Numerical investigation on the flow structures in a narrow confined channel with staggered jet array arrangement

A series of numerical analyses have been performed to investigate the flow structures in a narrow confined channel with 12 staggered circular impingement holes and one bigger exit hole. The flow enters the channel through the impingement holes and exits through the far end outlet. The flow fields corresponding to two jet Reynolds numbers (25000 and 65000) and three channel configurations with different ratios of the channel height to the impingement hole diameter (Z_r = 1, 3, 5) are analyzed by solving the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the realizable k-ε turbulence model. Detailed flow field information including the secondary flow, the interaction between the jets and the cross flow, and flow distribution along the channel has been obtained. Comparisons between the numerical and experimental results of the flow fields at the four planes along the channel are performed to validate the numerical method. The calculated impingement pattern, high velocity flow distribution, low velocity separation region and vortices are in good agreement with the experimental data, implying the validity and effectiveness of the employed numerical approach for analyzing relevant flow field.