Effect of the driving algorithm on the turbulence generated by a random jet array

Different driving algorithms for a large random jet array (RJA) were tested and their performance characterized by comparing the statistics of the turbulence generated downstream of the RJA. Of particular interest was the spatial configuration of the jets operating at any given instant (an aspect that has not been documented in previous RJAs studies), as well as the statistics of their respective on/off times. All algorithms generated flows with nonzero skewnesses of the velocity fluctuation normal to the plane of the RJA (identified as an inherent limitation of the system resulting from the unidirectional forcing imposed from only one side of the RJA), and slightly super-Gaussian kurtoses of the velocity fluctuations in all directions. It was observed that algorithms imposing spatial configurations generated the most isotropic flows; however, they suffered from high mean flows and low turbulent kinetic energies. The algorithm identified as RANDOM (also referred to as the "sunbathing algorithm") generated the flow that, on an overall basis, most closely approximated zero-mean-flow homogeneous isotropic turbulence, with variations in horizontal and vertical homogeneities of RMS velocities of no more than +/- 6 %, deviations from isotropy (w(RMS)/u(RMS)) in the range of 0.62-0.77, and mean flows on the order of 7 % of the RMS velocities (determined by averaging their absolute values over the three velocity components and three downstream distances). A relatively high turbulent Reynolds number (Re-T = u(T) l/v= 2360, where l is the integral length scale of the flow and uT is a characteristic RMS velocity) was achieved using the RANDOM algorithm and the integral length scale (l = 11.5 cm) is the largest reported to date. The quality of the turbulence in our large facility demonstrates the ability of RJAs to be scaled-up and to be the laboratory system most capable of generating the largest quasi-homogeneous isotropic turbulent regions with zero mean flow.