The Asymmetry of the Large-Scale Structures in Turbulent Three-Dimensional Wall Jets Exiting Long Rectangular Channels

The development of the large-scale structures in three-dimensional wall jets formed using long rectangular channels with aspect ratios of 1 and 4 was investigated using measurements of the fluctuating wall pressure and point measurements of the turbulent velocity throughout the near and intermediate field. The instantaneous pressure fluctuations in both jets were laterally asymmetric causing the fluctuating wall pressure to be poorly correlated across the jet centerline. A frequency-dependent proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the fluctuating pressure measurements indicated that the first two mode shapes were opposite and each mode made similar contributions to the mean square fluctuations at all frequencies in order to capture the instantaneous asymmetry of the pressure field. The mode shapes in the intermediate field of both jets were strongly frequency dependent, and a subsequent wavelet analysis indicated that there are both large-scale horseshoe structures that span one-half of the jet and separate, smaller, near-wall structures located near the jet centerline. The initial development of the large-scale structures in the two jets differed, with the most energetic fluctuations being more antisymmetric in the square jet.