Investigation in the Near-Field of a Row of Interacting Jets

Multiple interacting jets (confluent jets) are employed in many engineering applications, and the significant design factors must be investigated. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to numerically predict the flow field in the proximal region of a single row of round jets. The numerical results that are obtained when using the low Reynolds $k-ε$ are validated with the experimental data that are acquired by particle image velocimetry (PIV). PIV was used to measure mean velocity and turbulence properties in the proximal region of a row of six parallel coplanar round air jets with equidistant spacing at low Reynolds number (Re = 3290). The low Reynolds $k-ε$ underpredicts the streamwise velocity in the onset of the jets' decay. The characteristic points are determined for various regions between two neighboring jets. The comparison of the merging point (MP) and the combined point (CP) computed from measurements and simulations shows good agreement in the different regions between the jets. In this study, a computational parametric study is also conducted to determine the main effects of three design factors and the interactions between them on the flow field development using response surface method (RSM). The influences of the inlet velocity, the spacing between the nozzles, and the diameter of the nozzles on the locations of the characteristic points are presented in the form of correlations (regression equations). CFD is used to numerically predict the characteristic points for a set of required studies, for which the design values of the simulation cases are determined by the Box–Behnken method. The results indicate that the spacing between the nozzles has a major impact on the flow characteristics in the near-field region of multiple interacting jets. The RSM shows that the inlet velocity has a marginal effect on the merging and CPs. All of the square terms are removed from the response equations of MP, and only one two-way interaction term between inlet velocity and spacing remains in the regression model with a marginal effect. The square of the nozzle diameter contributes in the regression equations of CP in some regions between the jets.