Flow-structure interaction effects on a jet emanating from a flexible nozzle

In recent years, a wide variety of applications have been found for the use of pulsed jets in the area of flow control. The goal of the current study was to identify the flow field and mixing characteristics associated with an incompressible elongated jet emitted from a flexible nozzle. The shape of the nozzle was that of a high aspect ratio jet deforming from a fully opened to a completely closed configuration. The jet was characterized by a pulsatile flow that was self-excited by the motion of the flexible tube. The frequency of excitation was found to be between 150 and 175 Hz and the Strouhal number (nondimensional frequency) varied from 0.17 to 0.45. The jet flow was dominated by vortices that were shed from the nozzle with an axis parallel to the major axis. The vortices in the near field were quasi-two-dimensional so that measurements performed at the center plane represented the dynamics of the entire vortex. The nozzle excited two different modes depending on the tension applied to the flexible nozzle and the volumetric flow through it. The first was a flapping mode, which was associated with alternate shedding of vortices. This caused strong steering of the jet to one side or the other. The second mode was a symmetric mode that was associated with the formation of counter-rotating vortex pairs. Turbulence and jet spread in the measured planes were much larger in the first mode than the second one. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.