Numerical Investigation Into the Effects of CoFlow Air on a Self-Excited Helium Jet

A numerical investigation is carried out on a helium jet having Reynolds number 150, and Richardson number 6.11. The effect of air co-flow on a self-excited helium jet is studied in the near field using commercial software ANSYS Fluent V18.1. The co-flow velocity ratio varied in the range of 0.17–0.87. The contours of the helium mole fraction along with the streamlines show the interaction of the toroidal vortex with the jet. The suppression of toroidal vortex is observed as the air co-flow velocity induced to the jet flow. Due to the suppression of vortices, radial spread/diffusion is limited, resulting in large gradients at the shear layer. The flickering frequency increases with the air co-flow. The amplitude of the oscillation at axial locations of higher z/d increases up to a certain co-flow velocity and then drops significantly at high co-flow velocity ratios. However, at upstream (near jet exit plane), oscillation amplitude decrease with increase in air co-flow. The velocity difference in the shear layer to the ambient elucidates the stabilization mechanism of the self-excited helium jet.