Mixed convection heat transfer from three heated square cylinders in cross-flow at low Reynolds numbers

This paper presents the effects of cross buoyancy and Prandtl number on the flow and heat transfer characteristics around three equal isothermal square cylinders arranged in a staggered configuration within an unconfined medium. Transient two-dimensional numerical simulations are performed with a finite volume code based on the SIMPLEC algorithm in a collocated grid system. The pertinent dimensionless parameters, such as Reynolds, Prandtl and Richardson numbers are considered in the range of 1 ≤ Re ≤ 30, 0.7 ≤ Pr ≤ 100 and 0 ≤ Ri ≤ 1. The representative streamlines, vortex structures and isotherm patterns are presented and discussed. In addition, the overall drag and lift coefficients and average Nusselt numbers are determined to elucidate the effects of Reynolds, Prandtl and Richardson numbers on flow and heat transfer. The flow is observed to be steady for all the ranges of parameters considered. The drag coefficient is found to decrease with Re (for Ri = 0) and Ri at low Pr, whereas it increases with Pr at higher Ri. The lift coefficient decreases with Ri at low Pr and increases with Pr at higher Ri. The time and surface average cylinder Nusselt number is found to increase monotonically with Re as well as Pr while it remains almost insensitive to Ri at low Pr.     

Parametric study of separation and transition characteristics over an airfoil at low Reynolds numbers

Time-resolved surface pressure measurements are used to experimentally investigate characteristics of separation and transition over a NACA 0018 airfoil for the relatively wide range of chord Reynolds numbers from 50,000 to 250,000 and angles of attack from 0° to 21°. The results provide a comprehensive data set of characteristic parameters for separated shear layer development and reveal important dependencies of these quantities on flow conditions. Mean surface pressure measurements are used to explore the variation in separation bubble position, edge velocity in the separated shear layer, and lift coefficients with angle of attack and Reynolds number. Consistent with previous studies, the separation bubble is found to move upstream and decrease in length as the Reynolds number and angle of attack increase. Above a certain angle of attack, the proximity of the separation bubble to the location of the suction peak results in a reduced lift slope compared to that observed at lower angles. Simultaneous measurements of the time-varying component of surface pressure at various spatial locations on the model are used to estimate the frequency of shear layer instability, maximum root-mean-square (RMS) surface pressure, spatial amplification rates of RMS surface pressure, and convection speeds of the pressure fluctuations in the separation bubble. A power-law correlation between the shear layer instability frequency and Reynolds number is shown to provide an order of magnitude estimate of the central frequency of disturbance amplification for various airfoil geometries at low Reynolds numbers. Maximum RMS surface pressures are found to agree with values measured in separation bubbles over geometries other than airfoils, when normalized by the dynamic pressure based on edge velocity. Spatial amplification rates in the separation bubble increase with both Reynolds number and angle of attack, causing the accompanying decrease in separation bubble length. Values of the convection speed of pressure fluctuations in the separated shear layer are measured to be between 35 and 50% of the edge velocity, consistent with predictions of linear stability theory for separated shear layers.     

Flow past a square cylinder at low Reynolds numbers

Results are presented for the flow past a stationary square cylinder at zero incidence for Reynolds number, Re ? 150. A stabilized finite‐element formulation is employed to discretize the equations of incompressible fluid flow in two‐dimensions. For the first time, values of the laminar separation Reynolds number, Re_s, and separation angle, θ_s, at Re_s are predicted. Also, the variation of θ_s with Re is presented. It is found that the steady separation initiates at Re = 1.15. Contrary to the popular belief that separation originates at the rear sharp corners, it is found to originate from the base point, i.e. θ_s=180^° at Re = Re_s. For Re > 5, θ_s approaches the limit of 135 ^°. The length of the separation bubble increases approximately linearly with increasing Re. The drag coefficient varies as Re^?0.66. Flow characteristics at Re ? 40 are also presented for elliptical cylinders of aspect ratios 0.2, 0.5, 0.8 and 1 (circle) having the same characteristic dimension as the square and major axis oriented normal to the free‐stream. Compared with a circular cylinder, the flow separates at a much lower Re from a square cylinder leading to the formation of a bigger wake (larger bubble length and width). Consequently, at a given Re, the drag on a square cylinder is more than the drag of a circular cylinder. This suggests that a cylinder with square section is more bluff than the one with circular section. Among all the cylinder shapes studied, the square cylinder with sharp corners generates the largest amount of drag. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Velocity measurements in a plane turbulent air jet at moderate Reynolds numbers

An experimental investigation of the moderate Reynolds number plane air jets was undertaken and the effect of the jet Reynolds number on the turbulent flow structure was determined. The Reynolds number, which was defined by the jet exit conditions, was varied between 1000 and 7000. Other initial conditions, such as the initial turbulence intensity, were kept constant throughout the experiments. Both hot-wire and laser Doppler anemometry were used for the velocity measurements. In the moderate Reynolds number regime, the turbulent flow structure is in transition. The average size and the number of the large scale of turbulence (per unit length of jet) was unaffected by the Reynolds number. A broadening of the turbulent spectra with increasing Reynolds number was observed. This indicated that there is a decrease in the strength of the large eddies resulting from a reduction of the relative energy available to them. This diminished the jet mixing with the ambient as the Reynolds number increased. Higher Reynolds numbers led to lower jet dilution and spread rates. On the other hand, at higher Reynolds numbers the dependence of jet mixing on Reynolds number became less significant as the turbulent flow structure developed into a self-preserving state.List of symbols b _u velocity half-width of the jet - C _u, C _u,0 constants defining the velocity decay rate - D nozzle width - E _u one dimensional power spectrum of velocity fluctuations - f frequency - K _u, K _u,0 constants defining the jet spread rate - k wavenumber (2f/U) - L longitudinal integral scale - R ₁₁ correlation function - r separation distance - Re jet Reynolds number (U ₀ D/v) - St Strouhal number (fD/U ₀) - t time - U axial component of the mean velocity - U _m mean velocity on the jet axis - U ₀ mean velocity at the jet exit - u the rms of u - u fluctuating component of the axial velocity - V lateral component of the mean velocity - fluctuating component of the lateral velocity - x axial distance from the nozzle exit - y lateral distance from the jet axis - z spanwise distance from the jet axis - v kinematic viscosity - time lag A version of this paper was presented as paper no. 86-0038 at the AIAA 24th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno NV, USA, January 1986     

Free and confined jets at low Reynolds numbers

Free jets, and jets with tubular confinements, are investigated in the jet Reynolds number regime 80 Re_j 1000 being of interest for micro-jet pumps, among other applications. For issuing the jets, conventional (single-hole) nozzles as well as dual-hole nozzles of a particular design are used. Both flow visualization and LDA measurement indicate that, in agreement with previous findings, the jets issuing from conventional nozzles remain laminar up to large distances from the orifice. Thus there is but little entrainment of ambient fluid, and the performance of conventional nozzles in micro-jet pumps is rather poor. The dual-hole nozzles, on the other hand, are found to enforce transition to turbulent flow near the orifices. As a result, the entrainment rate is considerably increased, and the performance of jet pumps is improved when the dual-hole nozzles are applied. The experimental data are found to be in fair agreement with predictions based on mass and momentum balances.     

Primary and secondary vortical structures contribution in the entrainment of low Reynolds number jet flows

Particle image velocimetry measurements and time-resolved visualization are used for the reconstruction of the Kelvin–Helmholtz vortex passing in the near field of a round jet and of a lobed jet. For the round jet, the entrainment is produced in the braid region, where streamwise structures develop. In the Kelvin–Helmholtz ring, entrainment is dramatically affected by the attenuation of the streamwise structures. As for the lobed jet, the special geometry introduces a transverse shear leading to a breakdown of the Kelvin–Helmholtz structures into “ring segments.” Streamwise structures continuously develop at the resulting discontinuity regions and control the lobed jet self-induction. In this case, the entrainment rate is less affected by the primary structures dynamics.     

Measurements of turbulent flow in a channel at low Reynolds numbers

Normal and streamwise components of the velocity fields of turbulent flow in a channel at low Reynolds numbers have been measured with laser-Doppler techniques. The experiments duplicate the conditions used in current direct numerical simulations of channel flow, and good, but not exact, agreement is found for single-point moments through fourth order. In order to eliminate LDV velocity bias and to measure velocity spectra, the mean time interval between LDV signals was adjusted to be much smaller than the smallest turbulence time scale. Spectra of the streamwise and normal components of velocity at locations spanning the channel are presented.     

Spin-down of a fluid in a low cylinder at large Reynolds numbers

The problem of the axisymmetric motion of a fluid between infinite disks is solved by the method of matched asymptotic expansions without introducing model assumptions. For the strongly nonlinear stage of spin-down solutions are found that correspond to initial states different from rigid-body rotation, when the boundary layer is not a Kármán layer. The experimental results obtained are in qualitative and quantitative agreement with the theory.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 39–46, May–June, 1986.The authors wish to thank A. M. Obukhov and F. V. Dolzhanskii for formulating the problem and for constructive discussion.     

Magnetohydrodynamic flow past a drop at low Reynolds and Hartmann numbers

The flow of an electrically conductive liquid past a solid spherical particle at low Reynolds and Hartmann numbers in longitudinal and transverse magnetic fields was first investigated in [1,2]. The effect of a weak magnetic field on the strength of the resistance of a conductive drop in a dielectric medium was considered in [3]. In the present paper we consider the motion of a conductive liquid drop in an electrically conductive medium and calculate the strength of the resistance in the Stokes approximation for an arbitrary orientation of the uniform magnetic field and in the Oseen approximation for the case in which the direction of the magnetic field coincides with the direction of the oncoming stream. As in the previous studies, we do not consider the possibility of the formation of a double layer on the interface between the phases.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 19–25, November–December, 1978.The authors are grateful to G. I. Petrov and the participants in the seminar they conducted for their comments on the work.     

Mechanism of instability of a single bubble at low Reynolds numbers

The mechanism of shape instability of a bubble moving at low Reynolds numbers is analyzed by theoretical and experimental studies of axisymmetric perturbations of the spherical interface. It is shown that, under such conditions, deformation of the initially spherical bubble is due to the development of Rayleigh-Taylor instability upon reaching a critical Bond number.     

The development of a plane laminar flow at low Reynolds numbers

Summary The development of a plane Poiseuille flow at low Reynolds numbers is studied; given any velocity distribution in the section x=0, it is possible to evaluate its evolution along the direction of motion, by means of quite simple calculation. A numerical example is also given.

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Sommario Si esamina l'evoluzione del profilo di velocità in moto piano laminare a bassi numeri di Reynolds. Assegnata una qualsiasi distribuzione di velocità nella sezione x=0, è possibile calcolare come questa si modifichi lungo il percorso. Si fornisce un esempio numerico.

     

Rayleigh scattering temperature measurements in a plane turbulent air jet at moderate Reynolds numbers

Rayleigh scattering temperature measurements were made in a slightly heated plane jet at various Reynolds numbers and the effect of this parameter on the temperature field was determined. The axial and lateral distributions of the mean and rms temperature as well as the temperature spectra along the jet axis were determined. Results indicated that increasing Reynolds numbers led to lower levels of rms temperature and jet dilution in the moderate Reynolds number regime (between 700 and 2500). It was also found that slower spread rates of the thermal jet occured with larger Reynolds numbers in this regime.List of symbols b _T temperature half-width of the jet - C calibration constant for Rayleigh scattering optics - C _T, C _T,0 constants defining the temperature decay rate - D nozzle width - E _T power spectrum of temperature fluctuations - f frequency - I _L laser light intensity - I _R Rayleigh signal intensity - K _T, K _T,0 constants defining the jet spread rate - k wavenumber (2f/ U) - N total molecular number density - Re Reynolds number (U ₀D/) - T mean excess temperature - T _m mean excess temperature on the jet axis - T ₀ mean excess temperature at jet exit - T fluctuating temperature - U local mean velocity - U ₀ mean velocity at the jet exit - x axial distance from the nozzle exit - y lateral distance from the jet axis - z spanwise distance from the jet axis - Rayleigh scattering cross section - density - kinematic viscosity A version of this paper was presented as paper no 86-WA/ HT-98 at the 1986 ASME Winter Annual Meeting.