Numerical and experimental study of turbulent impinging twin-jet flow

The two dimensional impinging circular twin-jet flow with no-cross flow is studied numerically and experimentally. The theoretical predications are carried out through numerical procedure based on finite volume method to solve the governing mass, momentum, turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate. The parameters studied were jet Reynolds number (9.5 × 10⁴  Re  22.4 × 10⁴), nozzle to plate spacing (3  h/d  12), nozzle to nozzle centerline spacing (l/d = 3, 5 and 8) and jet angle (0°  θ  20°). It is concluded that the stagnation primary point moves away in the radial main flow direction by increasing the jet angle. This shift becomes stronger by increasing the nozzle to nozzle centerline spacing (l/d). A secondary stagnation point is set up between two jets. The value of pressure at this point decreases by decreasing Reynolds number and/or increasing the jet angle.

The sub atmospheric region occurs on the impingement plate. It increases strongly by increasing Reynolds number and decreases as the jet angle and/or a nozzle to plate spacing increases. The spreading of jet decreases by increasing nozzle to plate spacing. The intensity of re-circulation zone between two jets decreases by increasing of h/d and jet angle. The increase of turbulence kinetic energy occurs within high gradient velocity.     

Open channel turbulent flow over hemispherical ribs

This paper reports an experimental investigation of open channel turbulent flow over hemispherical ribs. A row of ribs consists of hemispheres closely placed to one another in the spanwise direction and cover the entire span of the channel. The pitch-to-height ratio is varied to achieve the so-called d-type, intermediate and k-type roughness. The Reynolds numbers based on water depth, h, and momentum thickness, θ, of the approach flow are respectively, Re_h = 28,100 and Re_θ = 1800. A particle image velocimetry is used to obtain detailed velocity measurements in and above the cavity. Streamlines, mean velocity and time-averaged turbulent statistics are used to study the effects of pitch-to-height ratio on the flow characteristics and also to document similarities and differences between the present work and prior studies over two-dimensional transverse rods. It was observed that interaction between the outer flow and the shear layers generated by ribs is strongest for k-type and least for d-type ribs. The results also show that hemispherical ribs are less effective in augmenting flow resistance compared to two-dimensional transverse ribs. The levels of the Reynolds stresses and budget terms increase with increasing pitch-to-height ratio inside the roughness sublayer.     

Coherent fine scale eddies in turbulence transition of spatially-developing mixing layer

To investigate the relationship between characteristics of the coherent fine scale eddy and a laminar–turbulent transition, a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a spatially-developing turbulent mixing layer with Re_ω,0 = 700 was conducted. On the onset of the transition, strong coherent fine scale eddies appears in the mixing layer. The most expected value of maximum azimuthal velocity of the eddy is 2.0 times Kolmogorov velocity (u_k), and decreases to 1.2u_k, which is an asymptotic value in the fully-developed state, through the transition. The energy dissipation rate around the eddy is twice as high compared with that in the fully-developed state. However, the most expected diameter and eigenvalues ratio of strain rate acting on the coherent fine scale eddy are maintained to be 8 times Kolmogorov length (η) and :β:γ = −5:1:4 in the transition process. In addition to Kelvin–Helmholtz rollers, rib structures do not disappear in the transition process and are composed of lots of coherent fine scale eddies in the fully-developed state instead of a single eddy observed in early stage of the transition or in laminar flow.     

Three-dimensional numerical study and field synergy principle analysis of wavy fin heat exchangers with elliptic tubes

Three dimensional numerical studies were performed for laminar heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics of wavy fin heat exchangers with elliptic/circular tubes by body-fitted coordinates system. The simulation results of circular tube were compared with the experiment data, then circular and elliptic (e = b/a = 0.6) arrangements with the same minimum flow cross-sectional area were compared. A max relative heat transfer gain of up to 30% is observed in the elliptic arrangement, and corresponding friction factor only increased by about 10%. The effects of five factors on wavy fin and elliptic tube heat exchangers were examined: Reynolds number (based on the smaller ellipse axis, 500  4000), eccentricity (b/a, 0.6  1.0), fin pitch (F_p/2b, 0.05  0.4), fin thickness (F_t/2b, 0.006  0.04) and tube spanwise pitch (S₁/2b, 1.0  2.0). The results show that with the increasing of Reynolds number and fin thickness, decreasing of the eccentricity and spanwise tube pitch, the heat transfer of the finned tube bank are enhanced with some penalty in pressure drop. There is an optimum fin pitch (F_p/2b = 0.1) for heat transfer, but friction factor always decreases with increase of fin pitch. And when F_p/2b is larger than 0.25, it has little effects on heat transfer and pressure drop. The results were also analyzed from the view point of field synergy principle. It was found that the effects of the five factors on the heat transfer performance can be well described by the field synergy principle.     

Shroud heat transfer measurements inside a heated multiple rotating cavity with axial throughflow

Experimental measurements of heat transfer are made from the inner peripheral surface of a rotating test rig designed to be similar to a gas turbine high pressure compressor internal air system. The test rig comprises a number of annular discs sealed at their periphery by a shroud. An axial throughflow of cooling air enters the test rig and flows through the annular section between the disc bores and a central shaft. Tests were carried out for the following range of rotational speeds and axial throughflow rates: 540 < N_R < 10,800 rev/min and (corresponding to the range of rotational and axial Reynolds numbers 4 × 10⁵ < Re < 7.7 × 10⁶ and 3.3 × 10⁴ < Re_z < 2.2 × 10⁵).

The shroud Nusselt numbers are found to depend on the shroud Grashof number. They are relatively insensitive to changes in axial Reynolds number and two geometrically similar cavities give similar values of Nusselt number. The heat transfer from the shroud is governed by the mechanism of free convection. It is recommended that a modified form of a correlation for Rayleigh–Bénard convection in a gravitational force field be used, with appropriate modification, to predict shroud heat transfer.     

DNS of heat transfer in turbulent and transitional channel flow obstructed by rectangular prisms

Direct numerical simulation (DNS) of heat transfer in a channel flow obstructed by rectangular prisms has been performed for Re_τ = 80–20, where Re_τ is based on the friction velocity, the channel half width and the kinematic viscosity. The molecular Prandtl number is set to be 0.71. The flow remains unsteady down to Re_τ = 40 owing to the disturbance induced by the prism. For Re_τ = 30 and 20, the flow results in a steady laminar flow. In the vicinity of the prism, the three-dimensional complex vortices are generated and heat transfer is enhanced. The Reynolds number effect on the time-averaged vortex structure and the local Nusselt number are investigated. The mechanism of the heat transfer enhancement is discussed. In addition, the mean flow parameters such as the friction factor and the Nusselt number are examined in comparison with existing DNS and experimental data.     

Boundary layer receptivity measurements on compliant surfaces

This paper describes receptivity measurements in a pre-transitional boundary layer flowing over either a rigid or a compliant surface. Fluctuating velocities and frequency spectra were determined on one rigid and nine compliant surfaces. The results showed that the near wall receptivity grows linearly with Re_θ. An empirical correlation of the gain frequency spectrum for a rigid wall was also established. For the compliant surfaces, the near wall gain is increased markedly near the leading edge of the plate due to the amplification of high and mid-frequencies. These frequencies are dissipated though as the flow progresses over the compliant surface such that the receptivity is lower on all the compliant surfaces than on the rigid surface at the trailing edge. An empirical correlation for the ratio of the gains on compliant and rigid surfaces in terms of the compliant surface coefficient ζ²/Eρ_CSL² and Re_θ was established. This correlation indicates that compliant surfaces can suppress receptivity by up to 25% for a Re_θ = 400.     

Vortex shedding behind rings and discs

The wake structure of discs and bluff rings has been investigated experimentally in a wind tunnel. The rings have an inner diameter d_i, and an outer diameter d_o and are classified according to the parameter (d_o + d_i)/(d_o − d_i) = d/w. the ratio of mean diameter to ring width. As d/w → ∞ the flow approaches that around a two dimensional bluff body whereas as d/w tends to unity the body approaches a solid disc. A distinct change in the vortex shedding pattern is found around d/w = 5. Below this critical value velocity fluctuations in the wake have a weak periodic component which is 180° out of phase across a diameter of the body. Above d/w = 5. regular and coherent axisymmetric vortex ring shedding is observed with shedding occurring alternately from the inner and outer circumferences of the bluff body. Flow visualization and conditional averaging of hot-wire data are used to investigate the vortex structure.     

Numerical study of the parametric evolution of bifurcations in the three-dimensional ring problem of N bodies

We study the dynamics of a massless particle in an annular configuration of N bodies, N − 1 of which have equal masses m and are located in equal distances on a fictitious circle and one has mass βm and is located at the center of the circle. Our interest is focused on the bifurcation points from planar to three-dimensional families of symmetric periodic orbits in the above problem. We study numerically the evolution of these bifurcation points with respect to the variation of the mass parameter β. In particular we investigate the continuous evolution of bifurcation points for values of β from 2 up to 1000. The two distinct cases of the system’s behavior at β = 2 and 1000 are examined comparatively and various conclusions are drawn regarding the overall dynamical evolution of the three-dimensional system as the relative mass of the central body grows.     

DNS of passive scalar transport in turbulent channel flow at high Schmidt numbers

We perform DNS of passive scalar transport in low Reynolds number turbulent channel flow at Schmidt numbers up to Sc = 49. The high resolutions required to resolve the scalar concentration fields at such Schmidt numbers are achieved by a hierarchical algorithm in which only the scalar fields are solved on the grid dictated by the Batchelor scale. The velocity fields are solved on coarser grids and prolonged by a conservative interpolation to the fine-grid.

The trends observed so far at lower Schmidt numbers Sc  10 are confirmed, i.e. the mean scalar gradient steepens at the wall with increasing Schmidt number, the peaks of turbulent quantities increase and move towards the wall. The instantaneous scalar fields show a dramatic change. Observable structures get longer and thinner which is connected with the occurrence of steeper gradients, but the wall concentrations penetrate less deeply into the plateau in the core of the channel.

Our data shows that the thickness of the conductive sublayer, as defined by the intersection point of the linear with the logarithmic asymptote scales with Sc^−0.29. With this information it is possible to derive an expression for the dimensionless transfer coefficient K⁺ which is only dependent on Sc and Re_τ. This expression is in full accordance to previous results which demonstrates that the thickness of the conductive sublayer is the dominating quantity for the mean scalar profile.     

Hole diameter effect on flow characteristics of wake behind porous fences having the same porosity

The hole diameter effect on the flow characteristics of wake behind porous fences has been investigated experimentally in a circulating water channel having a test section of 300^w×200^h×1200^l (mm). Three porous fences having different hole diameters of d=1.4,2.1,2.8 mm were tested in this study, but they have the same =38.5% geometric porosity. One thousand instantaneous velocity fields for each fence were measured consecutively by the hybrid PTV system employing a high-speed CCD camera. Free stream velocity was fixed at 10 cm/sec and the corresponding Reynolds number based on the fence height was Re=2,985. Consequently, the fence with the smallest hole diameter d=1.4 mm (d_1.4) decreases the streamwise velocity component and increases the vertical velocity component. Among the three hole diameters tested in this study, the d_1.4 fence has the largest turbulence intensity in the shear layer developed from the fence top. Regardless of the hole diameter, however, all three fences having the same porosity reduce the reduction of turbulent intensity in the lower region below the fence height (y/H<1).     

Permeability of periodic arrays of spheres

For periodic arrays of spheres the permeability is obtained numerically as a function of the dimensionless wave number kD in the flow direction, where D is the sphere diameter, k = 2π/λ is the wave number, and λ is the distance between the spheres in the flow direction. Our numerical results for the solids fraction of 0.45 show that for kD < 6.5 the permeability increases with increasing kD. But, it decreases for 6.5 < kD < 8.5 and reaches a local minimum at kD  8.5, and then increases again with increasing kD. Since the Fourier spectrum of the area fraction is zero for kD = 8.98, this result suggests that the area fraction plays an important role in determining the dependence of permeability on the distance between the spheres in the flow direction. For smaller solids fractions, the positions of the local maximum and minimum of permeability shift to slightly smaller kD’s.     

Droplet combustion experiments in varying forced convection using microgravity environment

A new microscopic model of the interaction between droplet flames and fine vortex tubes which compose a coherent structure of turbulence was developed. Three non-dimensional numbers were introduced to extend the length scale and time scale so as to be suitable for microgravity experiments using droplets of combustion of about 1 mm in diameter. An experimental apparatus for combustion of a single droplet and that of an array of two droplets in varying airflow was developed, and experiments were performed in microgravity and normal gravity at pressures up to 2.0 MPa for n-nonane and ethanol as fuels. Variations of the instantaneous burning rate constant, K_i, in response to the varying flow velocity was successfully observed. At high pressure, the effects of droplet Reynolds number Re on K_i was clearly seen, while the effects of natural convection, which increases K_i with Re, was seen in normal gravity even in the forced airflows. As for the experiments on combustion of an array of two droplets, K_i reduction of the downstream droplet became weak when the flow direction was varied. However, the K_i reduction of the downstream droplet for flow direction variations was clearly seen for n-nonane droplets but almost not for ethanol droplets. The interaction mechanism between upstream and downstream droplets is considered to result from the elimination of oxidizer supply to the downstream droplet, indicating strong interaction effects of n-nonane droplets for a stoichiometric oxygen-fuel ratio of n-nonane (i.e., 14.0) greater than that of ethanol (i.e., 3.0).     

Velocity distributions in Taylor vortex flow with imposed laminar axial flow and isothermal surface heat transfer

Fully-developed flow in a concentric annulus formed by a stationary outer cylinder, which may be heated isothermally, and a rotatable inner cylinder has been studied experimentally by means of hot-wire anemometry techniques. Velocity profiles for the axial, tangential, and radial directions of flow have been obtained for adiabatic conditions and for wide and narrow annular gaps.It has been shown that the onset of Taylor vortex flow has a pronounced effect on the velocity profiles for all three directions. However, while the profiles for the axial and tangential directions are explicable, those for the radial direction are not so, at present. Also, it was found that heat transfer through the outer annular surface had a greater effect on the radial velocity profile than on the axial or tangential, but in the narrow gap case only.     

Experimental characterization of non-premixed turbulent jet propane flames

This paper reports an experimental study conducted on turbulent jet propane flames aiming at further understanding of turbulent structure in non-premixed slow-chemistry combustion systems. Measurements of mean and fluctuating velocity and temperature fields, mean concentration of major chemical species, correlation between velocity and temperature fluctuations, and dissipation of temperature fluctuations are reported in a turbulent round jet non-premixed propane flame, Re=20 400 and 37 600, issuing vertically in still air. The experimental conditions were designed to provide a complete definition of the upstream boundary conditions in the measurement domain for the purpose of validating computational models. The measured data depicts useful flow field information for describing turbulent non-premixed slow-chemistry flames. Velocity–temperature correlation measurements show turbulent heat fluxes tended to be restricted to the mixing layer where large temperature gradients occurred. Observations of non-gradient diffusion of heat at x/D=10 were verified. Temperature fluctuation dissipation, χ, showed the highest values in the shear layer, where the variance of temperature fluctuations was maximum and combustion occurred. The isotropy between the temperature dissipation in the radial and tangential directions was confirmed. By contrast, the observed anisotropy between axial and radial directions of dissipation suggests the influence of large structures in the entrainment shear layer on the production of temperature fluctuations in the flame region. The value of the normalized scalar dissipation at the stoichiometric mixture fraction surface, χ_st, was calculated, and ranges between 2 and 4 s⁻¹. The measured data were used to estimate the budgets in the balance equations for turbulent kinetic energy, Reynolds shear stresses, turbulent heat flux and temperature variance, quantifying the mechanisms involved in the generation of turbulence as well as in the transport of the temperature.     

Instantaneous fluctuation velocity and skewness distributions upstream of transition onset

The development of streamwise orientated disturbances through the boundary layer thickness prior to transition onset for zero-pressure gradient boundary layer flow under the influence %Tu = 4.2 is presented. The analysis concentrates on the development of the maximum positive and negative of the fluctuation velocity in order to gain further insight into the transition process. The average location of the peak negative fluctuation velocity over a range of Reynolds numbers was measured in the upper portion of the boundary layer at y/δ ≈ 0.6, whereas the location of the peak positive value was measured at y/δ ≈ 0.3. The disturbance magnitude of the negative fluctuation velocity increased beyond that of the positive as transition onset approached. The distribution and disturbance magnitude of the maximum positive and negative fluctuation velocities indicate that the initiation of transition may occur on the low-speed components of the flow that are lifted up to the upper region of the boundary layer. This is in qualitative agreement with recent direct numerical simulations on the breakdown of the flow on the lifted low-speed streaks near the boundary layer edge. The results presented in this investigation also demonstrate the increased physical insight gained by examining the distributions of the maximum positive and negative of the streamwise fluctuation velocity component associated with the low- and high-speed streaks, compared to time-averaged values, in determining what structures cause the breakdown to turbulence.     

An experimental study on developing air-water two-phase flow along a large vertical pipe: effect of air injection method

The flow structure in a developing air-water two-phase flow was investigated experimentally along a large vertical pipe (inner diameter, D_h: 0.48 m, ratio of length of flow path L to D_h: about 4.2). Two air injection methods (porous sinter injection and nozzle injection) were adopted to realize an extremely different flow structure in the developing region. The flow rate condition in the test section was as follows: superficial air velocity: 0.02–0.87 m/s (at atmospheric pressure) and superficial water velocity: 0.01–0.2 0.01–0.2 m/s, which covers the range of bubbly to slug flow in a small-scale pipe (D_h about 0.05 m).

No air slugs occupying the flow path were recognized in this experiment regardless of the air injection methods even under the condition where slug flow is realized in the small-scale pipe. In the lower half of the test section, the axial distribution of sectional differential pressure and the radial distribution of local void fraction showed peculiar distributions depending on the air injection methods. However, in the upper half of the test section, the effects of the air injection methods are small in respect of the shapes of the differential pressure distribution and the phase distribution. The comparison of sectional void fraction near the top of the test section with Kataoka's correlation indicated that the distribution parameter of the drift-flux model should be modeled including the effect of D_h and the bubble size distribution is affected by the air injection methods. The bubble size distribution is considered to be affected also by L/D_h based on comparison of results with Hills' correlation.     

Flow regime transitions due to cavitation in the flow through an orifice

This paper presents both experimental and theoretical aspects of the flow regime transitions caused by cavitation when water is passing through an orifice. Cavitation inception marks the transition from single-phase to two-phase bubbly flow; choked cavitation marks the transition from two-phase bubbly flow to two-phase annular jet flow.

It has been found that the inception of cavitation does not necessarily require that the minimum static pressure at the vena contracta downstream of the orifice, be equal to the vapour pressure liquid. In fact, it is well above the vapour pressure at the point of inception. The cavitation number [σ = (P₃ − P_v)/(0.5 pV²); here P₃ is the downstream pressure, P_v is the vapour pressure of the liquid, ρ is the density of the liquid and V is the average liquid velocity at the orifice] at inception is independent of the liquid velocity but strongly dependent on the size of the geometry. Choked cavitation occurs when this minimum pressure approaches the vapour pressure. The cavitation number at the choked condition is a function of the ratio of the orifice diameter (d) to the pipe diameter (D) only. When super cavitation occurs, the dimensionless jet length [L/(D - d); where L is the dimensional length of the jet] can be correlated by using the cavitation number. The vaporization rate of the surface of the liquid jet in super cavitation has been evaluated based on the experiments.

Experiments have also been conducted in which air was deliberately introduced at the vena contracta to simulate the flow regime transition at choked cavitation. Correlations have been obtained to calculate the critical air flow rate required to cause the flow regime transition. By drawing an analogy with choked cavitation, where the air flow rate required to cause the transition is zero, the vapour and released gas flow rate can be predicted.     

The use of drift-flux techniques for the analysis of horizontal two-phase flows

New data is presented for horizontal air/water two-phase flow having various flow regimes. It is shown that drift-flux models are able to correlate these data and that the drift velocity, V_gj, is normally finite.     

Effects of blowing through a porous strip in a turbulent channel flow

An experimental investigation is performed on a fully developed turbulent channel flow with local injection through a porous strip. The Reynolds number based on the channel half-width was set to 5000. In addition to the no blowing case, measurements are made for three different blowing rates σ = 0.22, 0.36 and 0.58 (where σ is the ratio of momentum flux gain due to the blowing and momentum flux of the incoming channel flow). Measurements carried out with hot-wire anemometry reveal that injection strongly affects both the velocity profiles and the turbulence characteristics. The injection decreases the skin friction coefficient and increases all the Reynolds stresses downstream the blowing strip. The turbulence structure and the bursting phenomena were examined using space-time correlations measurements and conditional analysis. It is found that the injection increases the frequency of occurrence of the bursts.