Flow mapping of the mercury flow

 An ultrasonic velocity profile (UVP) method has been successfully applied to the investigation of mercury flow contained in a stainless steel wall in the configuration of a liquid metal target of a spallation neutron source called SINQ at the Paul Scherrer Institute. One- and two-dimensional stationary flow has been fully investigated in the form of velocity profiles. Using velocity profiles obtained by the UVP method, a two-dimensional flow map was efficiently produced. A steady state vector map was successfully made and time dependent flow mapping is feasible. Received: 17 May 2000 / Accepted: 27 December 2000 Published online: 29 November 2001     

Effect of the measurement volume in turbulent pipe flow measurement by the ultrasonic velocity profile method (mean velocity profile and Reynolds stress measurement)

 The ultrasonic velocity profile measurement method has some favorable advantages over the conventional flow measurement methods, such as measurement of the instantaneous velocity profile over the measuring line and its applicability to opaque liquids. The method has another advantage of being non-intrusive. Hence, it is applicable to various flow conditions, although it requires a relatively large measurement volume. In this paper, the effects of the measurement volume on the mean velocity profile and the Reynolds stress measurement have been investigated for fully developed turbulent flows in a vertical pipe. The results were then compared with data obtained by direct numerical simulation. Received: 9 March 2000 / Accepted: 27 March 2001 Published online: 29 November 2001     

Velocity profile measurement of the Taylor vortex flow of a magnetic fluid using the ultrasonic Doppler method

 A successful application of the ultrasound velocity profile (UVP) measuring technique to investigations on the flow of magnetic fluids is described. The flow structure of a magnetic fluid in a concentric annular geometry with a large aspect ratio of 20 and a radius ratio of 0.65 was investigated for a inner cylinder rotation. Axial velocity distributions were measured using the UVP measuring technique. A non-uniform magnetic field was applied to the flow field using a permanent magnet located on the outside of the cylinders. The energy spectral density was calculated from the periodic axial velocity profiles. The critical Reynolds number was obtained for various magnetic field strengths, and the apparent viscosity caused by the applied magnetic field was estimated. The UVP method was demonstrated to provide useful information on the structure of Taylor vortex flow in a magnetic fluid. Received: 27 May 1997/Accepted: 21 July 1998     

The ultrasonic velocity profile measurement of flow structure in the near field of a square free jet

 Coherent structures in the near field of a three-dimensional jet have been investigated. Experiments were carried out for a free jet issuing from a square nozzle using a water channel. Instantaneous velocity profiles were obtained in the axial and radial directions by using an ultrasonic velocity profile (UVP) monitor. Axial variations of dominant time-scales of vortex structures were examined from one-dimensional wavelet spectra. Wavenumber-frequency spectra were calculated by two-dimensional Fourier transform along the axial direction in a mixing layer, and it was found that a convective velocity of flow structures was nearly constant independently of their scales in space and time. Coherent structures in the axial direction were investigated in terms of proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). Eigenfunctions are similar to a sinusoidal wave, and reconstructed velocity fields by the lower-order and higher-order POD modes demonstrate large-scale and smaller-scale coherent structures, respectively. Received: 8 May 2000/Accepted: 23 January 2001 Published online: 29 November 2001     

Application of the ultrasonic velocity profile method to the mapping of liquid metal flows under the influence of a non-uniform magnetic field

An ultrasonic velocity profile (UVP) method has been successfully applied to the investigation of a liquid metal channel flow under the influence of an inhomogeneous magnetic field. Using velocity profiles obtained by the ultrasonic velocimeter and their numerical post processing, two-dimensional time-averaged flow maps were efficiently produced. A single transducer immersed directly into the working fluid was used in order to simplify alignment of measurement lines and avoid the undesirable refraction of the acoustic beam on the walls. An M-shaped flow and wake behind a magnetic obstacle were reconstructed as the patterns of shear and large-scale vortical flows.     

Velocity profile measurement by ultrasonic doppler method

The ultrasonic velocity profile measuring method has been developed at PSI for application in fluid mechanics and fluid flow measurement. It uses pulsed ultrasonic echography together with the detection of the instantaneous Doppler shift frequency. This method has the following advantages over the conventional techniques: (1) an efficient flow mapping process, (2) applicability to opaque liquids, and (3) a record of the spatiotemporal velocity field. After a brief introduction of its principle, the characteristics and specifications of the present system are given. Then examples in fluid engineering for oscillating pipe flow, T-branching flow of mercury, and recirculating flow in a square cavity are described that confirm the method's advantages. Several other works under way by other investigators are introduced. A potential for in-depth study of fluid dynamics is demonstrated by several examples from an investigation of modulated wavy flows in a rotating Couette system. The position-averaged power spectrum and the time-averaged energy spectral density were used to study the dynamic characteristics of the flow, and subsequently the velocity field was decomposed into its intrinsic wave structure based on two-dimensional Fourier analysis.     

Laminar–turbulent transition in oscillating boundary layer: experimental and numerical analysis using continuous wavelet transform

The laminar–turbulent transition of a forced oscillating boundary layer with a varying pressure gradient is experimentally and numerically investigated for two Strouhal numbers. Time-dependent characterization of the natural instability modes is carried out using continuous wavelet analysis of velocity signals. The periodic evolution of the total growth rates of the most unstable disturbances are measured and compared to the results of the linear stability theory. The “Tollmien–Schlichting” (TS) and “convective” transition modes are identified. It is shown that they correspond to the extrema of opposite signs of the skewness factor of unstable wavelet transform of the most unstable frequencies.     

Measurements of mean and fluctuating wall shear stress beneath spanwise-invariant separation bubbles

 Pulsed-wire measurements of wall shear stress have been made beneath two separation bubbles. In one a cross flow was generated by means of a (25°) swept separation line. Fluctuating stresses in orthogonal “streamwise” and cross-flow directions are very nearly equal and independent of at least moderate cross flow velocity. These fluctuations are largely determined by large-scale motions in the outer flow, whereas the mean shear stresses are not. The pdf of the “streamwise” fluctuations is unchanged by the cross flow. When a cross flow is present the pdf of the cross-flow stresses is similar to the “streamwise” pdf. Dependence on Reynolds number is the same in both flows. Received: 10 April 1998/Accepted: 17 July 1998     

Extensional rheology of dilute polymer solutions in oscillatory cross-slot flow: the transient behaviour of birefringent strands

Birefringent strands are key to understanding polymeric non-Newtonian flows, especially in extension. Utilising microfluidic extensional flow oscillatory rheometry coupled with microvelocimetry (μ-PIV), we report experiments on the genesis, steady state and decay of such strands, together with rheological consequences. For closely monodisperse atactic polystyrene, we report massive effects of the polymer on flow even at low concentrations. The often observed startup “overshoot” in stress and birefringence is observed at unprecedented dilution and discussed in terms of the local strain rate. Strand decay shows pronounced hysteresis. These factors are most important in modelling real flows such as cyclic and capillary entrance flows. Even with the closely monodisperse and well-characterised samples used, residual polydispersity plays a vital role in flow behaviour.     

Ideal incompressible flow around a wedge tip

A planar analog of conical flows is considered: an inviscid incompressible fluid flow around a wedge tip. A class of conical flows is found where vorticity is transported along streamlines by the potential component of velocity. Problems of a wave “locked” in the corner region and of a flow accelerating along the rib of a dihedral angle are considered. By analogy with an axisymmetric quasi-conical flow, a planar quasi-conical flow of the fluid is determined, namely, the flow inside and outside the region bounded by tangent curves described by a power law. Conditions are found where vorticity and swirl produce a significant effect. An approximate solution of the problem of the fluid flow inside a “zero” angle is obtained. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 57–65, March–April, 2007.     

Dissipation rate estimation from PIV in zero-mean isotropic turbulence

Measuring the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate in an enclosed turbulence chamber that produces zero-mean flow is an experimental challenge. Traditional single-point dissipation rate measurement techniques are not applicable to flows with zero-mean velocity. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) affords calculation of the spatial derivative as well as the use of multi-point statistics to determine the dissipation rate. However, there is no consensus in the literature as to the best method to obtain dissipation rates from PIV measurements in such flows. We apply PIV in an enclosed zero-mean turbulent flow chamber and investigate five methods for dissipation rate estimation. We examine the influence of the PIV interrogation cell size on the performance of different dissipation rate estimation methods and evaluate correction factors that account for errors related to measurement uncertainty, finite spatial resolution, and low Reynolds number effects. We find the Re _λ corrected, second-order, longitudinal velocity structure function method to be the most robust method to estimate the dissipation rate in our zero-mean, gaseous flow system.     

Rheological study of concentrated suspensions in pressure-driven shear flow using a novel in-line ultrasound Doppler method

 In this work a novel in-line non-invasive rheological measuring technique is developed and tested in pilot plant and industrial-scale applications. The method is based on a combination of the ultrasonic pulsed echo Doppler technique (UVP) and pressure difference method (PD). The rheological flow properties are derived from simultaneous recording and on-line analysis of the velocity profiles across the tube channel and related radial shear stress profiles calculated from the pressure loss along the flow channel. It is shown that the in-line UVP-PD technique allows for the non-invasive rheological flow behaviour characterization of non-transparent and highly concentrated suspensions. Received: 8 May 2000 / Accepted: 22 June 2001 Published online: 29 November 2001     

On the MHD flow of fractional generalized Burgers＇ fluid with modified Darcy＇s law

This work is concerned with applying the fractional calculus approach to the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pipe flow of a fractional generalized Burgers’ fluid in a porous space by using modified Darcy’s relationship. The fluid is electrically conducting in the presence of a constant applied magnetic field in the transverse direction. Exact solution for the velocity distribution is developed with the help of Fourier transform for fractional calculus. The solutions for a Navier–Stokes, second grade, Maxwell, Oldroyd-B and Burgers’ fluids appear as the limiting cases of the present analysis.     

Effect of measurement volume size on turbulent flow measurement using ultrasonic Doppler method

This paper presents the results of an investigation on the effects of measurement volume size on the mean velocity profile and the Reynolds stress for fully developed turbulent pipe flows. The study employs the ultrasonic velocity profile method, which is based on the ultrasonic Doppler method. The ultrasonic Doppler method offers many advantages over conventional methods for flow rate measurement in the nuclear power plant piping system. This method is capable of measuring the instantaneous velocity profile along the measuring line and is applicable for opaque liquids and opaque pipe wall materials. Furthermore, the method has the characteristic of being non-intrusive. Although it is applicable to various flow conditions, it requires a relatively large measurement volume. The measurement volume of the present method has a disk-shape determined by the effective diameter of the piezoelectric element and the number of the wave cycles of the ultrasonic pulse. Considering this disk-shaped measurement volume and expressing the time-averaged velocity in a truncated Taylor series expansion around the value at the center of the measuring control volume, the value of the velocity can be obtained. The results are then compared with the data obtained from DNS and LDA measurements. The result shows that the effect of the measurement volume size appears in the buffer region and viscous sublayer.     

Experimental study on the transition between stratified and non-stratified horizontal oil-water flow

The effect of oil and water velocities, pipe diameter and oil viscosity on the transition from stratified to non-stratified patterns was studied experimentally in horizontal oil-water flow. The investigations were carried out in a horizontal acrylic test section with 25.4 and 19 mm ID with water and two oil viscosities (6.4 and 12 cP) as test fluids. A high-speed video camera was used to study the flow structures and the transition. At certain oil velocity, stratified flow was found to transform into bubbly and dual continuous flows as superficial water velocity increased for both pipe diameters using the 12 cP oil viscosity. The transition to bubbly flow was found to disappear when the 6.4 cP oil viscosity was used in the 25.4 mm pipe. This was due to the low E?tv?s number. Transition to dual continuous flow occurred at lower water velocity for oil velocity up 0.21 m/s when 6.4 cP oil was used in the 25.4 mm ID pipe, while for U_so > 0.21 m/s, the transition appeared at lower water velocity with the 12 cP oil.The effect of pipe diameter was also found to influence the transition between stratified and non-stratified flows. At certain superficial oil velocity, the water velocity required to form bubbly flow increased as the pipe diameter increased while the water velocity required for drop formation decreased as the pipe diameter increased. The maximum wave amplitude was found to grow exponentially with respect to the mixture velocity. The experimental maximum amplitudes at the transition to non-stratified flow agreed reasonably well with the critical amplitude model. Finally, it was found that none of the available models were able to predict the present experimental data at the transition from stratified to non-stratified flow.     

Analysis on creeping channel flows of compressible fluids subject to wall slip

Creeping channel flows of compressible fluids subject to wall slip are widely encountered in industries. This paper analyzes such flows driven by pressure in planar as well as circular channels. The analysis elucidates unsteady flows of Newtonian fluids subject to the Navier slip condition, followed by steady flows of viscoplastic fluids, in particular, Herschel–Bulkley fluids and their simplifications including power law and Newtonian fluids, that slip at wall with a constant coefficient or a coefficient inversely proportional to pressure. Under the lubrication assumption, analytical solutions are derived, validated, and discussed over a wide range of parameters. Analysis based on the derived solutions indicates that unsteadiness alters cross-section velocity profiles. It is demonstrated that compressibility of the fluids gives rise to a concave pressure distribution in the longitudinal direction, whereas wall slip with a slip coefficient that is inversely proportional to pressure leads to a convex pressure distribution. Energy dissipation resulting from slippage can be a significant portion in the total dissipation of such a flow. A distinctive feature of the flow is that, in case of the pressure-dependent slip coefficient, the slip velocity increases rapidly in the flow direction and the flow can evolve into a pure plug flow at the exit.     

A Matched Asymptotic Expansion Analysis of Highly Unsteady Porous Media Flows

The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to analyse a mixture of wave and diffusive behaviours governing flow in a saturated porous medium inside an elastic pipe that is suddenly subjected to a large hydraulic gradient at its entrance. At early times and near the entrance, the head is a diffusing wave that can be reduced to the linear and non-linear telegrapher equations for the laminar and partially developed turbulent flows, respectively. At later times, laminar flows are diffusive and partially developed turbulent flows follow a ‘fast diffusion’ behaviour. In the case of fully developed turbulence, flows at later times follow a fast diffusion form which is complicated by advection at extremely high gradients. A matched asymptotic expansion approach is used to match flows at early times and near the entrance, with complementary forms that are away from the entrance and which occur at later times.     

Effects of the weak/micro-discontinuity of interface on the fracture behavior of a functionally graded coating with an inclined crack

The mechanical model was established for the anti-plane fracture problem of a functionally graded coating–substrate system with a coating crack inclined to the weak/micro-discontinuous interface. The Cauchy singular integral equation for the crack was derived using Fourier integral transform, and the Lobatto–Chebyshev collocation method put up by Erdogan and Gupta was used to get its numerical solution. Finally, the effects of the weak/micro-discontinuity of the interface on SIFs were analyzed, the “affected regions” corresponding to the two crack tips have been obtained and their engineering significance was discussed. It was indicated that, for the crack tip in the corresponding “affected region”, to reduce the weak-discontinuity of the interface and to make the interface micro-discontinuous are the two effective ways to reduce the SIF, and the latter way always has more remarkable SIF-reduction effect. For the crack tip outside the “affected region”, its SIF is mainly influenced by material stiffness, and to prevent such a tip from growing toward the interface “softer coating and stiffer substrate” is a more advantageous combination than “stiffer coating and softer substrate”.     

Mixed convection from upward flow of hot air to a cooled vertical pipe

An experimental study had been carried out to investigate the buoyancy-opposed mixed convection from an upward flow of hot air to a vertical pipe with a cooled surface. The investigation covered a wide range of flow regime, ranging from the “free convection significant” to the “forced convection significant” conditions. Reynolds number of the flow extended from 966 to 14780, whereas the Buoyancy parameter, Ω [=Gr_d/(Re_d)²], varied from 0.008 to 2.77. A steady stream of hot air at a moderate pressure and a Prandtl number of 0.707 was arranged to flow upward through a vertical steel pipe, whose external wall was cooled uniformly by ambient air at 20°C. Test section of the vertical pipe was 1625 mm long with an internal diameter of 156 mm and an external diameter of 166 mm. Air temperature at inlet of the test section was varied from 40°C to 70°C. Both radial temperature and velocity profiles of the airflow were measured at inlet and exit of the test section respectively. Temperatures along the pipe wall were also measured. Non-dimensional expression for the prediction of the average heat transfer coefficient of the mixed convection from an upward flow of hot air to a vertical pipe with a cooled surface was developed from the experimental results. Convection heat transfer was found to impair when the flow is laminar and was enhanced for turbulent flow condition. Received on 20 July 1998     

Initial Conditions and Near-Field Dynamics in Turbulent Liquid Sheets

High-speed liquid “curtains” have been proposed to protect solid structures in fusion energy applications. Minimizing free-surface waves and spray formation in such flows is important for effective protection in this application. In this work, free-surface waves and turbulent breakup were studied experimentally in jets of water issuing from a rectangular nozzle into ambient air at a Reynolds number of 1.2 × 10⁵. Laser-Doppler anemometry was used to characterize the streamwise and transverse velocity components in the nozzle for two different flow calming section designs. Planar laser-induced fluorescence was used to measure the free-stream position in the near-field of the sheet. The results suggest that transverse velocity fluctuations in the nozzle are the primary factor in determining the amplitudes of free-surface waves. Removing a small amount of low-speed fluid immediately downstream of the nozzle exit (“boundary-layer cutting”) is shown to both significantly reduce free-surface waves and the amount of spray due to turbulent breakup. Overall, boundary-layer cutting appears to have the greatest benefit when used on a “well-conditioned” turbulent liquid sheet.