Two- and three-dimensional laminar flows between disks co-rotating in a fixed cylindrical enclosure

A numerical investigation is performed for the constant property laminar flow of air in the space between a pair of disks clamped co-axially on a central hub and co-rotating in a stationary cylindrical enclosure. Both two- and three-dimensional flow conditions are examined in relation to the interdisk spacing, H, and the disk angular velocity, Ω. Two interdisk spacings are considered, corresponding to aspect ratios Γ = 0.186 and 0.279 (with Γ = H/(R₂+a−R), where R₂ is the disk radius, a is the disk rim–enclosure wall clearance, and R is the hub radius). A range of rotational speeds encompassing the transition from axisymmetric two-dimensional steady flow to non-axisymmetric three-dimensional unsteady flow are considered for various values of the Reynolds number, Re (with $ Re=\Omega R_2^2/v $, where v is the kinematic viscosity of air). Axisymmetric calculations are first performed for both aspect ratios in the range 3858≤Re≤23 150. Fully three-dimensional calculations are then performed for the configuration with Γ = 0.186 and Re = 23 150, and for the configuration with Γ = 0.279 and Re = 7715, 15 430 and 23 150. The axisymmetric calculations performed with Γ = 0.186 confirm many known features of the flow, including the transition from a steady flow to an oscillatory periodic regime. This occurs at ≈Re = 23 150 for a configuration with a/H = 0, and at ≈Re = 14 670 for one with a/H = 0.28 and a finite disk thickness (b/H = 0.2). Three-dimensional calculations performed for Γ = 0.186 with a/H = 0 and Re = 23 150 reveal a circumferentially periodic flow pattern with eight foci of intensified axial component of vorticity. The axisymmetric calculations performed with Γ = 0.279 and Re > 7715 yield a novel, non-unique steady solution for the velocity field that is asymmetric with respect to the interdisk mid-plane. No experimental verification of this finding exists to date, but similar situations are known to arise in the context of anomalous modes of the Taylor–Couette flow. Relaxing the axisymmetry constraint allows this flow to evolve to an oscillatory three-dimensional regime of increasing irregularity with increasing rotational speed. In this case, the number of foci of intensified axial vorticity varies with time, ranging from six at Re = 7715 to between six and eight at Re = 23 150. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phase-resolved PIV measurements of the flow between a pair of corotating disks in a cylindrical enclosure

This paper presents the measurements of the flow in the space between an enclosed corotating disk pair using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and laser doppler velocimetry (LDV). LDV gives the time history of velocity for time-domain analysis, while PIV provides the spatial distribution of the instantaneous velocity. A flow visualization technique displaying the concentration distribution of seeding particles was also employed to visualize the flow patterns. Experiments were conducted on the interdisk midplane with a Reynolds number of 5.25×10⁵. Based on the LDV measured rotating frequency of the vortices around the hub, the phase-resolved PIV measurements were achieved, and a rotating reference coordinate system was employed to represent the flow patterns. The phase-resolved measurements reveal that the circumferential flow velocity oscillates periodically in both the inner and outer regions but in opposite trends. Based on the phase averaged data, the contributions of the periodic and random motions to the Reynolds stresses were evaluated, and the spatial distributions of the periodic Reynolds stresses were displayed. It is found that, the local rotation of the fluid induced by the deformation of the inner region contribute to a significant portion of the momentum transport.     

Phase-resolved flow characteristics between two shrouded co-rotating disks

Flow characteristics in the interdisk midplane between two shrouded co-rotating disks were experimentally studied. A laser-assisted particle-laden flow-visualization method was used to identify the qualitative flow behaviors. Particle image velocimetry was employed to measure the instantaneous flow velocities. The flow visualization revealed rotating polygonal flow structures (hexagon, pentagon, quadrangle, triangle, and oval) existing in the core region of the interdisk spacing. There existed a difference between the rotating frequencies of the polygon and the disks. The rotating frequency ratio between the polygonal flow structure and the disks depended on the mode shapes of the polygonal core flow structures—0.8 for pentagon, 0.75 for quadrangle, 0.69 for triangle, and 0.6 for oval. The phase-resolved flow velocities relative to the bulk rotation speed of the polygonal core flow structure were calculated, and the streamline patterns were delineated. It was found that outside the polygonal core flow structure, there existed a cluster of vortex rings—each side of the polygon was associated with a vortex ring. The radial distributions of the time-averaged and phase-resolved ensemble-averaged circumferential and radial velocities were presented. Five characteristic regions (solid-body rotation region, hub-influenced region, buffer region, vortex region, and shroud-influenced region) were identified according to the prominent physical features of the flow velocity distributions in the interdisk midplane. In the solid-body rotation region, the fluid rotated at the angular velocity of the disks and hub. In the hub-influenced region, the circumferential flow velocity departed slightly from the disks’ angular velocity. The circumferential velocities in the hub-influenced and vortex regions varied linearly with variation of radial coordinates. The phase-resolved ensemble-averaged relative radial velocity profiles in the interdisk midplane at various phase angles exhibited grouping behaviors in three ranges of polygon phase angles (θ = 0 and α/2, 0 < θ < α/2, and α/2 < θ < α) because three-dimensional flow induced similar flow patterns to appear in the same range of polygon phase angles.     

Turbulent flow of quadrangle mode in interdisk midplane between two shrouded co-rotating disks

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) was employed to study the flow patterns, time-averaged velocity field, and turbulence properties of the flow in the interdisk midplane between two shrouded co-rotating disks at the interdisk spacing to disk radius ratio S = 0.1 and rotating Reynolds number Re = 2.25 × 10⁵. A quadrangle core flow structure rotating at a frequency 75% of the disks’ rotating frequency was observed. The flow in the region outside the quadrangle core flow structure consisted of four cellular flow structures. Five characteristic flow regions—the hub-influenced region, solid-body rotation region, buffer region, vortex region, and shroud-influenced region—were identified in the flow field. Circumferential and radial turbulence intensities, Reynolds stresses, turbulence kinetic energy, correlation coefficients, as well as the Lagrangian integral time and length scales of turbulent fluctuations were analyzed and presented. Features of the turbulence properties were found to be closely related to the rotation motion of the inner and outer characteristic flow structures. The circumferential components of the turbulence properties exhibited local minima in the buffer region and maxima in the solid-body rotation and vortex regions, while the radial components of the turbulence intensity, turbulent normal stress, and Lagrangian integral turbulence time scale exhibited maximum values in the buffer region and relatively low values in the regions near the hub and the shroud.     

A numerical study of micropolar flow inside a lid-driven triangular enclosure

A study is carried out to analyze the mixed convection flow and heat transfer inside a lid-driven triangular conduit under the effects of micro-gyration boundary conditions. The micropolar constitutive equation characterizes the fluid inside the cavity. The lower boundary is at a uniform temperature and sliding in its plane with constant velocity u₀, while the inclined walls are cold. Dual cases are considered here, namely the intense concentration (d) and the weak concentration of microelements (\(m = 0.5\)). The governing nonlinear equations are simulated employing the Galerkin finite element method, where the pressure term is handled via the Penalty approach. Using the numerical data, graphical results are produced to illustrate the effects of physical parameters. Specifically, this refers to the effects of the Grashof number (Gr), Prandtl number (Pr), Reynolds number (Re) and vortex viscosity parameter (K) on the streamlines, mid-section velocity profiles, temperature contours, and local and average Nusselt numbers on the cold and heated boundaries of the conduit. Particular emphasis is given on the identification of the set of parameters for which simultaneous symmetry in streamlines and isotherms prevails. The grid independence test is also performed by comparing the average Nusselt numbers (on the hot and cold boundaries of the conduit) for various mesh sizes, and the optimal solution is found. Moreover, the results are also benchmarked with the previously published data.     

PIV study on a shock-induced separation in a transonic flow

A transonic interaction between a steady shock wave and a turbulent boundary layer in a Mach 1.4 channel flow is experimentally investigated by means of particle image velocimetry (PIV). In the test section, the lower wall is equipped with a contour profile shaped as a bump allowing flow separation. The transonic interaction, characterized by the existence in the outer flow of a lambda shock pattern, causes the separation of the boundary layer, and a low-speed recirculating bubble is observed downstream of the shock foot. Two-component PIV velocity measurements have been performed using an iterative gradient-based cross-correlation algorithm, providing high-speed and flexible calculations, instead of the classic multi-pass processing with FFT-based cross-correlation. The experiments are performed discussing all the hypotheses linked to the experimental set-up and the technique of investigation such as the two-dimensionality assumption of the flow, the particle response assessment, the seeding system, and the PIV correlation uncertainty. Mean velocity fields are presented for the whole interaction with particular attention for the recirculating bubble downstream of the detachment, especially in the mixing layer zone where the effects of the shear stress are most relevant. Turbulence is discussed in details, the results are compared to previous study, and new results are given for the turbulent production term and the return to isotropy mechanism. Finally, using different camera lens, a zoom in the vicinity of the wall presents mean and turbulent velocity fields for the incoming boundary layer.     

The application of stereoscopic PIV to measure the flow of air into an enclosure containing a fire

Flow fields encountered in full-scale enclosure fires are highly three-dimensional and span a large spatial extent. Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) was applied to provide a large-scale planar interrogation of the flow of air available to a series of fires burning inside an enclosure. Time-averaged velocity fields across the doorway of the enclosure are presented. These flows are bi-directional and SPIV reveals that the time-averaged height of the region of flow reversal depends on location within the doorway. The volume flow rate of available air computed from the classical one-dimensional flow approach agrees well with the numerical integration using the velocity field provided by SPIV. Good agreement between the measured velocities for SPIV configurations optimized for seed particle displacements along the laser sheet axis and optimized for displacements perpendicular to the laser sheet demonstrate that large-scale SPIV measurements can be conducted with very good precision.     

A PIV study of the laminar axisymmetric sudden expansion flow

The laminar flow through an axisymmetric sudden expansion was investigated experimentally using real-time digital particle image velocimetry. An expansion ratio (downstream-to-upstream pipe diameter ratio) of 2 was selected for the study. The measurements covered the regions of separation, reattachment and re-development. Two dimensional velocity maps were obtained on the vertical center plane for six Reynolds numbers between 20 and 211, based on the upstream pipe diameter and bulk velocity. The stream function distributions are calculated and presented from the streamwise and radial velocity maps. The dependence of reattachment length, redevelopment length and recirculating flow strength on the Reynolds number are determined. Results show that not only the reattachment length but also the redevelopment length downstream of reattachment is a linear function of the Reynolds number. The recirculation eddy strength, on the other hand, has a non-linear dependence on the Reynolds number which becomes weaker as the Reynolds number is increased. The results indicate no instability- or buoyancy-driven flow asymmetry in the range 20?Re? 211.     

PIV study of large-scale flow organisation in slot jets

The paper reports on particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements in turbulent slot jets bounded by two solid walls with the separation distance smaller than the jet width (5–40%). In the far-field such jets are known to manifest features of quasi-two dimensional, two component turbulence. Stereoscopic and tomographic PIV systems were used to analyse local flows. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) was applied to extract coherent modes of the velocity fluctuations. The measurements were performed both in the initial region close to the nozzle exit and in the far fields of the developed turbulent slot jets for Re ⩾ 10,000. A POD analysis in the initial region indicates a correlation between quasi-2D vortices rolled-up in the shear layer and local flows in cross-stream planes. While the near-field turbulence shows full 3D features, the wall-normal velocity fluctuations day out gradually due to strong wall-damping resulting in an almost two-component turbulence. On the other hand, the longitudinal vortex rolls take over to act as the main agents in wall-normal and spanwise mixing and momentum transfer. The quantitative analysis indicates that the jet meandering amplitude was aperiodically modulated when arrangement of the large-scale quasi-2D vortices changed between asymmetric and symmetric pattern relatively to the jet axis. The paper shows that the dynamics of turbulent slot jets are more complex than those of 2D, plane and rectangular 3D jets. In particular, the detected secondary longitudinal vortex filaments and meandering modulation is expected to be important for turbulent transport and mixing in slot jets. This issue requires further investigations.     

PIV measurements of a microchannel flow

 A particle image velocimetry (PIV) system has been developed to measure velocity fields with order 1-μm spatial resolution. The technique uses 200 nm diameter flow-tracing particles, a pulsed Nd:YAG laser, an inverted epi-fluorescent microscope, and a cooled interline-transfer CCD camera to record high-resolution particle-image fields. The spatial resolution of the PIV technique is limited primarily by the diffraction-limited resolution of the recording optics. The accuracy of the PIV system was demonstrated by measuring the known flow field in a 30 μm×300 μm (nominal dimension) microchannel. The resulting velocity fields have a spatial resolution, defined by the size of the first window of the interrogation spot and out of plane resolution of 13.6 μm× 0.9 μm×1.8 μm, in the streamwise, wall-normal, and out of plane directions, respectively. By overlapping the interrogation spots by 50% to satisfy the Nyquist sampling criterion, a velocity-vector spacing of 450 nm in the wall-normal direction is achieved. These measurements are accurate to within 2% full-scale resolution, and are the highest spatially resolved PIV measurements published to date. Received: 29 October 1998/Accepted: 10 March 1999     

Dynamics of co-rotating vortices in a flow around a bio-inspired corrugated airfoil

Bio-inspired corrugated airfoils show favourable aerodynamic characteristics such as high coefficient of lift and delayed stall at low Reynolds numbers. Two-dimensional (2D) direct numerical simulation has been performed here on a corrugated airfoil at various angles of attack (0°, +5°, -5°) and Reynolds number of 280 to 6700. The objective is to analyse the pressure variation inside the corrugations and correlate it to the vortex movement across the corrugations and the overall aerodynamic characteristics of the corrugated airfoil. The flow characteristics have been examined based on the local Strouhal numbers in the corrugations of the airfoil. It is observed that the pressure variation in each corrugation is the result of vortex merging and separation in the corrugation which plays a major role in changing the flow characteristics. The Strouhal number of the flow is dictated by the most dominant local Strouhal number. The numerical results are further compared with experimental results obtained using particle image velocimetry, and the two set of results are found to match well. These results are significant because they elucidate the effect of corrugation, angle of attack, and Reynolds number on flow over a corrugated airfoil.     

A numerical study of heat transfer during flow of melt in a cylindrical mould

A numerical analysis of transient heat transfer during the flow of a melt in a cylindrical mould is presented. The analysis includes thermal resistance at the melt-mould interface, and axial conduction inside both melt and mould. Energy equations are formulated in a domain that expands continuously due to the advance of the melt inside the empty mould, and solved by the finite difference method using a time-stepping procedure. Calculations are compared to existing analytic results. It is found that axial conduction in the melt can significantly influence the rate of heat loss from the flowing melt, and that analytic approximations, which neglect axial conduction, may give erroneous predictions for the rate of heat loss.     

Application of PIV in a Mach 7 double-ramp flow

The flow over a two-dimensional double compression ramp configuration is investigated by means of schlieren visualization, quantitative infrared thermography and particle image velocimetry (PIV) in a short-duration facility producing a free-stream flow at Mach 7. The study focuses upon the accuracy assessment of PIV in the hypersonic flow regime including flow facility effects such as repeatability of test conditions. The solid tracer particles are characterized by means of electron microscopy as well as by measuring the dynamic response across a planar oblique shock wave with PIV. The experiments display a strong variation in the light scattering intensity of the seeded flow over the flow field, due to the large flow compressibility. The mean velocity spatial distribution allows to clearly identify the shock pattern and the main features of the flow downstream of the shocks. However, the spatial resolution is insufficient to determine the wall flow properties. Furthermore the velocity data obtained with the PIV technique allow the determination of the spatial distribution of the Mach number under the hypothesis of adiabatic flow. The double ramp configuration with a variable second compression angle exhibits shock–shock interactions of Edney type VI or V for the lowest and highest ramp angle, respectively. A single heat transfer peak is detected with infrared thermography on the second ramp in case of a type VI interaction while for the type V shock interaction a double heat transfer peak is found. Shock wave angles measured with PIV are in good agreement with theory and the overall flow topology is consistent with schlieren visualization. Also in this respect the results are in agreement with compressible flow theory.     

Solution of three-dimensional natural convection about a vertical square rod in a cylindrical enclosure

The problem of three-dimensional laminar natural convection in a vertical enclosure with an inner square rod is treated by a numerical method in boundary-fitted co-ordinates. The inner and outer cylinders are heated and cooled, respectively, to maintain different constant surface temperatures. The horizontal enclosure surfaces are maintained at adiabatic conditions. The Prandtl number is that of air, 0·703, and the Rayleigh numbers span the conduction, transition and boundary layer regimes of flow. The radius ratio is 1, and the aspect ratio (cylinder length divided by maximum annular gap) is 1. The results of the study provide data useful in the design and performance assessment of nuclear reactor spent fuel shipping casks.     

PIV measurements of flow past a confined cylinder

This study investigates the flow past a confined circular cylinder built into a narrow rectangular duct with a Reynolds number range of 1,500 ≤ Re _d ≤ 6,150, by employing the particle image velocimetry technique. In order to better explain the 3-D flow behaviour in the juncture regions of the lower and upper plates and the cylinder, respectively, as well as the dynamics of the horseshoe vortex system, both time-averaged and instantaneous flow data are presented for regions upstream and downstream of the cylinder. The size, intensity and interaction of the vortex systems vary substantially with the Reynolds number. Although the narrow rectangular duct with a single built-in cylinder is a geometrically symmetrical arrrangement, instantaneous flow data have revealed that the flow structures in both the lower and upper plate–cylinder junction regions are not symmetrical with respect to the centreline of the flow passage. The vortical flow structures obtained in side-view planes become dominant sometimes in the lower juncture region and sometimes in the upper juncture region in unsteady mode.     

The merging of two co-rotating vortices: a numerical study

The merging of two-dimensional co-rotating vortices is analysed through direct numerical simulations at large Reynolds numbers. It is shown how the Reynolds number affects each of the three phases that characterise this phenomenon. In the first phase, we examine the merging onset and focus on its definition. During the second rapid phase, the contributions of various flow regions upon the dynamics of a vortex are quantitatively studied. These regions are respectively the companion vortex, the filaments and an intermediate zone between vortices and filaments. The third phase is interpreted in terms of an advection diffusion process. Finally the final profile and circulation of the merged vortex is determined: the two thirds of the total circulation of the two initial vortices is contained in the newly formed vortex.     

A simultaneous PIV and heat transfer study of bubble interaction with free convection flow

Whole field velocity and point temperature and surface heat flux measurements were performed to characterise the interaction of a single rising ellipsoidal air bubble with the free convection flow from a heated flat surface immersed in water at different angles of inclination. Two thermocouples and a hot film sensor were used to characterise heat transfer from the surface, while a time-resolved digital particle image velocimetry technique was used to map the bubble induced flow in a plane parallel to the surface. Heat flux fluctuations, preceding and following the bubble passage, were shown to correlate with the variation in both local flow velocities and fluid temperatures. The largest increases in heat transfer were recorded when both flow and temperature effects combined to enhance the convective cooling simultaneously. Such conditions were shown to be most likely met when the block was inclined at 45°, thus forcing the bubble to slide closer to the heated surface and hence to the thermal boundary layer.