Application of fourth‒order difference method to prediction of turbulence control in two‒dimensional channel with surface roughness

The fourth‒order finite difference method is combined with the vorticity–streamfunction formulation in generalized co‒ordinates. Direct numerical simulations are performed for channel flows with and without surface roughness at a Reynolds number of 10⁴. The present results are in good agreement with those of the pseudospectral method with respect to the flow in a smooth channel. It is shown that the present method predicts well the precise change in the flow with the channel length and roughness height. The turbulence is generally weakened by the roughness. Laminarization is also accomplished under the appropriate condition. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of oxidation and surface roughness on contact angle

Contact angle is known to be a parameter that effects boiling. This study was undertaken to measure contact angle of high and low surface tension fluids on copper and aluminum surfaces.Data were taken for polished, oxidized, and rough surfaces. A simple, yet fairly accurate method of measuring the static equilibrium contact angle of a solid/liquid interface is presented. The principles of a line light source and tilting plate were modified and then combined in the design of this apparatus. The angles obtained and their variation with the solid surface properties were in good agreement with previously published data. The contact angle of distilled water o of the organic fluids and refrigerants tested were in the range of 2–5°. Roughness and oxidation reduce the contact angle. If the depth of the roughness is less than 0.5 μm contact angle. The apparatus is fairly simple in construction, is inexpensive, and has good reproductibity. The measured angles were then compared to those measured with the sessile drop method.     

Particle tracking method for measurements of turbulence properties in a curved channel

The turbulence properties of a curved channel flow have been measured by particle tracking method. The results reveal some characteristics of the structure for wall turbulence.     

Application of a vortex method to free surface flows

Vortex methods have found wide applications in various practical problems. The use of vortex methods in free surface flow problems, however, is still very limited. This paper demonstrates a vortex method for practical computation of non-linear free surface flows produced by moving bodies. The method is a potential flow formulation which uses the exact non-linear free surface boundary condition at the exact location of the instantaneous free surface. The position of the free surface, on which vortices are distributed, is updated using a Lagrangian scheme following the fluid particles on the free surface. The vortex densities are updated by the non-linear dynamic boundary condition, derived from the Euler equations, with an iterative Lagrangian numerical scheme. The formulation is tested numerically for a submerged circular cylinder in unsteady translation. The iteration is shown to converge for all cases. The results of the unsteady simulations agree well with classical linearized solutions. The stability of the method is also discussed.     

Simulation of sudden-expansion and swirling gas-particle flows using a two-fluid particle-wall collision model with consideration of the wall roughness

A two-fluid particle-wall collision model with consideration of wall roughness is proposed. It takes into account the effects of the friction, restitution and in particular the wall roughness, and hence the redistribution of Reynolds stress in different directions, the absorption of turbulent energy from the mean motion and the attenuation of particle motion by the wall. The proposed model is used to simulate sudden-expansion and swirling gas-particle flows and is validated by comparing with expermental results. The results show that the proposed model gives better results than those obtained by the presently used zero-gradient condition. Hence, it is suggested that the proposed model should be used as the wall boundary condition for the particle phase in place of the presently used boundary condition. The project supported by the Special Funds for the Major State Basic Research, China (G-1999-0222-08)     

Effects of inlet conditions and surface roughness on the performance of transitions between square and rectangular ducts of the same cross-sectional area

A study has been made of the effects of inlet conditions and surface roughness on the performance of transitions between square and rectangular ducts of the same cross-sectional area. The conditions at entry were varied by using different approach lengths of straight duct and by means of a square screen of woven wire cloth. The surface roughening was accomplished by coating the surface of the transition with graded waterproof silicon carbide paper, whose surface roughness was measured with a Talysurf 4 instrument. All tests were run at Reynolds number 10⁵.

The results indicate that the static pressure loss coefficient significantly increases as the inlet boundary layer thickness increases. This variation is a function of aspect ratio at the rectangular end; the loss coefficient rises as the aspect ratio falls. The pressure drop slightly increases when the wall surface is roughened and is higher at low aspect ratios.     

Two-phase flow distribution of air–water annular flow in a parallel flow heat exchanger

The air and water flow distribution are experimentally studied for a round header – flat tube geometry simulating a parallel flow heat exchanger. The number of branch flat tube is 30. The effects of tube outlet direction, tube protrusion depth as well as mass flux, and quality are investigated. The flow at the header inlet is identified as annular. For the downward flow configuration, the water flow distribution is significantly affected by the tube protrusion depth. For flush-mounted configuration, most of the water flows through frontal part of the header. As the protrusion depth increases, more water is forced to the rear part of the header. The effect of mass flux or quality is qualitatively the same as that of the protrusion depth. Increase of the mass flux or quality forces the water to rear part of the header. For the upward flow configuration, however, most of the water flows through rear part of the header. The protrusion depth, mass flux, or quality does not significantly alter the flow pattern. Possible explanations are provided based on the flow visualization results. Negligible difference on the water flow distribution was observed between the parallel and the reverse flow configuration.     

Jet impingement onto a cylindrical cavity: consideration of annular nozzle cone angles,and cavity diameter

In the present study, gas jet emerging from an annular nozzle and impinging onto a cylindrical cavity is considered. The geometric configuration of the nozzle is varied in the simulations. Air is used as impinging gas while stainless steel is considered as workpiece material. Reynolds turbulence model is accommodated to account for the turbulence. A numerical scheme employing a control volume approach is used to simulate the flow field. Heat transfer characteristic and shear stress distribution around the cavity are computed. It is found that outer cone angle of the annular nozzle influences the heat transfer rates from the cavity wall. The flow structure around the cavity changes significantly with increasing cavity diameter. Moreover, increasing cavity depth results in stagnation zone moving into the cavity.     

Numerical and experimental study of driven flow in a polar cavity

A numerical and an experimental study of the flow of an incompressible fluid in a polar cavity is presented. The experiments included flow visualization, in two perpendicular planes, and quantitative measurements of the velocity field by a laser Doppler anemometer. Measurements were done for two ranges of Reynolds numbers; about 60 and about 350. The stream function-vorticity form of the governing equations was approximated by upwind or central finite-differences. Both types of finite-difference approximations were solved by a multi-grid method. Numerical solutions were computed on a sequence of grids and the relative accuracy of the solutions was studied. Our most accurate numerical solutions had an estimated error of 0.1 per cent and 1 per cent for Re = 60 and Re = 350, respectively. It was also noted that the solution to the second order finite difference equations was more accurate, compared to the solution to the first order equations, only if fine enough meshes were used. The possibility of using extrapolations to improve accuracy was also considered. Extrapolated solutions were found to be valid only if solutions computed on fine enough meshes were used. The numerical and the experimental results were found to be in very good agreement.     

The effect of surface condition and rotation on film / transition boiling from a sphere

The effects of liquid subcooling and surface condition on transition boiling heat transfer from a rotating surface were investigated in a series of experiments in which Freon 113 was boiled on a spinning sphere. In addition to the usual thermal measurements, the boiling behavior in the transition regime was studied by visual means. It was found that the shape of the system's boiling curve was very dependent on the parameters in question. Hydrodynamic instabilities created in the film boiling regime by the rotation of the sphere were carried on to the transition and nucleate boiling regimes of the boiling curve. Boiling curves exhibiting more than one peak flux were obtained.     

The effect of two-way coupling and inter-particle collisions on turbulence modulation in a vertical channel flow

Turbulence modulation due to its interaction with dispersed solid particles in a downward fully developed channel flow was studied. The Eulerian framework was used for the gas-phase, whereas the Lagrangian approach was used for the particle-phase. The steady-state equations of conservation of mass and momentum were used for the gas-phase, and the effect of turbulence on the flow-field was included via the standard k–ε model. The particle equation of motion included the drag, the Saffman lift and the gravity forces. Turbulence dispersion effect on the particles was simulated as a continuous Gaussian random field. The effects of particles on the flow were modeled by appropriate source terms in the momentum, k and ε equations. Particle–particle collisions and particle–wall collisions were accounted for in these simulations. Gas-phase velocities and turbulence kinetic energy in the presence of 2–100% mass loadings of two particle classes (50 μm glass and 70 μm copper) were evaluated, and the results were compared with the available experimental data and earlier numerical results. The simulation results showed that when the inter-particle collisions were important and was included in the computational model, the fluid turbulence was attenuated. The level of turbulence attenuation increased with particle mass loading, particle Stokes number, and the distance from the wall. When the inter-particle collisions were negligible and/or was neglected in the model, the fluid turbulence was augmented for the range of particle sizes considered.     

Natural convection of air in a square cavity: A bench mark numerical solution

Details are given of the computational method used to obtain an accurate solution of the equations describing two-dimensional natural convection in a square cavity with differentially heated side walls. Second-order, central difference approximations were used. Mesh refnement and extrapolation led to solutions for 10³?Ra?10 ⁶ which are believed to be accurate to better than 1 per cent at the highest Rayleigh number and down to one-tenth of that at the lowest value.     

Impact of a spherical rigid body on the surface of a cavity in a compressible liquid: An axisymmetric problem

The shock interaction of a spherical rigid body with a spherical cavity is studied. This nonstationary mixed boundary-value problem with an unknown boundary is reduced to an infinite system of linear Volterra equations of the second kind and the differential equation of motion of the body. The hydrodynamic and kinematic characteristics of the process are obtained __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 11–19, January 2008.     

Investigation of a combustion driven oscillation in a refinery flare: Part B: Visualisation of a periodic flow instability in a bifurcating duct following a contraction

A flow visualisation study was performed to investigate a periodic flow instability in a bifurcating duct within the tip of the flares at the Shell refinery in Clyde, NSW, to verify the trigger of a combustion-driven oscillation proposed in Part A of this study, and to identify its features. The model study assessed only the flow instability, uncoupled from the acoustic resonance and the combustion that are also present in the actual flare. Three strong, coupled flow oscillations were found to be present in three regions of the fuel line in the flare tip model. A periodic flow separation was found to occur within the contraction at the inlet to the tip, a coupled, periodic flow oscillation was found in the two transverse “cross-over ducts” from the central pipe to the outer annulus and an oscillating flow recirculation was present in the “end-cap” region of the central pipe. The dimensionless frequency of these oscillations in the model was found to match that measured in the full-scale plant for high fuel flow rates. This, and the strength of these flow oscillations, gives confidence that they are integral to the full-scale combustion-driven oscillation and most likely the primary trigger. The evidence indicates that the periodic flow instability is initiated by the separation and roll-up of the annular boundary layer at the start of the contraction in the fuel section of the flare tip. The separation generates an annular vortex which interacts with the blind-ended pipe downstream, leading to a pressure wave which propagates back upstream, initiating the next separation event and repeating the cycle. The study also investigated flow control devices with a view to finding a practical approach to mitigate the oscillations. The shape of these devices was constrained to allow installation without removing the tip of the flare. This aspect of the study highlighted the strength and nature of the coupled oscillation, since it proved to be very difficult to mitigate the oscillation in this way. An effective configuration is presented, comprising of three individual components, all three of which were found to be necessary to eliminate the oscillation completely.     

Experimental investigation of three-phase flow in a vertical pipe: Local characteristics of the gas phase for gas-lift conditions

Laboratory experiments have been performed on the flow of oil, water and air through a vertical pipe in order to study the gas-lift technique for oil–water flows. Special attention was paid to the phase inversion phenomenon, by which the continuous phase switches to the dispersed phase and vice versa. By using different types of gas injectors the influence of the bubble size of the injected air on the efficiency of the gas-lift technique (in particular at the point of phase inversion) was studied. Also the gas and liquid mixture velocities were varied. The air bubbles were detected by means of optical fibre probes. Local measurements of the time-averaged gas volume fraction, bubble size and bubble velocity were carried out, as well as pressure measurements.     

Longitudinal vortex pair imbedded in a turbulent boundary layer: Comparative performances of several turbulence models

Four turbulence models, namely, the basic and nonlinear stress-transport models and the basic and anisotropick-ε models, have been tested in the case of interaction between a longitudinal vortex pair and a flat-plate boundary layer. The results of their predictions were compared with Mehta and Bradshaw's measurements. In this paper, part of the results involving those of the nonlinear stress-transport model and anisotropick-ε model are presented and discussed. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Contract No. 19132012     

Solution of incompressible flows with or without a free surface using the finite volume method on unstructured triangular meshes

An incompressible Navier–Stokes solver based on a cell‐centre finite volume formulation for unstructured triangular meshes is developed and tested. The solution methodology makes use of pseudocompressibility, whereby the convective terms are computed using a Godunov‐type second‐order upwind finite volume formulation. The evolution of the solution in time is obtained by subiterating the equations in pseudotime for each physical time step, with the pseudotime step set equal to infinity. For flows with a free surface the computational mesh is fitted to the free surface boundary at each time step, with the free surface elevation satisfying a kinematic boundary condition. A ‘leakage coefficient’, ε, is introduced for the calculation of flows with a free surface in order to control the leakage of flow through the free surface. This allows the assumption of stationarity of mesh points to be made during the course of pseudotime iteration. The solver is tested by comparing the output with a wide range of documented published results, both for flows with and without a free surface. The presented results show that the solver is robust. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A first assessment of the NEPTUNE_CFD code: Instabilities in a stratified flow comparison between the VOF method and a two-field approach

This paper presents some results concerning a first benchmark for the new European research code for thermal hydraulics computations: NEPTUNE_CFD. This benchmark relies on the Thorpe experiment to model the occurrence of instabilities in a stratified two-phase flow. The first part of this work is to create a numerical trial case with the VOF approach. The results, in terms of time of onset of the instability, critical wave-number or wave phase speed, are rather good compared to linear inviscid theory and experimental data. Additional numerical tests showed the effect of the surface tension and density ratio on the growing dynamics of the instability and the structure of the waves. In the second part, a code to code (VOF/multi-field) comparison is performed for a case with zero surface tension. The results showed some discrepancies in terms of wave amplitudes, growing rates and a time shifting in the global dynamics. Afterward, two surface tension formulations are proposed in the multi-field approach. Both formulations provided similar results. The time for onset of the instability, the most amplified wave-number and its amplitude were in rather good agreement with the linear analysis and VOF results. However, the time-shifted dynamics was still observed.     

Effect of variable viscosity on non-Darcy free or mixed convection flow on a vertical surface in a fluid saturated porous medium

This paper analyzes the variable viscosity effects on non-Darcy free or mixed convection flow on a vertical surface in a fluid saturated porous medium. The viscosity of the fluid is assumed to be a inverse linear function of temperature. Velocity and heat transfer are found to be significantly affected by the variable viscosity parameter, Ergun number, Peclet number or Rayleigh number.     

The Influence of a Fracture in a Rectangular Dam on the Pressure Gradient and the Phreatic Surface

The shape of the phreatic surface inside a non-homogeneous dam is a unique function of hydraulic conductivity. Consequently, monitoring the phreatic surface can reveal possible deterioration of the inner part of the dam. Two-dimensional flow through an idealized dam with an artificial fracture is studied both theoretically and experimentally in a Hele–Shaw cell. The theoretical solution is a generalization of Baiocchi's solution. The results show that the method for identifying a possible imperfection in a dam works better for a wide homogeneous dam than for a rock fill dam with a narrow core.