An experimental study on the distribution characteristics of water jet impact pressure

We conducted continuous and transient impact tests using high-sensitivity pressure sensors to investigate the distribution of water jet impact pressure and its underlying mechanism. The following results were obtained: (1) Stagnation pressure decreases in the external flow field of the nozzle. At jet pressures of 1–7 MPa, peak pressure reached 64%–80%, and average pressure on the impact surface comprised 25%–37%. Higher jet pressures increased peak and average pressure attenuation rates as target distance increased. (2) Insufficient jet pressure contributed to excessive oscillatory energy consumption, resulting in pressure dispersion. Increasing jet pressure and adjusting target distance reduced oscillatory energy loss in the external flow field and decreased the dispersion of the pressure concentration area, improving jet energy utilization. (3) During transient impacts, an attenuation phase followed the water hammer pressure peak, with values approximately 1.4–1.8 times the peak stagnation pressure. High-speed imaging revealed that after receiving energy from the jet pressure, the water jet became more widely dispersed within the external flow field, forming larger areas of high-density compression. Increasing the target distance allowed the jet to attain a greater deflection distance at a given deflection angle, affecting both the impact area and its center.