A study of the sprays formed by impinging jets in laminar and turbulent flow

A study has been made of the factors influencing the break-down of sheets formed by the impingement of two liquid jets. It is shown that disintegration generally results from the formation of unstable waves of aerodynamic or hydrodynamic origin. While the characteristics of the former waves are fairly well understood, little is known about the latter. The results of this study indicate that hydrodynamic (or ‘impact’) waves are generated when the Weber number of each jet (ρ l DV2 sin 2θ/γ, where ρ l is the liquid density, D the jet diameter, V the mean jet velocity, θ the half-angle of impingement, and γ is the surface tension) is above a critical value, and that their formation is independent of the Reynolds number. Drop sizes have been measured and are shown to be critically dependent upon the mechanism of disintegration.