Velocity measurements in a turbulent round jet using PTV: the effect of tracer particles

Abstract

The effects of different tracer particles used in the PTV technique on the velocity field are investigated. The measurements are taken in a water round jet at a Reynolds number equal to about 40000, a flow field widely examined in the literature, in which strong velocity differences are encountered. The interest is focused onto particles with different density. Although the mean and rms values are almost unaffected, both measurements obtained with light and heavy particles (in comparison to the density of the fluid) reveal a modified velocity field. The moments of velocity differences (structure functions) point out that such a modification is felt within each range of flow scales. Particles with density almost equal to that of the fluid reproduce the flow behaviour over all the scales.