Time-Mean Helicity Distribution in Turbulent Swirling Jets

Abstract

Helicity offers an alternative approach to investigations of the structure of turbulent flows. Knowledge of the spatial distribution of the time-mean component of helicity is the starting point. Yet very little is known even about basic cases in which Helicity plays important role, such as the case of a swirling jet. This is the subject of the present investigations, based mainly on numerical flowfield computations. The region of significantly large time-mean helicity density is found only in a rather small region reaching to several nozzle diameters downstream from the exit. The most important result is the similarity of the helicity density profiles.

Keywords

• helicity
• chirality
• jets
• swirling flows
• swirl generator
• supercirculation