Bubbly flow structure in hydraulic jump

In an open channel, a hydraulic jump is the rapid transition from superto sub-critical flow associated with strong turbulence and air bubble entrainment in the mixing layer. New experiments were performed at relatively large Reynolds numbers using phase-detection probes. Some new signal analysis provided characteristic air–water time and length scales of the vortical structures advecting the air bubbles in the developing shear flow. An analysis of the longitudinal air–water flow structure suggested little bubble clustering in the mixing layer, although an interparticle arrival time analysis showed some preferential bubble clustering for small bubbles with chord times below 3 ms. Correlation analyses yielded longitudinal air–water time scales TxxV1/d1 of about 0.8 in average. The transverse integral length scale Z/d1 of the eddies advecting entrained bubbles was typically between 0.25 and 0.4, irrespective of the inflow conditions within the range of the investigations. Overall the findings highlighted the complicated nature of the air–water flow. © 2006 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.