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A Colebrook equation for impinging radial wall jets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2025

Leonard F. Pease
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352, USA
Arich Fuher
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352, USA
Judith A. Bamberger*
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352, USA
Michael J. Minette
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: bambergerj@asme-member.org

Abstract

Here we evaluate the skin coefficient of friction for steady turbulent radial wall jets across smooth and rough surfaces. Although the Colebrook equation has been used successfully for many decades to evaluate friction factors for flows through smooth and rough pipes, how roughness affects the skin friction coefficient for steady turbulent radial wall jets remains unclear. Here we explore a Colebrook-type equation for skin friction coefficients associated with single-phase turbulent radial wall jets arising from orthogonally impinging circular jets. The fully iterative solution, based on well-established concepts of turbulent wall-bounded flow, is presented along with a power-law approximation and a non-iterative approximation for the friction coefficient derived therefrom. We find the skin coefficient of friction defined on the peak radial velocity to be a function of position over rough but not smooth surfaces in contrast to pipe friction factors that remain independent of axial position. These results follow expected trends, explain prior heterogeneity in power-law expressions for the skin friction coefficient and have significant implications for the industrial use of jets in mixing vessels.

JFM classification

Information

Type
JFM Papers
Copyright
© Battelle Memorial Institute, 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Figure 1. (a) Essential features of the radial wall jet formed by normal impingement of a circular jet including the impingement region with Gaussian pressure profile (short dash) and the wall jet region (the focus of this article) highlighted. The nozzle velocity and diameter are Uo and do, respectively. (b) The velocity profile in the wall region with elevation scaled on the outer jet thickness, η, versus the local velocity scaled on the peak velocity, fr, from figures 2, 4 and 7 of Poreh et al. (1967); figure 14 of Beltaos (1976); figure 3 of Rao (1980); figure 8 of Krishnan & Mohseni (2010); and figure 11-2 of Rajaratnam (1976). The solid black curve corresponds to Verhoff's (1963) theoretical approximation (2.43), and the dashed black curve corresponds to the empirical Weibull distribution reported by Loureiro & Silva Freire (their (2.7)) (2012). The peak velocity occurs at η = 0.237 ± 0.064.

Figure 1

Figure 2. Velocity divided by wall friction velocity, u/uw, versus elevation divided by boundary layer thickness, z+, for k+ = 0.01 (blue long dash), 3 (red short dash), 15 (green dotted) and 60 (brown alternating dash) using both numerical integration of (2.13) (thick curves) and the logarithmic approximation of (2.17) (linear on the log linear plot). Experimental data from figure 10 of Poreh et al. (1967) for r = 18 (diamonds), 30 (triangles), 42 (squares) and 66 inches (circles).

Figure 2

Figure 3. (a) Skin coefficient of friction, cf, for rough surfaces versus the βrhrReo product for k/δr = 0 (bottom solid blue, smooth), 0.0001 (long dashed red), 0.001 (short dash green), 0.01 (dotted brown), 0.1 (short alternating dash purple), 0.3 (long alternating gold) and 1.0 (top alternating double dash bright green) from (2.35). Data (blue circles) from table 3 of Beltaos (1976) with βr and hr from (2.28) and (2.29) with ψp = 1 and (red squares) figure 8 of Poreh et al. (1967) with hr = 1.1, βr = 0.087 evaluated at r = H. Poreh et al. indicate a 15 % uncertainty in shear stress measurement. (b) Relative uncertainty from the Serghides-like approximation ((2.36) and (2.37)) at the same conditions (Serghides 1984).

Figure 3

Figure 4. Skin coefficient of friction, cf, as a function of radius from jet axis, r, scaled on jet spread, βr, and relative roughness, k, for ${\beta _r}{h_r}R{e_o} = 1 \times 10^7$ (green short dash), $1 \times 10^6$ (blue solid) and $1 \times 10^5$ (red long dash).

Figure 4

Figure 5. (a) Power-law exponent, n, versus the βrhrReo product for k/δr = 0 (bottom solid blue, smooth), 0.0001 (long dashed red), 0.001 (short dash green), 0.01 (dotted brown), 0.1 (short alternating dash purple), 0.3 (long alternating gold) and 1.0 (top alternating double dash bright green). (b) Power-law constant, m, versus the βrhrReo product for the same values of k/δr. In both panels, the circles represent (26) of Beltaos (1976), the squares represent (29) of Poreh et al. and the diamond represents (31) of Poreh et al. (1967).

Figure 5

Figure 6. Scaled velocity profile parameters (a) exponent, b, (b) peak, ηmax, and constants (c) A and (d) B versus the βrhrReo product for k/δr = 0 (bottom solid blue, smooth), 0.0001 (long dashed red), 0.001 (short dash green), 0.01 (dotted brown), 0.1 (short alternating dash purple), 0.3 (long alternating gold) and 1.0 (top alternating double dash bright green).

Figure 6

Figure 7. (a) Radial velocity scaled on peak velocity, fr, and elevation scaled on jet width, η, for ${\beta _r}{h_r}R{e_o} = {10^4}$ (red short dash), 105 (blue solid) and 106 (green long dash) with k/δr = 0. (b) Jet spread, βr, from (2.27) and (2.44) with hr = 1.1 and ψp = 0.611 from Poreh et al. versus the βrhrReo product for k/δr = 0 (solid blue, smooth), 0.0001 (long dashed red), 0.001 (short dash green), 0.01 (dotted brown), 0.1 (short alternating dash purple), 0.3 (long alternating gold) and 1.0 (alternating double dash bright green).

Figure 7

Table 1. Summary of jet spreads, βr.