Scale, boundary and inlet condition effects on impinging jets

The sensitivity of the orthonormal impinging jets with respect to scale (Reynolds number), boundary conditions (geometry and surface roughness) as well as inlet conditions is investigated. Due to the unsteady separation in the near-wall region the flow field is Reynolds number dependent. The depth of the boundary layer formed on the impinging surface decreases, while the maximum radial velocity increases with Reynolds number below a critical, Re-cr value. Above one order of Re-cr the flow becomes asymptotically independent of Reynolds number. When Reynolds number reaches a fully roughness region the depth of the surface layer increases with roughness height only. The flow is found to be only weakly dependent on the distance between the jet and the surface for distances larger than the ring-vortex formation length. Radial confinements of diameters less than approximately 10 jet diameters and axial confinements placed at less than I jet diameter above the surface affect the pressure distribution on the impinging plate. The inlet turbulence affects mostly the free-jet flow region. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.