Evaluation of a Navier-Stokes prediction of a jet in a crossflow

The interaction between a subsonic jet exhausting perpendicularly through a flat plate into a crossflow is investigated numerically using an implicit, two-factor, partially flux split solver for the thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations. The numerical model is limited to steady and laminar flow for both the jet and crossflow. The accuracy of the method is assessed by comparing computed and experimental results for flows with jet-tocrossflow velocity ratios of 4, 6, and 8. Qualitatively , it is found that all of the global flow physics, including the jet trajectory, the contrarotating vortex pair, entrapment, and the wake region near the flat plate, are captured numerically. The computed velocity field is analyzed to determine the properties of the contrarotating vortex pair. Reasonable quantitative agreement between the computation and the experiment is found for the vortex properties as well as for the jet centerline and the plate pressure distribution. Computational flow visualization techniques are used to provide insight into the physics of the three-dimensional flowfleld.