Numerical modelling of rotating tangential layers (jets) in shells under strong uniform magnetic field

A numerical study of tangential layers in steady‐state magnetohydrodynamic rotating flows is presented using CFD to solve the inductionless governing equations. The analysis considers two basic flow configurations. In the first, a fluid is enclosed in a cylinder with electrically perfect conducting walls and the flow is driven by a small rotating, conducting disk. In the second, a flow is considered in a spherical shell with an inner rotating sphere. The fluid in both cases is subjected to an external axial uniform magnetic field. The results show that these flows exhibit two different types of flow cores separated from each other by a tangential layer parallel to the axis of rotation. The inner core follows a solid‐body rotation while the outer is quasistagnant. A counter‐rotating jet is developed in the tangential layer between the cores. The characteristics of the tangential layer and the properties of the meridional motion are determined for a wide range of Hartmann numbers. Distributions of angular velocity of circumferential flow and electric potential are obtained and the results are compared with those of analytic methods. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bending and vibration analyses of a rotating sandwich cylindrical shell considering nanocomposite core and piezoelectric layers subjected to thermal and magnetic fields

The bending and free vibration of a rotating sandwich cylindrical shell are analyzed with the consideration of the nanocomposite core and piezoelectric layers subjected to thermal and magnetic fields by use of the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) of shells. The governing equations of motion and the corresponding boundary conditions are established through the variational method and the Maxwell equation. The closed-form solutions of the rotating sandwich cylindrical shell are obtained. The effects of geometrical parameters, volume fractions of carbon nanotubes, applied voltages on the inner and outer piezoelectric layers, and magnetic and thermal fields on the natural frequency, critical angular velocity, and deflection of the sandwich cylindrical shell are investigated. The critical angular velocity of the nanocomposite sandwich cylindrical shell is obtained. The results show that the mechanical properties, e.g., Young’s modulus and thermal expansion coefficient, for the carbon nanotube and matrix are functions of temperature, and the magnitude of the critical angular velocity can be adjusted by changing the applied voltage.     

The influence of rotation on turbulent flow and heat transfer in an annulus between independently rotating tubes

Experimental and numerical investigations of turbulent flow and heat transfer have been performed in a concentric annulus between independently rotating tubes. Numerical predictions, applying a Reynolds stress turbulence model, are compared with experimental fluid flow and heat transfer results for the case of a heated outer tube and an adiabatic inner tube. Compared to the above mentioned boundary conditions for the conservation equation of energy, differences in heat transfer in case of a heated inner tube and an adiabatic outer one, are examined by analysis, applying a mixing length turbulence model. Numerical investigations with both kinds of models about the influence of annulus radius ratio make evident that due to different superimpositions of centrifugal force and additional shear stress there is a wide variation of effects on fluid flow and heat transfer caused by the rotation of the inner and the outer tube.     

Spherical Couette flow of a viscoelastic fluid – Part III: A study of outer sphere rotation

A study is carried out for the flow of viscoelastic fluid contained between a stationary inner sphere and a rotating outer sphere. A sequence of flow transitions that is unique to viscoelastic fluids is observed in the experiments. It is found that a `traveling cell', with roll-cell-like characteristics, is generated in the polar region, and then propagates toward the equatorial region when a dimensionless parameter (a measure of strength of the elasticity against the shear viscosity) is increased. In order to investigate the structure and mechanism of the traveling cell, a numerical analysis is performed using a constitutive equation of the Giesekus model. Results of the numerical simulation revealed that the elasticity of the fluid strongly influences the flow in the polar region, where the inertia effect of the outer sphere rotation is minimal, destabilizing the flow forming a pair of weak vortices at the polar region. It was further shown that the pair travel toward the equatorial region in a different manner depending upon the speed of rotation.     

Rotation effects on a fully-developed turbulent pipe flow

A fully-developed turbulent pipe flow is allowed to pass through a rotating pipe section, whose axis of rotation coincides with the pipe axis. At the exit end of the rotating section, the flow passes into a stationary pipe. As a result of the relaxation of surface rotation, the turbulent flow near the pipe wall is affected by extra turbulence production created by the large circumferential shear strain set up by the rapid decrease of the rotational velocity to zero at the wall. However, the flow in the most part of the pipe is absent of this extra turbulence production because the circumferential strain is zero as a result of the solid-body rotation imparted to the flow by the rotating pipe section. The combined effect of these two phenomena on the flow is investigated in detail using hot-wire anemometry techniques. Both mean and turbulence fields are measured, together with the wall shear and the turbulent burst behavior at the wall. A number of experiments at different rotational speeds are carried out. Therefore, the effects of rotation on the behavior of wall shear, turbulent burst at the wall, turbulence production and the near-wall flow can be documented and analysed in detail.     

Steady Flow Generated by a Core Oscillating in a Rotating Spherical Cavity

Steady flow generated by oscillations of an inner solid core in a fluid-filled rotating spherical cavity is experimentally studied. The core with density less than the fluid density is located near the center of the cavity and is acted upon by a centrifugal force. The gravity field directed perpendicular to the rotation axis leads to a stationary displacement of the core from the rotation axis. As a result, in the frame of reference attached to the cavity, the core performs circular oscillation with frequency equal to the rotation frequency, and its center moves along a circular trajectory in the equatorial plane around the center of the cavity. For the differential rotation of the core to be absent, one of the poles of the core is connected to the nearest pole of the cavity with a torsionally elastic, flexible fishing line. It is found that the oscillation of the core generates axisymmetric azimuthal fluid flow in the cavity which has the form of nested liquid columns rotating with different angular velocities. Comparison with the case of a free oscillating core which performs mean differential rotation suggests the existence of two mechanisms of flow generation (due to the differential rotation of the core in the Ekman layer and due to the oscillation of the core in the oscillating boundary layers).     

MODELLING AND CALCULATION OF THE TURBULENT BOUNDARY LAYER ON A ROTATING CYLINDER SURFACE WITH STRONG SUCTION 1)

提出了湍流边界层的一种简单、快速计算方法, 用以求解强吸气作用下旋转圆筒表面边界层流动. 首先, 理论分析了同心圆筒间的旋转流体运动, 外筒静止、内筒旋转且为多孔吸气条件. 强吸气情况下旋转流动主要表现为内筒壁面附近的边界层流动, 基于这一事实得到了周向速度分布的解析表达式. 其次, 通过引入新参数扩展Cebeci-Smith代数湍流模型, 使其能考虑流线曲率、壁面吸气、低Reynolds数效应等因素. 针对这些因素的综合影响, 采用解析修正和经验参数对模型进行调整. 同时, 基于Reynolds应力湍流模型的仿真结果, 校准代数湍流模型中的经验参数. 最后, 给出基于广义Cebeci-Smith湍流模型的旋转壁面边界层流动的迭代算法, 该算法适用于需要特殊迭代过程的轴向及周向流动均匀情况. 计算了不同旋转速度和吸气强度组合工况下的边界层流动, 其周向速度和湍流强度分布与基于Reynolds应力湍流模型的计算结果非常接近. 并且表明, 当Reynolds应力湍流模型数值模拟预测内筒边界层为稳定层流时, 该方法也再现了相同初始条件下的层流边界层.     

强吸气旋转圆筒壁面湍流边界层建模及计算

提出了湍流边界层的一种简单、快速计算方法, 用以求解强吸气作用下旋转圆筒表面边界层流动. 首先, 理论分析了同心圆筒间的旋转流体运动, 外筒静止、内筒旋转且为多孔吸气条件. 强吸气情况下旋转流动主要表现为内筒壁面附近的边界层流动, 基于这一事实得到了周向速度分布的解析表达式. 其次, 通过引入新参数扩展Cebeci-Smith代数湍流模型, 使其能考虑流线曲率、壁面吸气、低Reynolds数效应等因素. 针对这些因素的综合影响, 采用解析修正和经验参数对模型进行调整. 同时, 基于Reynolds应力湍流模型的仿真结果, 校准代数湍流模型中的经验参数. 最后, 给出基于广义Cebeci-Smith湍流模型的旋转壁面边界层流动的迭代算法, 该算法适用于需要特殊迭代过程的轴向及周向流动均匀情况. 计算了不同旋转速度和吸气强度组合工况下的边界层流动, 其周向速度和湍流强度分布与基于Reynolds应力湍流模型的计算结果非常接近. 并且表明, 当Reynolds应力湍流模型数值模拟预测内筒边界层为稳定层流时, 该方法也再现了相同初始条件下的层流边界层.      

Unsteady laminar MHD flow and heat transfer in the stagnation region of an impulsively spinning and translating sphere in the presence of buoyancy forces

 An analysis has been carried out to determine the development of momentum and heat transfer occurring in the laminar boundary layer of an incompressible viscous electrically conducting fluid in the stagnation region of a rotating sphere caused by the impulsive motion of the free stream velocity and the angular velocity of the sphere. At the same time the wall temperature is also suddenly increased. This analysis includes both short and long-time solutions. The partial differential equations governing the flow are solved numerically using an implicit finite-difference scheme. There is a smooth transition from the short-time solution to the long-time solution. The surface shear stresses in the longitudinal and rotating directions and the heat transfer are found to increase with time, magnetic field, buoyancy parameter and the rotation parameter. Received on 27 January 2000     

Convective stability of a nonisothermal fluid in a rotating horizontal coaxial gap

The thermal fluid convection in a coaxial horizontal gap uniformly rotating about its axis is investigated. The threshold above which convective flows are excited and the structure of these flows are studied. It is found that convection ensues irrespective of whether the inner or outer boundary temperature is higher. Convection manifests itself in the threshold development of rolls elongated in the direction of the rotation axis and is determined by two different mechanisms. If the layer is heated from outside, the centrifugal convection mechanism plays a leading part and the diameter of the convective rolls is comparable with the layer thickness. If the higher is the temperature of the inner boundary of the layer, the centrifugal inertia force has a stabilizing effect and convection development is related with the action of thermal vibrational mechanism. The latter is determined by gravity-generated oscillations of the nonisothermal fluid relative to the cavity. The wave number of the vibrational convective structures is several times smaller than under centrifugal convection. The results obtained broaden our understanding of thermal convection in systems rotating in external static force fields.     

Experimental investigation of turbulent entrainment in an annulus with moving sidewalls

The establishment of a turbulent mixed layer in a two-layer stratified shear flow, and the rate of entrainment into that layer were studied experimentally in a modified annulus. The modification of the conventional annulus was made by replacing the upper rotating screen with inner rotating sidewalls, extending over the upper half of the channel, so that the flow in the upper layer was nearly uniform and almost laminar, while the bottom layer was quiescent. Vertical density profile measurements were conducted using single electrode conductivity probes. The flow was visualized during the various stages of the experiment using the hydrogen bubble technique.After the start of the sidewalls rotation, the upper layer accelerates from rest, and consequently a transition process is taking place during which the initial density interface between the two layers is developed into a turbulent mixed layer. This turbulent layer is bounded by two sharp interfaces, each separating it from an outer non-turbulent zone. The generation of this five-layer structure seemed to be dominated by instabilities activated by the velocity difference between the upper and lower layer.Once a turbulent mixed layer is formed, entrainment of nonturbulent fluid into that layer is taking place causing its thickness to increase continuously. Depending on the overall Richardson number, based on the channel width, the slope of the entrainment law curve was found to have two different values, each indicating the dominance of a different source of turbulent energy production. For relatively low Richardson numbers, the slope is close to -1.8, implying that the velocity shear across each interface contributes significantly to the entrainment. On the other hand, for larger Richardson numbers the slope is about -1.25, in agreement with previous results of shear-free entrainment experiments.The measured velocity profiles indicate that as long as the mixed layer is not too thick, the radial inhomogeneities are small and the flow may be considered as nearly one-dimensional. It seems, therefore, that for the understanding of entrainment processes occurring in realistic stratified flows, the modified annulus is a more reliable tool than the conventional one.     

Visualization and two-color DPIV measurements of flows in circular and square coaxial nozzles

 High-resolution, reactive Mie scattering laser-sheet visualizations, two-color digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) and thermal anemometry measurements in flows generated by equivalent coaxial circular and square jets are presented. Visualization results were obtained for three square, coaxial configurations, and a reference circular coaxial nozzle, at two Reynolds numbers of the outer jet (19,000 and 29,000) and for inner-to-outer jet velocity ratios of 0.15, 0.22, and 0.3. These indicated that the internal unmixed region diminished with decreasing velocity ratio. Strong evidence of unsteady recirculation and back-flow was observed at the end of the core of the inner jet, for the low velocity ratios. Comparisons between circular and square jet configurations indicated considerable mixing enhancement when square nozzles were used. Low-coherence, organized large-scale structure was evident from the visualizations and DPIV measurements near the origin of the inner mixing-region shear layers, and more so in the core region of the near field. These observations were confirmed by velocity spectra, which displayed peaks corresponding to a free shear-layer instability mode in the inner mixing-region shear layers, and a wake-type mode in the core region where the mean flow has a wake-like character. Although some large-scale structure was observed in the outer mixing layer during the visualizations, this was found to be incoherent on the basis of the DPIV measurements and the velocity spectra. It is noted that no axis-switching phenomena were observed in the square nozzle flows examined here. This is attributed to the absence of an organized structure in the outer shear layer, which was initially highly turbulent, and the weakly coherent nature of the organized structure observed in the inner mixing-region near field. Received: 2 November 1998/Accepted: 8 September 2000     

Flow and heat transfer in a rotating cavity with a radial inflow of fluid Part 1: The flow structure

Flow visualization has been conducted in a rotating cavity, comprising two steel discs and a peripheral polycarbonate shroud, for dimensionless flow rates of air up to |C_w|8000 and rotational Reynolds number up to Re_φ10⁶. For all the experiments, the ratio of the inner to outer radii of the discs was 0.1 and the ratio of the axial clearance between the discs to their outer radii was 0.133; five different shroud geometries were tested. The flow visualization has confirmed that the flow structure comprises a source region near the shroud, laminar or turbulent Ekman layers on the discs, a sink layer near the centre of the cavity, and an interior core of rotating fluid. Above a certain flow rate, this structure was found to be unstable; heating one disc tended to stabilize the flow. For isothermal flow, measurements of the size of the source region were in good agreement with values predicted from a simple theoretical model.     

Two parallel plane jets: mean flow and effects of acoustic excitation

 The flow field generated by unventilated two parallel jets has been investigated using LDA. The two nozzles each with an aspect ratio of 24 were separated by 4.25 nozzle widths. Results show that a recirculation zone with sub-atmospheric static pressure was bounded by the inner shear layers of the individual jets and the nozzles plate. It was shown that the two-dimensionality of the flow was greatly enhanced by the installation of side plates and that the flow was independent of Reynolds number between 8300 and 19300. Acoustic excitation introduced at the outer shear layer mode has been shown to reduce the size of the potential core, recirculation zone, merging length and combined length but enhance jet spreading, streamwise velocity decay and volume entrainment. Received: 18 November 1994/Accepted: 26 July 1996     

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.     

Liquid film break-up in a model of a prefilming airblast nozzle

 The paper describes the atomisation process of a liquid in an axissymmetric shear layer formed through the interaction of turbulent coaxial jets (respectively, inner and outer jets), with and without swirl, in a model airblast prefilming atomiser. The atomisation process and spray quality was studied using different visualisation techniques, namely laser shadowgraphy and digital image acquisition. The experiments were conducted for different liquid flow rates, Reynolds numbers ranging from 6600 to 66000 and 27300 to 92900 for the inner and outer air flows, respectively, for different outer flow swirl levels, and two liquid film thicknesses −0.2 and 0.7 mm. All the tests were carried out at atmospheric pressure and using water. The results include the analysis of the film structure at break-up and of the break-up length, and suggest that the deterioration of the liquid film close to the atomising edge exhibits a periodic behaviour and is mainly dependent on the inner air velocity. Film thickness strongly affects the time and length scales of the break-up process for the lower range of air velocities. For higher inner air velocities, the break-up length and time become less dependent on liquid flow rate and initial film thickness. Received: 14 March 1997/Accepted: 27 October 1997     

Self-similar solution of the unsteady flow in the stagnation point region of a rotating sphere with a magnetic field

The unsteady flow and heat transfer of a viscous incompressible electrically conducting fluid in the forward stagnation point region of a rotating sphere in the presence of a magnetic field are investigated in this study. The unsteadiness in the flow field is caused by the velocity at the edge of the boundary layer and the angular velocity of the rotating sphere, both varying continuously with time. The system of ordinary differential equations governing the flow is solved numerically. For some particular cases, an analytical solution is also obtained. It is found that the surface shear stresses in x- and y-directions and the surface heat transfer increase with the acceleration, the magnetic and the rotation parameters whether the magnetic field is fixed relative to the fluid or body, except that the surface shear stress in x-direction and the surface heat transfer decrease with increasing the magnetic parameter when the magnetic field is fixed relative to the body. For a certain value of the acceleration parameter, the surface shear stress in the x-direction vanishes while the surface shear stress in the y-direction and the surface heat transfer remain finite. Also, below a certain value of the acceleration parameter, reverse flow occurs in the x-component of the velocity profile. Received on 18 May 1998     

Effect of system rotating on turbulent boundary layer flow

This paper experimentally investigated the effect of rotating on the turbulent boundary layer flow using hot-wire. The experiments were completed in a rotating rig with a vertical axis and four measured positions along the streamwise direction in channel, which focuses on the flow flied in the rotating channel. The rotating effects on velocity profile, wall shear stress and semi-logarithmic mean velocity profile are discussed in this paper. The results indicated that: due to the Coriolis force induced by rotating, the phenomenon of velocity deficit happens near the leading side. The velocity deficit near the leading side, do not increase monotonically with the increase of Ro. The trend of the velocity deficit near the leading side is also affected by the normal component of pressure gradient, which is another important force in the cross-section of the rotating channel. The wall shear stress near the trailing side is larger than that on the leading side, and the semi-logarithmic mean velocity profile is also different under rotating effects. The phenomenon reveals that the effect of rotation penetrates into the logarithm region, and the flow near the leading side tends to turn into laminar under the effect of rotation. The rotation correction of logarithmic law is performed in current work, which can be used in the wall function of CFD to increase the simulating accuracy at rotating conditions.     

An experimental investigation of a large-scale structure of a two-dimensional backward-facing step by using advanced multi-point LDV

Measurements of spatio–temporal velocity fields at the separated shear layer and reattachment region of a two-dimensional backward-facing step flow are carried out simultaneously using a multi-point LDV. The objective of this paper is to clarify experimentally the structure of a large-scale structure of this flow field using a space and time correlation and conditional average. From the results of the correlation of the velocity fluctuation, the moving path of the vortex shedding from the separated shear layer to the reattachment region exhibits two patterns which it moves to near the wall region or the middle of the step height at the reattachment region. Especially, it moves to near the wall region when it grows larger in the separated shear layer. Moreover, the turbulence concerned with reattachment phenomenon transports from the reattachment region to a separated shear layer by recirculation flow. According to these transports of turbulence, a model for large-scale fluctuation is proposed as a self-excitation motion.