Experimental investigation of horizontal forced-vibration effect on air-water two-phase flow

In order to investigate the potential seismic vibrations effect on two-phase flow in an annular channel, experimental tests with air-water two-phase flow under horizontal vibrations were carried out. A low-speed eccentric-cam vibration module capable of operating at motor speed of 45–1200 rpm (f = 0.75–20 Hz) was attached to an annular channel, which was scaled down from a prototypic BWR fuel sub-channel with inner and outer diameters of 19.1 mm and 38.1 mm, respectively. The two-phase flow was operated in the ranges of 〈j_f〉 = 0.25–1.00 m/s and 〈j_g〉 = 0.03–1.46 m/s with 27 flow conditions, and the vibration amplitudes controlled by cam eccentricity (E) were designed for the range of 0.8–22.2 mm. Ring-type impedance void meters were utilized to detect the area-averaged time-averaged void fraction under stationary and vibration conditions. A systematic experimental database was built and analyzed with effective maps in terms of flow conditions (〈j_g〉-〈j_f〉) and vibration conditions (E-f and f-a), and the potential effects were expressed by regions on the maps. In the 〈j_g〉-〈j_f〉 maps, the void fraction was found to potentially decrease under vibrations in bubbly flow regime and relatively lower liquid flow conditions, which may be explained by the increase of distribution parameter. Whereas and the void fraction may increase at the region closed to bubbly-to-slug transition boundary under vibrations, which may be explained by the changes of drift velocity due to flow regime change from bubbly to slug flows. No significant change in void fraction was found in slug flow regime under the present test conditions.     

Experimental study on axial development of liquid film in vertical upward annular two-phase flow

Accurate measurements of the interfacial wave structure of upward annular two-phase flow in a vertical pipe were performed using a laser focus displacement meter (LFD). The purpose of this study was to clarify the effectiveness of the LFD for obtaining detailed information on the interfacial displacement of a liquid film in annular two-phase flow and to investigate the effect of axial distance from the air–water inlet on the phenomena. Adiabatic upward annular air–water flow experiments were conducted using a 3 m long, 11 mm ID pipe. Measurements of interfacial waves were conducted at 21 axial locations, spaced 110 mm apart in the pipe. The axial distances from the inlet (z) normalized by the pipe diameter (D) varied over z/D = 50–250. Data were collected for predetermined gas and liquid flow conditions and for Reynolds numbers ranging from Re_G = 31,800 to 98,300 for the gas phase and Re_L = 1050 to 9430 for the liquid phase. Using the LFD, we obtained such local properties as the minimum thickness, maximum thickness, and passing frequency of the waves. The maximum film thickness and passing frequency of disturbance waves decreased gradually, with some oscillations, as flow developed. The flow development, i.e., decreasing film thickness and passing frequency, persisted until the end of the pipe, which means that the flow might never reach the fully developed state. The minimum film thickness decreased with flow development and with increasing gas flow rate. These results are discussed, taking into account the buffer layer calculated from Karman’s three-layer model. A correlation is proposed between the minimum film thickness obtained in relation to the interfacial shear stress and the Reynolds number of the liquid.     

Numerical investigations of drop solidification on a cold plate in the presence of volume change

We present a front-tracking/finite difference method for simulation of drop solidification on a cold plate. The problem includes temporal evolution of three interfaces, i.e. solid–liquid, solid–gas, and liquid–gas, that are explicitly tracked under the assumption of axisymmetry. Method validation is carried out by comparing computational results with exact solutions for a two-dimensional Stefan problem, and with related experiments. We then use the method to investigate a drop solidifying on a cold plate in which there exists volume change due to density difference between the solid and liquid phases. Numerical results show that the shape of the solidified drop is profoundly different from the initial liquid one due to the effects of volume change and the tri-junction in terms of growth angles ϕ_gr on the solidification process. A decrease in the density ratio of solid to liquid ρ_sl or an increase in the growth angle results in an increase in the height of the solidified drop. The solidification process is also affected by the Stefan number St, the Bond number Bo, the Prandtl number Pr, the Weber number We, the ratios of the thermal properties of the solid to liquid phases k_sl and C_psl. Increasing St, Bo, Pr, We, or k_sl decreases the solidified drop height and the time to complete solidification. Moreover, the solidification growth rate is strongly affected by St, k_sl and C_psl. An increase in any of these parameters hastens the growth rate of the solidification interface. Contrarily, increasing ρ_sl decreases the growth rate. However, other parameters such as ϕ_gr, Bo, Pr and We have minor effects on the solidification growth rate.     

Chebyshev finite difference approach to modeling the thermoviscosity effect in a power-law liquid film on an unsteady stretching surface

The effect of thermoviscosity (temperature-dependent viscosity) on the heat transfer in a power-law liquid film over an unsteady stretching sheet is investigated. Similarity analysis is used to transform the governing equations for mass, momentum and energy into a system of ordinary differential equations, which contain a thermoviscosity parameter θ_r, unsteadiness parameter S, generalized Prandtl number Pr and power-law index n. The film thickness, the temperature distributions, the local heat transfer rate, and the local skin-friction coefficient were obtained using the Chebyshev finite difference method (ChFD). The results show that thermoviscosity significantly increases the film thickness and the local heat transfer rate while decreasing the local skin-friction coefficient as θ_r → 1. It is found that liquids with a higher power-law index will have a larger film thickness and a higher free-surface temperature, which indicate a lower local heat transfer rate, ?θ′(0).     

Measurement of liquid film thickness in a micro parallel channel with interferometer and laser focus displacement meter

In the present study, liquid film thicknesses in parallel channels with heights of H = 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 mm are measured with two different optical methods, i.e., interferometer and laser focus displacement meter. Ethanol is used as a working fluid. Liquid film thicknesses obtained from two optical methods agree very well. At low capillary numbers, dimensionless liquid film thickness is in accordance with Taylor’s law. However, as capillary number increases, dimensionless liquid film thickness becomes larger than Taylor’s law for larger channel heights. It is attributed to the dominant inertial effect at high capillary numbers. Using channel height H for dimensionless liquid film thickness δ₀/H and hydraulic diameter D_h = 2H as the characteristic length for Reynolds and Weber numbers, liquid film thickness in a parallel channel can be predicted well by the circular tube correlation previously proposed by the authors. This is because curvature differences between bubble nose and flat film region are identical in circular tubes and parallel channels.     

Comment on “Correlation of entrainment for annular flow in horizontal pipes”, by Pan,L., Hanratty,T.J., Int. J. Multiphase flow, 28(3), (2002), pp. 385–408

The above referenced paper, published in International Journal of Multiphase Flow (Pan and Hanratty, 2002), proposed an entrainment fraction correlation for annular flow in horizontal pipes. The entrainment fraction in annular flow is defined as the ratio of the mass flow rate of the liquid droplets in the gas to the total mass flow of liquid, F_E = W_LE/W_L. The proposed correlation was verified with experimental data for liquids with viscosities close to that of water. The proposed entrainment fraction correlation includes another correlation for the critical film flow rate, W_F,cr to estimate a maximum entrainment fraction F_E,max. It is shown that the critical film flow rate correlation can result in negative maximum entrainment fraction values, for low liquid flow rates.     

Analysis of cooling of a conducting fluid film of non-uniform thickness on a rotating disk

The unsteady thin conducting liquid film of non-uniform thickness on a rotating disk which is cooled axisymmetrically from below has been analysed numerically by solving the evolution equation of the free surface. Transient film profiles for different initial liquid film distributions have been obtained. The results reveal that the thinning process and film planarisation are markedly influenced by the heat dissipating or cooling parameter β, Prandtl number σ and Reynolds number Re.     

Study on laminar film condensation of saturated steam on a vertical flat plate for consideration of various physical factors including variable thermophysical properties

The extended theory of the steady state laminar film condensation process of pure saturated vapour at atmospheric pressure on an isothermal vertical flat plate is established. Its equations provide a complete account of the physical process for consideration of various physical factors including variable thermophysical properties, except for surface tension at the liquid-vapour film interface. First, similarity considerations are proposed to transform the governing system of partial differential equations and its boundary conditions into the corresponding dimensionless system. Then, the dimensionless new system is computed numerically in two steps: First neglecting shear force at the interface, so that the initial values of the boundary conditionsW _{xl, s} andW _{yl, s} are obtained. Then, the calculations of a problem of the three-point boundary-value for coupling the equations of liquid film with those of vapour film are carried out. Furthermore, the correlations for heat transfer coefficient and mass flow rate are proposed by analysis of heat and mass transfer and it is found that the heat transfer coefficient is function of dimensionless temperature gradient $\dot L$ , and that the condensate mass flow rate is function of the mass flow rate parameter (η _lδ W _{xl, s} ? 4W _{yl, s} )of liquid. In addition, the corresponding heat and mass transfer correlations expressed by subcooled temperature Δt are developed. According to Nusselt's theory four different assumptions are set up for an investigation of the effects of the film condensation of saturated vapour, so that the validity of Nusselt's theory can be further clarified. Quantitative comparisons from the results of the heat transfer coefficient and mass flow rate of the condensate indicate that the effect of variable thermophysical properties on the heat and mass transfer is appreciable. The effect of thermal convection in the condensate film is obviously larger than those of shear force at liquid-vapour interface, and the effect of the inertia in the condensate film is very small. Finally, it is also shown that Nusselt's theory, in using Drew reference temperature, will decrease the heat transfer coefficient by at most 5.11%, and will increase the mass flow rate of the condensate by at most 2.45%, provided that the effect of the surface tension is not taken into account.     

齿向修形对滤波减速器润滑性能的影响分析

综合考虑了滤波减速器齿向修形参数、真实齿面粗糙度和瞬态效应等因素,建立了轮齿混合润滑数学模型,数值计算了不同修形参数值对应不同啮合点的最大压力和中心膜厚,分析了齿面粗糙度和转速对润滑性能的影响.结果表明:修形参数r和Ry均存在一个优化范围,使得轮齿表面最大油膜压力显著降低,边缘效应弱化,而中心膜厚则随着r和Ry的增大而逐渐增大;未修形轮齿边缘油膜压力受粗糙度的影响而急剧增大,边缘效应更加显著,修形后轮齿的边缘效应得到了明显改善,因此,轮齿修形也因粗糙表面的存在而显得更加重要;随着转速逐渐降低,轮齿表面的平均油膜厚度逐渐变小,接触比逐渐增大,轮齿表面由弹流润滑逐渐转为混合润滑,最后演变为边界润滑.     

Effects of rotation on flow in an asymmetric rib-roughened duct: LES study

We report on large-eddy simulations (LES) of fully-developed asymmetric flow in a duct of a rectangular cross-section in which square-sectioned, equally-spaced ribs oriented perpendicular to the flow direction, were mounted on one of the walls. The configuration mimics a passage of internal cooling of a gas-turbine blade. The duct flow at a Reynolds number Re = 15,000 (based on hydraulic diameter D_h and bulk flow velocity U₀) was subjected to clock-wise (stabilising) and anti-clock-wise (destabilising) orthogonal rotation at a moderate rotational number Ro = ΩD_h/U₀ = 0.3, where Ω is the angular velocity. The LES results reproduced well the available experimental results of Coletti et al. (2011) (in the mid-plane adjacent to the ribbed wall) and provided insight into the whole duct complementing the reference PIV measurement. We analyzed the effects of stabilising and destabilising rotation on the flow, vortical structures and turbulence statistics by comparison with the non-rotating case. The analysis includes the identification of depth of penetration of the rib-effects into the bulk flow, influence of flow three-dimensionality and the role of secondary motions, all shown to be strongly affected by the rotation and its direction.     

Effects of injection angle orientation on concave and convex surfaces film cooling

The present study employs a transient liquid crystal thermography to measure film cooling performance over constant curvature of concave and convex surfaces. This work investigates detailed distributions of both film cooling effectiveness and heat transfer coefficient on concave and convex surfaces with one row of injection holes inclined stream-wise at 35° at four blowing ratios (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0) on four test pieces with different hole configurations. All test models have a row of discrete holes with a stream-wise injection angle (γ of 35° and a pitch-to-diameter ratio (P/d) of 3. The current work examines four different injection configurations, one with simple and three with 8° forward-expanded holes. Three compound angles of 0, 45 and 90° with air (ρ_c/ρ_m = 0.98) as coolants are tested under the mainstream Reynolds number (Re_d) of 2300 on concave surface, and 1700 on convex surface. Measured results of the concave surface show that both the span-wise averaged heat transfer coefficient and film cooling effectiveness increase with blowing ratios for all tested models. Higher heat transfer levels induced by large flow disturbance of compound-angle injection also lead to poorer overall film cooling performance, especially at high blowing ratio and large span-wise injection angle. Present results show that the best surface protection on the concave surface over the widest range of M can be provided by the forward-expanded holes with β = 0° (Model-B), followed by the forward-expanded holes with β = 45° (Model-C). Convex surface results show that the compound-angle injection indicates increases in both film cooling effectiveness and heat transfer at moderate and high blowing ratios. The forward-expanded hole with simple-angle injection provides the best film performance because of high film cooling effectiveness and low heat transfer coefficient at blowing ratio of 0.5.     

On the shearing zone around rotating vanes in plastic liquids: theory and experiment

The fracture zone (or shearing surface) around a four-bladed vane rotating in a Bingham liquid has a diameterD_c which is significantly larger than the vane diameter. In typical plastic liquidsD_c/D ≈ 1.00–1.05. We have measuredD_c and the rheology of some automotive greases. We have also photographed the fractural surface in a transparent Bingham liquid and have found it to be approximately cylindrical.Computer simulations of a four-bladed vane rotating in a Bingham liquid have produced a value ofD_c/D = 1.025 which agrees well with experimental data on two viscoelastic automotive greases. We have not been able to obtain agreement between experiment and theory on the dependence ofD_c/D on τ_y/η_p.The experimental and theoretical data presented here support the use of the vane for yield stress measurements if the diameter correction is applied. The present experimental data suggests the vane diameter has little or no effect onD_c/D.     

Study of material agglomeration during nozzle injection of multiviscosity liquid into a fluidized bed reactor by the electric conductance method

Fluidized bed agglomeration is an important and challenging problem for thermal cracking in fluid cokers. A low coker temperature can be problematic because the bitumen is injected into the fluidized bed with a different viscosity, resulting in formation of agglomerates of varying sizes, which slows the cracking reactions. In the present study, the bed material agglomeration process during nozzle injection of multiviscosity liquid was investigated in a fluidized bed operated at different mass ratios of the atomization gas to the liquid jets (GLR = 1%–3.5%) and gas velocities (3.9U_mf and 5.9U_mf) based on a conductance method using a water–sand system to simulate the hot bitumen–coke system at room temperature. During the tests of liquid-jet dispersion throughout the bed, different agglomeration stages are observed at both gas velocities. The critical amount of tert-butanol in the liquid jets that could lead to severe agglomeration of the bed materials (poor fluidization) at GLR = 1% is about 10 wt% at the low fluidizing gas velocity (3.9U_mf) and 18 wt% at the high gas velocity (5.9U_mf). This study provides a new approach for on-line monitoring of bed agglomeration during liquid injection to guarantee perfect contact between the atomized liquid and the bed particles.     

Subcooled forced convection film boiling over a vertical flat plate embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium

The problem of subcooled forced convection film boiling on a vertical flat plate embedded in a porous medium was attacked exploiting similarity transformations on the governing equations and boundary conditions in both vapor and liquid layers. Similarity solutions were obtained to investigate the effects of the vapor super-heating and liquid subcooling. The heat transfer groupingNu _x /Ra _x ^1/2 is expressed in terms of a function of three parameters associated with the degree of liquid subcooling (Sub), the degree of vapor superheating (Sup) and the vapor buoyancy effect relative to the liquid forced convection effect (R). It is found that the level ofNu _x /Ra _x ^1/2 increases asSup orR decreases and asSub increases. Furthermore, asymptotic expressions were reduced considering the physical limiting conditions, namely, thin and thick vapor films.     

Combined forced and natural convection in laminar film flow

A mathematical model for the flow and heat transfer in a gravity-driven liquid film is presented, in which the strict Boussinesq approximation is adopted to account for buoyancy. A similarity transformation reduces the governing equations to a coupled set of ordinary differential equations. The resulting two-parameter problem is solved numerically for Prandtl numbers ranging from 1 to 1000. Favourable buoyancy arises when the temperatureT _w of the isothermal surface is lower than the temperatureT ₀ of the incoming fluid, and the principal effects of the aiding buoyancy are to increase the wall shear and heat transfer rate. For unfavourable buoyancy (T _w>T ₀), the buoyancy force and gravity act in opposite directions and the flow in the film boundary layer decelerates, whereas the friction and heat transfer are reduced. The observed effects of buoyancy diminish appreciably for higher Prandtl numbers.     

Anisotropic deformation of thin films comprised of helical nanosprings

We investigate the mechanical anisotropy of thin films that consist of tantalum oxide (Ta₂O₅) helical nanosprings fabricated by dynamic oblique deposition. Not only the vertical but also the lateral stiffness of thin films is evaluated using specimens in which nanosprings are sandwiched between solid Ta₂O₅ layers. Lateral or vertical force is applied to the upper solid layer by a diamond tip built into an AFM. In particular, the lateral stiffness of a nanospring has never been reported before. Apparent shear and Young’s moduli, G′ and E′, of the thin films are 2–3 orders smaller than those of solid Ta₂O₅ film. Ratio E′/G′ of the two different nanosprings is 3.4 and 6.2, and about 2.5 for the solid film. The thin films show strong characteristic anisotropy that the solid one could hardly attain. The stiffness and its anisotropy strongly depend on nanospring shape.     

Counter-current gas–liquid flow in a vertical narrow channel—Liquid film characteristics and flooding phenomena

Results are reported of an experimental investigation of gas–liquid counter-current flow in a vertical rectangular channel with 10 mm gap, at rather short distances from liquid entry. Flooding experiments are carried out using air and various liquids (i.e., water, 1.5% and 2.5% aqueous butanol solutions) at liquid Reynolds numbers Re_L < 350. Visual observations and fast recordings suggest that the onset of flooding at low Re_L (<250) is associated with liquid entrainment from isolated waves, whereas “local bridging” is dominant at the higher Re_L examined in this study. Significant reduction of flooding velocities is observed with decreasing interfacial tension, as expected. Instantaneous film thickness measurements show that under conditions approaching flooding, a sharp increase of the mean film thickness, of mean wave amplitude and of the corresponding RMS values takes place. Film thickness power spectra provide evidence that by increasing gas flow the wave structure is significantly affected; e.g., the dominant wave frequency is drastically reduced. These data are complemented by similar statistical information from instantaneous wall shear stress measurements made with an electrochemical technique. Power spectra of film thickness and of shear stress display similarities indicative of the strong effect of waves on wall stress; additional evidence of the drastic changes in the liquid flow field near the wall due to the imposed gas flow, even at conditions below flooding, is provided by the RMS values of the wall stress. A simple model is presented for predicting the mean film thickness and mean wall shear stress under counter-current gas–liquid flow, below critical flooding velocities.     

Analytical and experimental investigations of the pulsed air–water jet

This paper describes a new way of generating pulsed air–water jet by entraining and mixing air into the cavity of a pulsed water jet nozzle. Based on the theory of hydro-acoustics and fluid dynamics, a theoretical model which describes the frequency characteristic of the pulsed air–water jet is outlined aimed at gaining a better understanding of this nozzle for generating pulses. The calculated result indicates that as the air hold-up increases, the jet oscillation frequency has an abrupt decrease firstly, and then reaches a minimum gradually at α (air hold-up)=0.5, finally it gets increased slightly. Furthermore, a vibration test was conducted to validate the present theoretical result. By this way, the jet oscillation frequency can be obtained by analyzing the vibration acceleration of the equal strength beam affected by the jet impinging. Thereby, it is found that the experimental result shows similar trend with the prediction of the present model. Also, the relationship between vibration acceleration and cavity length for the pulsed water jet follows a similar tendency in accord with the pulsed air–water jet, i.e. there exists a maximum for each curve and the maximum occurs at the ratio of L/d₁ (the ratio of cavity length and upstream nozzle diameter) =2.5 and 2.2, respectively. In addition, experimental results on specimens impinged by the pulsed water jet and pulsed air–water jet show that the erosion depth increases slightly with air addition within a certain range of cavity length. Further, this behavior is very close to the vibration test results. As for erosion volume, the air entrained into the cavity significantly affects the material removal rate.     

Stability of a laminar rivulet liquid flow in a cylindrical duct in the approximation of one-dimensional waves

The problem of the stability of a viscous laminar liquid flow with a liquid free surface in an inclined duct is theoretically considered. Since the dependence of the flow rate on the free-surface height is not monotonic (the highest flow rate in a cylindrical duct is observed at H_*=1.7R), primary attention is given to the region H>H_*. It is proved that there is aw region of instability: for an arbitrarity low Reynolds number, there is a free-surface level above which the flow becomes unstable against one-dimensional disturbances. When the height of the liquid layer is close to the vertical dimension of the duct, the one-dimensional disturbances propagate mainly upstream (for moderate Reynolds numbers). Hence it follows that there is not steady regime of liquid flow from a fully filled duct with an open end. Kutateladze Institute of Thermal Physics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 90–96, May–June, 1999.     

Effects of surfactant on liquid film thickness in the Bretherton problem

The effects of insoluble and soluble surfactant on the motion of a long bubble propagating through a capillary tube are investigated computationally using a finite-difference/front-tracking method. Emphasis is placed on the effects of surfactant on the liquid film thickness between the bubble and the tube wall. The numerical method is designed to solve the evolution equations of the interfacial and bulk surfactant concentrations coupled with the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. A non-linear equation of state is used to relate surface tension coefficient to surfactant concentration at the interface. Computations are first performed for soluble cases and then repeated for the corresponding clean and insoluble cases for a wide range of governing non-dimensional parameters in order to investigate the effects of surfactant and surfactant solubility. The computed film thickness for the clean case is found to be in a good agreement with Taylor’s law indicating the accuracy of the numerical method. We found that both the insoluble and soluble surfactant generally have a thickening effect on the film thickness, which is especially pronounced at low capillary numbers. This thickening effect strengthens with increasing sensitivity of surface tension to interfacial surfactant coverage mainly due to the enhanced Marangoni stresses along the liquid film. It is also observed that film thickening shows a non-monotonic behavior for variations in Peclet number. The validity of insoluble surfactant assumption is assessed for various non-dimensional numbers and it is demonstrated that insoluble assumption is valid only when capillary number is very low, i.e., Ca ≪ 1 and when surface tension is highly sensitive to interfacial surfactant coverage, i.e., the elasticity number is large.