Plane boundary effects on characteristics of propeller jets

The flow properties of a propeller jet in the presence of a plane bed boundary were investigated using the particle image velocimetry technique. Three clearance heights, Z b = 2 D p , D p , and 0.5 D p , where D p = propeller diameter, were used to examine boundary effects on the development of the jet. In each case, the mean flow properties and turbulence characteristics were measured in a larger field of view than those used in past studies. Both the streamwise and transverse flow fields were measured to obtain the three-dimensional characteristics of the propeller jet. Similar to a confined offset jet, the propeller jet also exhibits a wall attachment behavior when it is placed near a plane boundary. As a result, in contrast to its unconfined counterpart, the confined propeller jet features three regions, namely the free jet, impingement and wall jet regions. The study shows that the extent of each region varies under different clearance heights. The development of the mean flow and turbulence characteristics associated with varying clearance heights are compared to illustrate boundary effects in these regions. In the impingement region, the measured transverse flow fields provide new insights on the lateral motions induced by the impingement of the swirling jet. In the wall jet region, observations reveal that the jet behaves like a typical three-dimensional wall jet and its axial velocity profiles show good agreement with the classical wall jet similarity function.