Mixing layer and turbulent jet flow in a Hele--Shaw cell

Abstract: A plane turbulent mixing in a shear flow of an ideal homogeneous fluid confined between two relatively close rigid walls is considered. The character of the flow is determined by interaction of vortices arising at the nonlinear stage of the Kelvin--Helmholtz instability development and by turbulent friction. In the framework of the shallow water theory and a three-layer representation of the flow, one-dimensional models of a mixing layer are proposed. The obtained equations allow one to determine averaged boundaries of the region of intense fluid mixing. Stationary solutions of the governing equations are constructed and analysed. Using the averaged flow characteristics obtained by one-dimensional equations, a hyperbolic system for determining the velocity profile and Reynolds shear stress across the mixing layer is derived. Comparison with the experimental results of the evolution of turbulent jet flows in a Hele--Shaw cell shows that the proposed models provide a fairly accurate description of the average boundaries of the region of intense mixing, as well as the velocity profile and Reynolds shear stress across the mixing layer.