Instantaneous three-dimensional concentration measurements in the self-similar region of a round high-Schmidt-number jet

The virtually instantaneous three-dimensional concentration fields in the self-similar region of natural or unexcited, circularly excited and weakly buoyant round jets of Reynolds number based on nozzle diameter of 1000 to 4000 are measured experimentally at a spatial resolution of the order of the Kolmogorov length scale. Isoconcentration surfaces are extracted from the concentration field. These surfaces along with their geometrical parameters are used to deduce the structure and modal composition of the jet. The concentration gradient field is calculated, and its local topology is classified using critical-point concepts. Large-scale structure is evident in the form of ‘clumps’ of higher-concentration jet fluid. The structure, which has a downstream extent of about the local jet diameter, is roughly axisymmetric with a conical downstream end. This structure appears to be present only in fully turbulent jets. The antisymmetric two-dimensional images previously thought to be axial slices of an expanding spiral turn out in our data to instead be slices of a simple sinusoid in three dimensions. This result suggests that the helical mode, when present, is in the form of a pair of counter-rotating spirals, or that the +1 and −1 modes are simultaneously present in the flow, with their relative phase set by initial conditions. In terms of local structure, regions with a large magnitude in concentration gradient are shown to have a local topology which is roughly axisymmetric and compressed along the axis of symmetry. Such regions, which would be locally planar and sheet-like, may correspond to the superposition of several of the layer-like structures which are the basic structure of the fine-scale passive scalar field (Buch & Dahm 1991; Ruetsch & Maxey 1991).