Evolution and Turbulence Properties of Self-Sustained Transversely Oscillating Flow Induced by Fluidic Oscillator

The evolution process and turbulence properties of a transversely oscillating flow induced by a fluidic oscillator are studied in a gravity-driven water tunnel. A planar jet is guided to impinge a specially designed crescent surface of a target blockage that is enclosed in a cavity of a fluidic oscillator. The geometric configuration of the cavity transforms the inherent stability characteristics of the jet from convective instability to absolute instability, so that the jet precedes the persistent back and forth swinging in the cavity. The swinging jet is subsequently directed through two passages and issued alternatively out of the fluidic oscillator. Two short plates are installed near the exits of the alternatively issuing pulsatile jets to deflect the jets toward the central axis. The deflected jets impinge with each other and form a pair of counter-rotating vortices in the near wake of the oscillator with a stagnation point at the impingement point. The stagnation point of the counter-rotating vortex pair moves back and forth transversely because of the phase difference existing between the two issued jets. The merged flow evolving from the counter-rotating vortices formed by the impingement of the two pulsatile jets therefore presents complex behavior of transverse oscillation. The topological models corresponding to the flow evolution are constructed to illustrate the oscillation process of the oscillating flow. Significant momentum dispersion and large turbulence intensity are induced by the transverse oscillation of the merged flow. The statistical turbulence properties show that the Lagrangian integral time and length scales of the turbulence eddies (the fine-scale structure) produced in the oscillating flow are drastically reduced.