Experimental study of a free and forced swirling jet

The present study concerns the response of a swirling jet to various azimuthal modes and frequencies forced at the nozzle exit. The different unforced dynamical states are first described as a function of the swirl setting, determined from measured velocity fields in the longitudinal plane using particle image velocimetry. A second experimental technique, based on laser induced fluorescence, is described, which is more suited to the description of the low-amplitude response of the jet to the forcing. It is shown that the receptivity of the jet is very poor when the forcing is set to the naturally prevailing azimuthal mode (m=2) and frequency. In contrast, a strong response is observed for both co-rotating and counter-rotating forced azimuthal modes (m=+/-2, m=+/-3) for frequencies about one order of magnitude larger than the frequency prevailing in the absence of forcing. Finally, the present actuator is seen to be ineffective in preventing the appearance of vortex breakdown itself. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.