Forced plume characteristics

Abstract

This paper describes an investigation of turbulent forced plumes generated by the steady release of mass, momentum and buoyancy from a finite source in a uniform environment. The entrainment coefficient assumption has been made; however a variable coefficient has been used so that the characteristics of the transition from jet to plume behaviour can be presented more clearly. A modified Boussinesq approximation has been made which corrects for the effect of density variations in the mass and momentum fluxes. The treatment reveals that the characteristics of forced plumes can best be discussed by reference to the Froude number. For all cases of forced plumes (except a pure jet) the Froude number approaches a particular constant value as the height increases. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1977.tb00758.x