Abstract
Free-surface fluctuation on a high-speed water jet has been evaluated using a laser beam refraction technique. This technique employs two pulse laser diodes and one high-speed optic detector. By detecting the two dimensional (2D) trajectory of laser beams refracted at free surface, the local streamwise slope-angle fluctuation at two measuring locations 1.27 mm apart on a jet free surface can be evaluated. The experiments are conducted for several locations along the jet center axis within the range of average velocity up to 10 m/s. The wave speed is evaluated from dominant time lag of cross-correlation coefficient for individual wave period, which is divided from time-series slope-angle data according to the zero-up-crossing method. The shape of waves is also calculated by integrating the free-surface slope angle. The wavelength and wave height are evaluated from the individual waveform. The steepness of free surface wave takes a maximum at a certain distance from nozzle exit for U ≤ 8 m/s. This suggests that the initial amplification of wave results in a wave breaking on the jet free surface for these velocity conditions.
