Vortex filament simulation of the turbulent coflowing jet

A high resolution grid-free vortex filament scheme is applied to the prediction and simulation of coflowing round jets with a view to acquiring a new perspective on their physics and establishing the validity of the numerical technique. Vortex loop removal at inertial range scales provides a nondiffusive model of local dissipation that remains compatible with the presence of backscatter. Consistency with the Kolmogorov 5/3 inertial range spectrum is used to estimate the effective dissipation rate and subsequently the local and global Reynolds numbers associated with the turbulent vortex field. New insights into the accuracy of the scheme are presented including dependencies on numerical parameters. Comparisons of the computed statistics and structural features of the coflowing jet versus experiments show the method to provide an accurate rendering of the flow. Some consideration is also given to the dispersion of a scalar contaminant in the jet and its comparison to data. © 2009 American Institute of Physics. DOI: 10.1063/1.3081559