
Fig. 10. Spatial distribution of mean
x-component velocity (U/U )
0
 257

Fig. 11. x-component velocity profiles U/U in the combined region

m

respectively), V is positive everywhere when the two jets have

combined to form a single jet.
The effect of excitation can be better illustrated with the
mean velocity vector plot for the converging region in Fig. 13.
It can be seen that the merging length of the two parallel
jets has been reduced from 4w to 3.5w by controlled excitation.
The standing vortex is clearly identifiable for both the excited
and unexcited jets. As shown in Fig. 10, the combined length
of the two parallel jets has been reduced by excitation from
8w to 7w.

3.2.4
Potential core
The effect of excitation on the spatial development of the two
parallel jets can be illustrated by the size of the potential core
Fig. 13a, b. Mean velocity vectors in the converging region.
which may be estimated from Fig. 10. In a single free jet issuing a Unexcited jet; b excited jet
from an identical nozzle, the potential core length has been
determined to be 6w; by comparisons, the size of the potential
core in interacting parallel jets has been reduced considerably
to 4w. This is attributed to the deflection of the individual jets frequency enables the jet to spread faster in both the inner and
towards the axis of symmetry as a result of the formation of the outer shear layers.
recirculation zone with lower static pressure (Fig. 9). The
potential core length for the individual jet has been reduced by 3.2.5
excitation from 4w to 2.5w. Furthermore, its extent in the Jet spreading
y-direction has also been significantly reduced, thus indicating In order to illustrate the spreading of the jet, the variation
that excitation introduced at the fundamental vortex roll up of half-widths (b) in the inner and outer shear layers with

Fig. 12. Spatial distribution of mean

y-component velocity (V/U )
0
258
Fig. 14. Variation of half-widths in inner and outer shear layers with
downstream distances
downstream distances has been determined and plotted in
Fig. 14 for both the unexcited and excited jets. It can be seen
that both the inner and outer shear layers spread considerably
faster through excitation. The effect of excitation on the initial
spreading is more pronounced in the inner shear layer than
in the outer shear layer. This is attributed to the stronger
deflection of the jet towards the axis of symmetry as a result of
lower pressure in the recirculation zone under excitation.
3.2.6
Decay of maximum velocity
Figure 15 shows the decay of nondimensional maximum
x-component velocity (U /U ) of the parallel jets under
.!9 0
excited and unexcited conditions. It is clear that excitation has
caused the maximum velocity to decay faster, and the velocity
decay rate is faster in the converging region than in the
merging region for both excited and unexcited conditions. This
is due to the deflection of the jet towards the axis of symmetry
and perhaps the interaction between the inner shear layer and
the recirculation zone. Faster decay in the maximum velocity
implies higher jet spreading, which is supported by Fig. 14. For
comparisons, the decay of the maximum velocity for a single
free jet with and without excitation is also shown in Fig. 15. It
can be seen that excitation has caused the maximum velocity of
a single free jet to decay faster. While the maximum velocity
of a single free jet is higher than that of the parallel jets for
x/w\7, it is considerably lower for x/w[7, indicating that the
development of a single free jet is far more advanced than the
two parallel jets combined as a single jet. However, the decay
rate in the combined region of two parallel jets is approaching
that of a single jet.
3.2.7
Entrainment
The jet volume entrainment may be defined as (Q[Q )/Q .
0 0
Here the volume flow Q may be estimated by integrating the
x-component velocity (U) (as given in Fig. 10) from the axis
of symmetry to the point where U is 0.05 U and Q is
.!9 0
the volume flow rate at the nozzle exit. Compared with the
experimental values of volume entrainment for a single free
jet, the volume entrainment for parallel jets is higher in the
converging region and is lower downstream of the merging
point. This is consistent with the jet spreading and decay
Fig. 15. Variation of decay of maximum velocity with downstream
distances
of maximum velocity as discussed in Sects. 3.2.5 and 3.2.6.
Through excitation, the volume entrainment has been increa-
sed in the converging region but slightly decreased in the
merging and combined regions. However, the volume entrain-
ment for both the excited and unexcited jets is approaching
each other by x/w\14 where the mean x-component velocity
distributions for the unexcited and excited jets are almost
indistinguishable from each other.
3.2.8
Turbulence intensity distributions
Figures 16 and 17 display the spatial development of nor-
malised x-component (u@/U ) and y-component (v@/U )
0 0
turbulence intensities for both excited and unexcited jets
respectively. Regardless of whether excitation has been app-
lied, both u@ and v@ distributions exhibit two peaks in the inner
and outer shear layers upstream of the merging point. The
u@ peak has a higher magnitude in the outer shear layer than
that in the inner shear layer and is dominant in the whole flow
field, indicating that u@ in the outer shear layer is less
constrained by the recirculation flow and the merging process.
In the converging region, excitation enhances both u@ and v@ in
the inner and outer shear layers. This enhancement appears to
be stronger in the inner shear layer and the recirculation zone.
The peaks of u@ and v@ in the outer shear layer persist as the
flow proceeds downstream. It should be noted that in addition
to the u@ peak in the inner shear layer, another peak in u@
for the excited jet has been detected at x/w\2.5 close to the
streamwise location of the standing vortex centre in the re-
circulation zone. By x/w\3, the u@ peak in the inner shear
layer for the excited jet has merged with that in the recircu-
lation zone. In the merging region, turbulence intensities
(u@ and v@) have been reduced by excitation but approach
those of the unexcited jet downstream of the combined point.
3.2.9
Reynolds shear stresses distributions
The spatial development of the Reynolds shear stress for
the unexcited jet is presented in Fig. 18. It can be seen that
Reynolds shear stress in the inner and outer shear layers are
similar in magnitude close to the nozzle exit for x/w\2.5.
A local maximum in Reynolds shear stress in the recirculation
zone starts to appear at x/w\3. Just upstream of the merging

point (x /w\4). Reynolds shear stress in the neighbourhood
mp
of the axis of symmetry has increased substantially, thus
indicating high momentum transfer between the flow near the
axis of symmetry and the outer shear layer. The behaviour of
the Reynolds shear stress resembles that of a single jet beyond
x/w\10. For the excited jet, Reynolds shear stress in the
converging region appears to be enhanced by excitation in
both the inner and outer shear layers, thus indicating higher
momentum transfer through acoustic excitation. In the re-
Fig. 16. Spatial distribution of x- 259
component turbulence intensity
(u@/U )
0
Fig. 17. Spatial distribution of y-
component turbulence intensity (v@/U )
0
Fig. 18. Spatial distribution of
Reynolds shear stress (uv/U )
0
circulation zone, Reynolds shear stress for the excited jet is
considerably increased around the standing vortex centre and
merging point where the turbulent momentum transfer is high.
In the merging region, Reynolds shear stress for the excited jet
is lower than that of the unexcited jet. Downstream of the
combined point, the distribution of Reynolds shear stress
resembles that of a single free jet and by x/w\14, there is
virtually no difference between the excited and unexcited
jets.
 5 Gutmark E; Schadow KC; Wlison KJ; Parr DM (1986) Small-scale
Conclusions
The velocity field of two parallel plane jets with nozzle aspect
ratio of 24 and nozzle spacing (s/w) of 4.25 has been measured
using LDA for the first time. It has been shown for nozzles with
aspect ratio less than 24 that side plates should be used to
enhance the two-dimensionality of the flow. For the Reynolds
number range between 11000 and 19300, the flow is virtually
independent of Reynolds number. The spatial distributions of
mean velocities and turbulence intensities clearly reveal the
recirculation zone, the merging point and the combined point.
260 Spectral measurements of the streamwise fluctuation velocity
show that the fundamental vortex roll-up frequency in the
outer shear layer is the same as that of a single free jet. Acoustic
excitation at the fundamental vortex roll up frequency in the
outer shear layer has been applied in an attempt to control the
spatial development of the two parallel plane jets. LDA results
indicate that the recirculation zone, the size of the potential
core, the merging length and combined length have been
reduced by excitation while jet spreading, velocity decay and
volume flow entrainment have been enhanced. These results
are consistent with the excitation effects of single jets and shear
layers reported in the literature (for example, Hussain 1986)
and indicate that the development of coherent structures
originated from shear layer instability play a significant role in
controlling the dynamics of two parallel plane jets.
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