Comparing steady and unsteady rectangular jets issuing into a crossflow

The foundational differences of steady and unsteady jets issued into a laminar boundary layer crossflow are considered. Jets have been used widely for flow control applications, due to their ability to enhance mixing and mitigate separation, but it is unclear what role jet steadiness plays in flow control effectiveness. Here we compare experimentally unsteady (synthetic) and steady rectangular jets issued into a flat-plate laminar boundary layer with varying orifice pitch and skew. The coherent streamwise vortices produced by unsteady jets were shown to be much stronger than those produced by steady jets, despite producing similar flow patterns. These differences are rooted in how vorticity is generated in the orifice, through either a Stokes layer (unsteady) or a Blasius boundary layer (steady). Exploring the time- and phase-averaged vorticity transport equation reveals that the time-varying vorticity term is the reason for the enhanced vortical structure. When considering flow control metrics, we find that the unsteady jet produced greater added momentum in the boundary layer and added vorticity when compared to a momentum-matched steady jet. Both the steady and unsteady jets produced similar jet penetration characteristics.

Automated summary

The foundational differences between steady and unsteady jets issued into a laminar boundary layer crossflow are investigated. Experimental results show that the coherent streamwise vortices produced by unsteady jets are stronger than those produced by steady jets, despite similar flow patterns. The differences in jet behavior are rooted in how vorticity is generated, either through a Stokes layer or a Blasius boundary layer. Furthermore, it is found that unsteady jets introduce greater added momentum and vorticity compared to steady jets.