Direct numerical simulation of round turbulent jets in crossflow

Direct numerical simulation is used to study a round turbulent jet in a laminar crossflow. The ratio of bulk jet velocity to free-stream crossflow velocity is 5.7 and the Reynolds number based on the bulk jet velocity and the jet exit diameter is 5000. The mean velocity and turbulent intensities from the simulations are compared to data from the experiments by Su & Mungal (2004) and good agreement is observed. Additional quantities, not available from experiments, are presented. Turbulent kinetic energy budgets are computed for this flow. Examination of the budgets shows that the near field is far from a state of turbulent equilibrium – especially along the jet edges. Also – in the near field – peak kinetic energy production is observed close to the leading edge, while peak dissipation is observed toward the trailing edge of the jet. The results are used to comment upon the difficulty involved in predicting this flow using RANS computations. There exist regions in this flow where the pressure transport term, neglected by some models and poorly modelled by others, is significant. And past the jet exit, the flow is not close to established canonical flows on which most models appear to be based.