Two-dimensional Laser Doppler Velocimeter studies of a subsonic jet impinging on a flat plate

A study of the flow field produced by a subsonic axisymmetric air jet impinging upon a flat plate has been conducted. A two-component Laser Doppler Velocimeter has been used to measure the velocity distribution and vortex structure along the surface of the plate. The stagnation pressure distribution, the covariance (turbulent shear stress), and the turbulent intensity distribution on the plate positions were also measured. The theoretical and experimental results seem to indicate the existence of a recirculatory flow at a certain separation distance of the plate from the nozzle exit. In this region, the Maximum Static Pressure and the Maximum Kinetic Energy Flux were found to occur off the centerline of the jet impingement. The presence of this phenomenon within the flow field was determined to be the possible cause of the off-center ablation and erosion of a plate impinged by a supersonic jet exhaust. The experimental and theoretical results for subsonic jet impingement upon a flat plate using the laser doppler velocimeter technique are discussed and presented in this thesis.