Numerical study of turbulent flows over wavy boundaries

The fully developed turbulent flows over wavy boundaries are investigated by means of thek-ε model. Predicted flow characteristics over rigid wavy walls are in good agreement with the vailable experimental data. Moreover drag reduction has been found in a 2-dimensional channel with periodical wavy walls. The energy input from turbulent wind to regular waves is also studied in the paper by the same turbulence model with carefully posed boundary conditions at wind-wave interface. Better agreement has been obtained in the predication of the growth rates of wind waves as compared with the previous theoretical and numerical results. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

Examination of wall damping for the k-ε turbulence model using direct simulations of turbulent channel flow

Handler, Hendricks and Leighton have recently reported results for the direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a turbulent channel flow at moderate Reynolds number. These data are used to evaluate the terms in the exact and modelled transport equations for the turbulence kinetic energy k and the isotropic dissipation function ε. Both modelled transport equations show significant imbalances in the high-shear region near the channel walls. The model for the eddy viscosity is found to yield distributions for the production terms which do not agree well with the distributions calculated from the DNS data. The source of the imbalance is attributed to the wall-damping function required in eddy viscosity models for turbulent flows near walls. Several models for the damping function are examined, and it is found that the models do not vary across the channel as does the damping when evaluated from the DNS data. The Lam-Bremhorst model and the standard van Driest model are found to give reasonable agreement with the DNS data. Modification of the van Driest model to include an effective origin yields very good agreement between the modelled production and the production calculated from the DNS data, and the imbalance in the modelled transport equations is significantly reduced.     

A singular perturbation problem of laminar flow in a uniformly porous channel with large injection and with an applied transverse magnetic field

Summary The problem of the steady flow of an electrically conducting viscous fluid through porous walls of a channel in the presence of an applied transverse magnetic field is considered. A solution for the case of small M ²/R (where M = Hartmann number, R = suction Reynolds number) with large blowing at the walls has been given by Terrill and Shrestha [3]. Their solution, on differentiating three times, is found to become infinite at the centre of the channel. Physically this means that there must be a viscous layer at the centre of the channel and Terrill and Shrestha are neglecting the shear layer. In this paper the solution given by Terrill and Shrestha is extended by obtaining an extra term of the series of expansion and the method of inner and outer expansion is used to obtain the complete solution which includes the viscous layer. The resulting series solutions are confirmed by numerical results.     

Analytical solution of the poiseuille flow problem using the ellipsoidal-statistical model of the Boltzmann kinetic equation

An analytical solution (in the form of a Neumann series) of the problem of rarefied gas flow in a plane channel with infinite walls in the presence of a pressure gradient (Poiseuille flow) parallel to them is constructed within the framework of the kinetic approach in an isothermal approximation. The ellipsoidal-statistical model of the Boltzmann kinetic equation and the diffuse reflection model are used as the basic equation and the boundary condition, respectively. Using the resulting distribution function, the mass and heat flux densities in the direction of the pressure gradient per unit channel length in the y′ direction are calculated, and profiles of the gas mass velocity and heat flux in the channel are constructed. The results obtained for the continuum and free-molecular flow models are analyzed and compared with similar results obtained by numerical methods.     

Effect of water density inversion on the plane-parallel flow and heat transfer in a channel of constant width

The results of a numerical study of the effect of cold-water density inversion (Prandtl number Pr=11.59) on the flow and heat transfer in a horizontal plane-parallel channel with isothermal top and bottom walls are presented. The calculations were performed for the Grashof number Gr=3·10⁴, the Reynolds number Re=10, and the channel segment length-to-height ratiol/d=40. The wall temperature was so varied that the temperature difference between the top and bottom walls remained constant. Surgut. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 72–78, January–February, 2000.     

Compressible pulsating convection through regular and random porous media: the thermoacoustic case

The effects of material, geometry, length and position of the porous channels on energy transfer in air-filled enclosures carrying a compressible pulsating wave are investigated. The pulsating fluid motion is created by an acoustic driver in a resonant chamber. Three different porous materials (Corning Celcor, Reticulated Vitreous Carbon (RVC), and Mylar plastic), three different geometries (square, open foam, and circular cross-section), six different lengths, “L” (varying between 1 and 6.5 cm, L = 0.01–0.068 λ, where λ is the wavelength of the fundamental acoustic mode), and eight different positions (hot end of the channel, varying between 0.5 and 8 cm) of the channels from the pressure anti-node is experimentally measured. The surface temperature distribution on the channel wall and temperature difference generated across the channel walls are measured while energy flow along the channel walls is calculated analytically. The experimental results are compared with a 1-D numerical code and found excellent agreement. The material, geometry, length, and position of the porous channel strongly affect the energy interactions between the porous channel and the working fluid. The temperature difference generated across the porous RVC channel increases as the porosity increases form 20 to 80 PPI; but decreases if the porosity increases further. Corning Celcor shows improved temperature difference generated across the channel as the length of the channel increases; but then decreases if the length is further increased. The results of this study are applicable to the design of thermoacoustic devices.     

Single Fiber Transport in a Fracture Slit: Influence of the Wall Roughness and of the Fiber Flexibility

The transport of fibers by a fluid flow is investigated in transparent channels modeling rock fractures: the experiments use flexible polyester thread (mean diameter 280 μm) and water or a water–polymer solution. For a channel with smooth parallel walls and a mean aperture ā = 0.65 mm, both fiber segments of length ℓ = 20–150 mm and “continuous” fibers longer than the channel length have been used: in both the cases, the velocity of the fibers and its variation with distance could be accounted for while neglecting friction with the walls. For rough self-affine walls and a continuous gradient of the local mean aperture transverse to the flow, transport of the fibers by a water flow is only possible in the region of larger aperture (ā ≲ 1.1 mm) and is of “stop and go” type at low velocities. With the polymer solution, the fibers move faster and more continuously in high aperture regions and their interaction with the walls is reduced; fiber transport becomes also possible in narrower regions where irreversible pinning occurred for water. In a third rough model with parallel walls and a low mean aperture ā = 0.65 mm, fiber transport is only possible with the water–polymer solution. The dynamics of fiber deformations and entanglement during pinning–depinning events and permanent pinning is analyzed.     

Pulsatile magneto-biofluid flow and mass transfer in a non-Darcian porous medium channel

A numerical study of pulsatile flow and mass transfer of an electrically conducting Newtonian biofluid via a channel containing porous medium is considered. The conservation equations are transformed and solved under boundary conditions prescribed at both walls of the channel, using a finite element method with two-noded line elements. The influence of magnetic field on the flow is studied using the dimensionless hydromagnetic number, Nm, which defines the ratio of magnetic (Lorentz) retarding force to the viscous hydrodynamic force. A Darcian linear impedance for low Reynolds numbers is incorporated in the transformed momentum equation and a second order drag force term for inertial (Forchheimer) effects. Velocity and concentration profiles across the channel width are plotted for various values of the Reynolds number (Re), Darcy parameter (λ), Forchheimer parameter (Nf), hydro-magnetic number (Nm), Schmidt number (Sc) and also with dimensionless time (T). Profiles of velocity varying in space and time are also provided. The conduit considered is rigid with a pulsatile pressure applied via an appropriate pressure gradient term. Increasing the hydromagnetic number (Nm) from 1 to 15 considerably depresses biofluid velocity (U) indicating that a magnetic field can be used as a flow control mechanism in, for example, medical applications. A rise in Nf from 1 to 20 strongly retards the flow development and decreases the velocity, U, across the width of the channel. The effects of other parameters on the flowfield are also discussed at length. The flow model also has applications in the analysis of electrically conducting haemotological fluids flowing through filtration media, diffusion of drug species in pharmaceutical hydromechanics, and also in general fluid dynamics of pulsatile systems.     

Numerical modeling of turbulent compound channel flow using the lattice Boltzmann method

The flow of water in a straight compound channel with prismatic cross section is investigated with a relatively new tool, the lattice Boltzmann method. The large eddy simulation model is added in the lattice Boltzmann model for nonlinear shallow water equations (LABSWE^TM) so that the turbulence, caused by lateral exchange of momentum in the shear layer between the main channel and floodplain, can be taken into account and modeled efficiently. To validate the numerical model, a symmetrical compound channel with trapezoidal main channel and flat floodplain is tested. Similar to most natural watercourses, the floodplain has higher roughness values than the main channel. Different relative depths, D_r (the ratio of the depth of flow on the floodplain to that in the main channel), are considered. The Reynolds number is set at 30 000 in the main channel. The lateral distributions of the longitudinal velocity, the boundary shear stress, the Reynolds stress and the apparent shear stress across the channel are obtained after the large eddy simulation is performed. The results of numerical simulations are compared with the available experiment data, which show that the LABSWE^TM is capable of modeling the features of flow turbulence in compound channels and is sufficiently accurate for practical applications in engineering. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analytical solution of the problem of heat transfer in rarefied gas between two coaxial cylinders

The method of characteristics was used within the framework of the kinetic approach to construct an analytical solution of the problem of heat transfer in a channel whose walls were formed by two coaxial cylinders. The main equation was the Williams kinetic equation, and the boundary condition on the channel walls was the diffusion reflection model. The vector field of the heat flux in the channel was determined, and the specific heat flux through the cross section of the channel was calculated. It was shown that the results obtained for a limiting case, in which the cylinder radii were significantly greater than the mean length of free path of gas molecules, were in good agreement with the results obtained for a plane channel with infinite parallel walls.     

Mixed convection heat transfer from a horizontal channel with protruding heat sources

A numerical investigation is carried out to study fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of conjugate mixed convection from a two dimensional horizontal channel with four protruding heat sources mounted on one of the finite thick channel walls. The flow is assumed as laminar, hydrodynamically and thermally developing. Water and FC70 are the fluids under consideration. The geometric parameters such as spacing between the channel walls (S), size of protruding heat sources (L_h×t_h), thickness of substrate (t) and spacing between heat sources (b) are fixed. Results are presented to show the effect of parameters such as Re_S, Gr_S^*, Pr, k_p/k_f and k_s/k_f on fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics. Using the method of asymptotic expansions, correlations are also presented for the maximum temperature of heat source.     

Effects of wetted walls on laminar natural convection between vertical parallel plates with asymmetric heating

A numerical analysis is carried out to investigate the effect of latent heat transfer, in association with the evaporation or condensation of the water vapor on the wetted channel walls which are under asymmetric heating, on the natural convection heat transfer. Major nondimensional groups identified are Gr _T , Gr _M , Pr and Sc. Results for Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are specifically presented for an air-water system under various heating conditions to illustrate latent heat transfer during the evaporation and condensation processes. The effects of the channel length and wetted wall temperatures on the momentum, heat and mass transfer are examined in great detail.     

Unsteady flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid generated by a constantly accelerating plate between two side walls perpendicular to the plate

The velocity field and the adequate tangential stresses corresponding to the unsteady flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid induced by a constantly accelerating plate between two side walls perpendicular to the plate are established by means of Fourier sine transforms. The solutions corresponding to Maxwell, second grade and Newtonian fluids, performing the same motion, appear as limiting cases of the solutions obtained here. In the absence of the side walls, namely when the distance between walls tends to infinity, all solutions that have been determined reduce to those corresponding to the flow over an infinite plate. Finally, for comparison, the velocity field at the middle of the channel as well as the shear stress on the bottom wall is plotted as a function of y for several values of t and of the material constants. The influence of the side walls on the motion of the fluid is also emphasized by graphical illustrations.     

Hydromagnetic flow in a rotating channel

The steady flow in a parallel plate channel rotating with an angular velocity Ω and subjected to a constant transverse magnetic field is analysed. An exact solution of the governing equations is obtained. The solution in the dimensionless form contains two parameters: the Hartmann number, M ², and K ² which is the reciprocal of the Ekman number. The effects of these parameters on the velocity and magnetic field distributions are studied. For large values of the parameters, there arise thin boundary layers on the walls of the channel.     

Kinematic analysis of disturbed flow past a plate in a channel with porous walls

Analytic expressions for the complex flow potential are obtained in the linear formulation in the neighborhood of a plate at a small angle of incidence and near porous channel walls. The general solution includes the limiting cases of a plate in a channel with impermeable walls and in a jet. Numerical results concerning the effect of porosity on the flow geometry in the neighborhood of the plate and the channel walls are presented. The disturbed-flow velocity distributions along the channel walls and the flow rate of the fluid sinking at infinity are obtained.Cheboksary. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 13–19, July–August, 1995.     

Heat transfer and flow temperature measurements in a rotating triangular channel with various rib arrangements

In the present study, the regionally-averaged heat transfer coefficients and flow temperature distributions were measured in an equilateral triangular channel with three different rib arrangements (α = 45, 90 and 135°). To measure regionally-averaged heat transfer coefficients in the channel, two rows of copper blocks and a single heater were installed on two ribbed walls. The fluid temperature distributions were obtained using a thermocouple-array. The rotation number ranged from 0.0 to 0.1 with a fixed Reynolds number of 10,000. For the 90° ribs, the heat transfer coefficients on the pressure side surface were increased significantly with rotation, while the suction side surface had lower heat transfer coefficients than the stationary channel. For the angled ribs, rib-induced secondary flow dominated the heat transfer characteristics and high heat transfer rates were observed on the regions near the inner wall for the 45° angled ribs and near the leading edge for the 135° angled ribs.     

Large Eddy Simulations of turbulent particle-laden channel flow

This paper scrutinises the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach to simulate the behaviour of inter-acting particles in a turbulent channel flow. A series of simulations that are fully (four-way), two-way and one-way coupled are performed in order to investigate the importance of the individual physical phenomena occurring in particle-laden flows. Moreover, the soft sphere and hard sphere models, which describe the interaction between colliding particles, are compared with each other and the drawbacks and advantages of each algorithm are discussed. Different models to describe the sub-grid scale stresses with LES are compared. Finally, simulations accounting for the rough walls of the channel are compared to simulations with smooth walls. The results of the simulations are discussed with the aid of the experimental data of Kussin J. and Sommerfeld M., 2002, Experimental studies on particle behaviour and turbulence modification in horizontal channel flow with different wall roughness, Exp. in Fluids, 33, pp. 143–159 of Reynolds number 42,000 based on the full channel height. The simulations are carried out in a three-dimensional domain of 0.175 m × 0.035 m  × 0.035 m where the direction of gravity is perpendicular to the flow. The simulation results demonstrate that rough walls and inter-particle collisions have an important effect in redistributing the particles across the channel, even for very dilute flows. A new roughness model is proposed which takes into account the fact that a collision in the soft sphere model is fully resolved and it is shown that the new model is in very good agreement with the available experimental data.     

Particle deposition in channels with permeablewalls

The filling of a channel with solid particles is considered in connection with the problem of preserving the geometry of a slot produced by hydraulic fracturing in a petroleum reservoir. The channel walls are permeable for the fluid. In the study, an experimental model of the channel (slot) in a permeable porous medium is used, on the periphery of which a constant pressure is sustained. The conditions of particle deposition on the permeable channel walls are determined. It is shown that in the case considered the initial stage of the particle deposition is independent of the viscosity and velocity of the fluid and is determined by the particle size and the specific permeability of the channel walls. It is found that the particles moving in the fluid stop at a certain distance and fill the fracture closely, forming a slug which loses stability as the pressure difference on its edges increases. The loss of the stability of the slug is accompanied by the appearance of a wavy channel, devoid of the particles and propagating in the flow direction.     

Numerical study of the unsteady flow and heat transfer in channels with periodically mounted square bars

 Numerical investigations of unsteady laminar flow and heat transfer in a channel of height H with periodically mounted square bars of height d = 0.2H arranged side by side to the approaching flow have been conducted for different transverse separation distances of the bars. Five cases with transverse separation distance of 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2d for a Reynolds number of 300 in a channel with a periodicity length of 2H were studied. The unsteady Navier–Stokes equations and the energy equation have been solved by a finite volume code with staggered grids combined with the SIMPLEC algorithm and a fine grid resolution. Due to the arrangement of bars detached from the channel walls the flow is unsteady with vortex shedding from the bars. The amplitude and mean values of the drag coefficients, skin friction coefficients, friction factor and Nusselt numbers have a strong dependence of the transverse separation distance of the bars. Received on 28 January 2000     

Computation of conjugate heat transfer in the turbulent mixed convection regime in a vertical channel with multiple heat sources

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive numerical study to analyze conjugate, turbulent mixed convection heat transfer from a vertical channel with four heat sources, uniformly flush-mounted to one of the channel walls. The results are presented to study the effect of various parameters like thermal conductivity of wall material (k _s), thermal conductivity of flush-mounted discrete heat source (k _c), Reynolds number of fluid flow (Re _s), modified Richardson number (Ri ⁺) and aspect ratio (AR) of the channel. The standard k-ε turbulence model, modified by including buoyancy effects with physical boundary conditions, i.e. without wall functions, has been used for the analysis. Semi-staggered, non-uniform grids are used to discretise the two dimensional governing equations, using finite volume method. A correlation, encompassing a wide range of parameters, is developed for the non-dimensional maximum temperature (T ^*) using the asymptotic computational fluid dynamics (ACFD) technique.