Mean Flow and Turbulence Measurements in a Turbulent Free Cruciform Jet

The results of measurements of all three components of the mean velocity vector, the Reynolds normal and primary shear stresses and the mean static pressure in a turbulent free jet, issuing from a sharp-edged cruciform orifice, are presented in this paper. The measurements were made with an x-array hot-wire probe and a pitot-static tube in the near flow field of the jet. The Reynolds number, based upon the equivalent diameter of the orifice, was 1.70 × 10⁵. In addition to the quantities measured directly, the mean streamwise centreline velocity decay, the jet half-velocity widths, the jet spreading rate, the mean streamwise vorticity, the mass entrainment rate, the integral momentum flux and the one-dimensional energy spectra have been derived from the measured data. The results show that the mean streamwise centreline velocity decay rate of the cruciform jet is higher than that of a round jet issuing from an orifice with the same exit area as that of the cruciform orifice. The mean streamwise velocity field changed shape continuously from a cruciform close to the orifice exit plane to circular at 12 and half equivalent diameters downstream. The mean streamwise vorticity field, up to about three equivalent diameters downstream of the orifice exit plane, consists of four pairs of counter-rotating cells, which are aligned with the four edges in the centre of the cruciform orifice.