Characteristics of annular impinging jets with/without swirling flow by short guide vanes

Annular jets impinging on a uniformly heated flat plate with or without swirling flow by short guide vanes are experimentally characterized. With the Reynolds number fixed at a relatively low value, the variation of jet flow structures with impinging distance is characterized using the technique of particle image velocimetry (PIV). Correspondingly, the distributions of wall pressure and heat transfer on the plate are measured. At sufficiently large impinging distances, without swirling flow, the obtained flow and wall pressure/heat transfer data are consistent with the classical observation for a conventional annular impinging jet, showing the transition from annular impinging jet flow to single circular impinging jet-like flow. In contrast, no such transition occurs in the presence of flow turning by short guide vanes. At short and intermediate impinging distances, flow turning causes more non-uniform distributions of wall pressure and heat transfer on the target plate and the local heat transfer rates higher than those of the conventional annular jet. This is attributed to the vortical flow structures shed and convected downstream from the short guide vanes. In sharp contrast, at large impinging distances, the larger momentum loss due to flow turning results in lower heat transfer rates on the plate.