Large eddy simulation and self-similarity analysis of the momentum spreading in the near field region of turbulent submerged round jets

Abstract Self-Similarity in turbulent round jets has been the object of investigation from several decades. The evolution of turbulent submerged jets is characterized by the presence of two regions: the region of flow establishment, or near field region (NFR) and the fully developed region (FDR), or far-field region (FFR). The momentum spreading in the FDR is known to be self-similar and few mathematical models have been presented in the past to describe it. The flow evolution in the NFR has been rarely studied since there is a certain consensus on the idea that the flow in the NFR is not self-similar. In this work, we study the flow evolution of a turbulent submerged round jet by means of large eddy simulation (LES) at several Reynolds numbers ranging from 2492 to 19,988. Three new self-similar laws are proposed to describe the flow evolution in the NFR, one for the initial region, called Undisturbed Region of Flow, (URF), and two for the final region, the potential core region (PCR). The numerical results presented in this work are also validated with the self-similar laws for the FDR proposed by Tollmien (1926) and Gortler (1942), and the experimental data of Hussein et al. (1994), and Panchapakesan and Lumley (1993), in the FDR; those of Davies et al. (1963), in the PCR; and van Hout et al. (2018), in the URF. The conclusion is that previous inability to find the self-similarity law in the NFR is due to the attempt to find a unique self-similar variable to describe the momentum spreading in both the URF and the PCR.