Turbulence at Free Surface in Hydraulic Jumps

In the context of recent work by Brocchini & Peregrine [1,2], this paper aims to document free surface profiles, and turbulence length scales in hydraulic jumps with Froude numbers between 1.98 and 4.82. Although information on bubble size, frequency and velocities in hydraulic jumps is available in the literature, there is not much data on the features of the free surface, or on mixing layer thickness. In the present case, measurements at the free surface have been realized with two miniature resistive wire gauges each comprising two parallel 50 micron diameter wires with a separation of 1mm. These instruments were calibrated dynamically over a range of frequencies up to 20 Hz. Furthermore optical probes were used to measure properties of the air phase within the jump, including void fractions (up to 98%). The present results extend the range of Froude numbers for which two-phase measurements in hydraulic jumps are available, and, in most respects, confirm earlier results obtained with different experimental techniques. Length scales at the free surface are deduced from cross-correlation analysis of wire gauge measurements, and are compared with similar data obtained from images of the surface.