Microscopic particle image velocimetry measurements of transition to turbulence in microscale capillaries

The character of transitional capillary flow is investigated using pressure-drop measurements and instantaneous velocity fields acquired by microscopic PIV in the streamwise–wall-normal plane of a 536 μm capillary over the Reynolds-number range 1,800 ≤ Re ≤ 3,400 in increments of 100. The pressure-drop measurements reveal a deviation from laminar behavior at Re = 1,900 with the differences between the measured and the predicted laminar-flow pressure drop increasing with increasing Re. These observations are consistent with the characteristics of the mean velocity profiles which begin to deviate from the parabolic laminar profile at Re = 1,900, interpreted as the onset of transition, by becoming increasingly flatter and fuller with increasing Re. A fully-turbulent state is attained at Re ≅ 3,400 where the mean velocity profile collapses onto the mean profile of fully-developed turbulent pipe flow from an existing direct numerical simulation at Re = 5,300. Examination of the instantaneous velocity fields acquired by micro-PIV in the range 1,900 ≤ Re < 3,400 reveal that transitional flows at the microscale are composed of a subset of velocity fields illustrating a purely laminar behavior and a subset of fields that capture significant departure from laminar behavior. The fraction of velocity fields displaying non-laminar behavior increases with increasing Re, consistent with past observations of a growing number of intermittent turbulent spots bounded by nominally laminar flow in macroscale pipe flow with increasing Re. Instantaneous velocity fields that are non-laminar in character consistently contain multiple spanwise vortices that appear to streamwise-align to form larger-scale interfaces that incline slightly away from the wall. The characteristics of these “trains” of vortices are reminiscent of the spatial features of hairpin-like vortices and hairpin vortex packets often observed in fully-turbulent wall-bounded flow at both the macro- and micro-scales. Finally, single-point statistics computed from the non-laminar subsets at each transitional Re, including root-mean-square velocities and the Reynolds shear stress, reveal a gradual and smooth maturation of the patches of disordered motion toward a fully-turbulent state with increasing Re.     

Unsteady PTV velocity field past an airfoil solved with DNS: Part 1. Algorithm of hybrid simulation and hybrid velocity field at <Emphasis Type="Italic">Re</Emphasis> ≈ 10<Superscript>3</Superscript>

We develop a hybrid unsteady-flow simulation technique combining direct numerical simulation (DNS) and particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) and demonstrate its capabilities by investigating flows past an airfoil. We rectify instantaneous PTV velocity fields in a least-squares sense so that they satisfy the equation of continuity, and feed them to the DNS by equating the computational time step with the frame rate of the time-resolved PTV system. As a result, we can reconstruct unsteady velocity fields that satisfy the governing equations based on experimental data, with the resolution comparable to numerical simulation. In addition, unsteady pressure distribution can be solved simultaneously. In this study, particle velocities are acquired on a laser-light sheet in a water tunnel, and unsteady flow fields are reconstructed with the hybrid algorithm solving the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in two dimensions. By performing the hybrid simulation, we investigate nominally two-dimensional flows past the NACA0012 airfoil at low Reynolds numbers. In part 1, we introduce the algorithm of the proposed technique and discuss the characteristics of hybrid velocity fields. In particular, we focus on a vortex shedding phenomenon under a deep stall condition (α = 15°) at Reynolds numbers of Re = 1000 and 1300, and compare the hybrid velocity fields with those computed with two-dimensional DNS. In part 2, the extension to higher Reynolds numbers is considered. The accuracy of the hybrid simulation is evaluated by comparing with independent experimental results at various angles of attack and Reynolds numbers up to Re = 10⁴. The capabilities of the hybrid simulation are also compared with two-dimensional unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) solutions in part 2. In the first part of these twin papers, we demonstrate that the hybrid velocity field approaches the PTV velocity field over time. We find that intensive alternate vortex shedding past the airfoil, which is predicted by the two-dimensional DNS, is substantially suppressed in the hybrid simulation and the resultant flow field is similar to the PTV velocity field, which is projection of the three-dimensional velocity field on the streamwise plane. We attempt to identify the motion that originates three-dimensional flow patterns by highlighting the deviation of the PTV velocity field from the two-dimensional governing equations at each snapshot. The results indicate that the intensive spots of the deviation appear in the regions in which three-dimensional instabilities are induced in the shear layer separated from the pressure side.     

The flow of a dilute cationic surfactant solution past a circular cylinder

The influence of a dilute solution of the cationic surfactant C₁₄Sal on the flow past a cylinder was investigated by means of LDV and Toepler Schlieren optics for visualization of both the flow and structure of the fluid. At low Reynolds numbers the flow is similar to the Newtonian Kármán vortex street. The periodic vortex shedding disappears simultaneously with the occurrence of a shear-induced structure. The alteration of the turbulence characteristics is especially pronounced in the turbulent velocity fluctuations with the u _rms being many times over the values in water, whereas the v _rms are drastically reduced. Received: 18 May 2000 / Accepted: 25 July 2000     

Numerical simulation of two‐dimensional laminar slot‐jet impingement flows confined by a parallel wall

Two‐dimensional laminar incompressible impinging slot‐jet is simulated numerically to gain insight into flow characteristics.Computations are done for vertically downward‐directed slot‐jets impinging on a plate at the bottom and confined by a parallel surface on top. The behaviour of the jet with respect to aspect ratio (AR) and Reynolds number (Re) are described in detail. The computed flow patterns for various AR (2–5) and for a range of jet‐exit Reynolds numbers (100–500) are analysed to understand the flow characteristics. The transient development of the flow is also simulated for AR = 4 and Re = 300. It is found that the reattachment length is dependent on both AR and Reynolds number for the range considered. The correlation for reattachment length is suggested. The maximum resultant velocity V_rmax and its trajectory is reported. A detailed study of horizontal velocity profile at different downstream locations is reported. It is found that the effect of Reynolds number and AR is significant to the bottom wall vorticity in the impingement and wall jet regions. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulation of turbulent flow through series stenoses

The flow fields in the neighbourhoods of series vascular stenoses are studied numerically for the Reynolds numbers from 100 to 4000, diameter constriction ratios of 0.2–0.6 and spacing ratios of 1, 2, 3, 4 and ∞. In this study, it has been further verified that in the laminar flow region, the numerical predictions by k–ω turbulence model matched those by the laminar‐flow modelling very well. This suggests that the k–ω turbulence model is capable of the prediction of the laminar flow as well as the prediction of the turbulent stenotic flow with good accuracy. The extent of the spreading of the recirculation region from the first stenosis and its effects on the flow field downstream of the second stenosis depend on the stenosis spacing ratio, constriction ratio and the Reynolds number. For c₁ = 0.5 with c₂ ≤ c₁, the peak value of wall vorticity generated by the second stenosis is always less than that generated by the first stenosis. However, the maximum centreline velocity and turbulence intensity at the second stenosis are higher than those at the first stenosis. In contrast, for c₁ = 0.5 with c₂ = 0.6, the maximum values at the second stenosis are much higher than those at the first stenosis whether for centreline velocity and turbulence intensity or for wall vorticity. The peak values of the wall vorticity and the centreline disturbance intensity both grow up with the Reynolds number increasing. The present study shows that the more stenoses can result in a lower critical Reynolds number that means an earlier occurrence of turbulence for the stenotic flows. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Particle response in a planar sudden expansion flow

Particle velocity and concentration statistics were measured in a vertically downward planar sudden expansion flow for large-eddy particle Stokes numbers (τ_pU_o/5H) ranging from 0.5 to 7.4. Particles with Stokes numbers greater than 3 did not enter the recirculation zone, exhibited substantial attenuation of cross-stream velocity fluctuations, and had large streamwise velocity fluctuations in regions of strong velocity gradient. The smallest particles filled the recirculation zone and showed strong response to the large eddies in the flow. Phase-locked particle concentration measurements showed that these particles were centrifuged away from vortex cores and concentrated between vortices. Intermediate-size particles with Stokes numbers of 1.4 were injected intermittently into the recirculation zone as tongues of particles moving down between vortices. Particle Reynolds number was found to have negligible effect on the particle velocity statistics.     

Pulsatile flows in a lateral aneurysm anchored on a stented and curved parent vessel

We present particle tracking velocimetry measurements and flow visualization of pulsatile flow fields in a stented cerebrovascular lateral aneurysm model with a wide ostium anchored on a curved parent vessel. Among the stent parameters, the blocking ratioC _α ranging from 0% to 75% was selected to study its effect on the changes of intra-aneurysmal hemodynamics for the reference of minimally invasive endovascular aneurysm treatment. The Womersley number was 3.9 and the mean, peak, and minimal Reynolds numbers based on the bulk average velocity and diameter of the parent vessel were 600, 850, and 300, respectively. The results are characterized in terms of velocity vector field, coded streak images, region averaged velocity, vorticity, and wall shear stress. A critical range ofC _α related to the inflow location as well as the shape and number of intra-aneurysmal vortices is identified. The intra-aneurysmal flow activity, vortex strength, and wall shear stress are found to decrease with increasingC _α. Among theC _α examined,C _α=75% is the most favorable in attenuating the risk of aneurysmal rupture and promoting intra-aneurysmal thrombus.     

Heat transfer enhancement in grooved channels due to flow bifurcations

The flow bifurcation scenario and heat transfer characteristics in grooved channels, are investigated by direct numerical simulations of the mass, momentum and energy equations, using the spectral element methods for increasing Reynolds numbers in the laminar and transitional regimes. The Eulerian flow characteristics show a transition scenario of two Hopf bifurcations when the flow evolves from a laminar to a time-dependent periodic and then to a quasi-periodic flow. The first Hopf bifurcation occurs to a critical Reynolds number Rec₁ that is significantly lower than the critical Reynolds number for a plane-channel flow. The periodic and quasi-periodic flows are characterized by fundamental frequencies ω₁ and m· ω₁+n·ω₂, respectively, with m and n integers. Friction factor and pumping power evaluations demonstrate that these parameters are much higher than the plane channel values. The time-average mean Nusselt number remains mostly constant in the laminar regime and continuously increases in the transitional regime. The rate of increase of this Nusselt number is higher for a quasi-periodic than for a periodic flow regime. This higher rate originates because better flow mixing develops in quasi-periodic flow regimes. The flow bifurcation scenario occurring in grooved channels is similar to the Ruelle-Takens-Newhouse transition scenario of Eulerian chaos, observed in symmetric and asymmetric wavy channels.     

High-fidelity simulations of moving and flexible airfoils at low Reynolds numbers

The present paper highlights results derived from the application of a high-fidelity simulation technique to the analysis of low-Reynolds-number transitional flows over moving and flexible canonical configurations motivated by small natural and man-made flyers. This effort addresses three separate fluid dynamic phenomena relevant to small fliers, including: laminar separation and transition over a stationary airfoil, transition effects on the dynamic stall vortex generated by a plunging airfoil, and the effect of flexibility on the flow structure above a membrane airfoil. The specific cases were also selected to permit comparison with available experimental measurements. First, the process of transition on a stationary SD7003 airfoil section over a range of Reynolds numbers and angles of attack is considered. Prior to stall, the flow exhibits a separated shear layer which rolls up into spanwise vortices. These vortices subsequently undergo spanwise instabilities, and ultimately breakdown into fine-scale turbulent structures as the boundary layer reattaches to the airfoil surface. In a time-averaged sense, the flow displays a closed laminar separation bubble which moves upstream and contracts in size with increasing angle of attack for a fixed Reynolds number. For a fixed angle of attack, as the Reynolds number decreases, the laminar separation bubble grows in vertical extent producing a significant increase in drag. For the lowest Reynolds number considered (Re _c  = 10⁴), transition does not occur over the airfoil at moderate angles of attack prior to stall. Next, the impact of a prescribed high-frequency small-amplitude plunging motion on the transitional flow over the SD7003 airfoil is investigated. The motion-induced high angle of attack results in unsteady separation in the leading edge and in the formation of dynamic-stall-like vortices which convect downstream close to the airfoil. At the lowest value of Reynolds number (Re _c  = 10⁴), transition effects are observed to be minor and the dynamic stall vortex system remains fairly coherent. For Re _c  = 4 × 10⁴, the dynamic-stall vortex system is laminar at is inception, however shortly afterwards, it experiences an abrupt breakdown associated with the onset of spanwise instability effects. The computed phased-averaged structures for both values of Reynolds number are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data. Finally, the effect of structural compliance on the unsteady flow past a membrane airfoil is investigated. The membrane deformation results in mean camber and large fluctuations which improve aerodynamic performance. Larger values of lift and a delay in stall are achieved relative to a rigid airfoil configuration. For Re _c = 4.85 × 10⁴, it is shown that correct prediction of the transitional process is critical to capturing the proper membrane structural response.     

PIV–LES analysis of channel flow rotating about the streamwise axis

The flow field of a channel rotating about the streamwise axis is analyzed experimentally and numerically. The current investigations were carried out at a bulk velocity based Reynolds number of Re_m = 2850 and a friction velocity based Reynolds number of Re_τ = 180, respectively. Particle-image velocimetry (PIV) measurements are compared with large-eddy simulation data to show earlier direct numerical simulation findings to generate too large a reverse flow region in the center region of the spanwise flow. The development of the mean spanwise velocity distribution and the influence of the rotation on the turbulent properties, i.e., the Reynolds stresses and the two-point correlations of the flow, are confirmed in both investigations. The rotation primarily influences those components of the Reynolds shear stresses, which contain the spanwise velocity component. The size of the correlation areas and thus the length scales of the flow generally grow in all three coordinate directions leading to longer structures. Furthermore, experimental results of the same channel flow at a significantly lower bulk Reynolds number of Re_{m, l} = 665, i.e., a laminar flow in a non-rotating channel, are introduced. The experiments show the low Reynolds number flow to become turbulent under rotation and to develop the same characteristics as the high Reynolds number flow.     

On the effects of dilute polymers on driven cavity turbulent flows

Effects of dilute polymer solutions on a lid-driven cubical cavity turbulent flow are studied via particle image velocimetry (PIV). This canonical flow is a combination of a bounded shear flow, driven at constant velocity and vortices that change their spatial distribution as a function of the lid velocity. From the two-dimensional PIV data we estimate the time averaged spatial fields of key turbulent quantities. We evaluate a component of the vorticity–velocity correlation, namely 〈ω₃v〉, which shows much weaker correlation, along with the reduced correlation of the fluctuating velocity components, u and v. There are two contributions to the reduced turbulent kinetic energy production −〈u v〉S_uv, namely the reduced Reynolds stresses, −〈u v〉, and strongly modified pointwise correlation of the Reynolds stress and the mean rate-of-strain field, S_uv. The Reynolds stresses are shown to be affected because of the derivatives of the Reynolds stresses, ∂〈u v〉/∂y that are strongly reduced in the same regions as the vorticity–velocity correlation. The results, combined with the existing evidence, support the phenomenological model of polymer effects propagating from the polymer scale to the velocity derivatives and through the mixed-type correlations and Reynolds stress derivatives up to the turbulent velocity fields. The effects are shown to be qualitatively similar in different flows regardless of forcing type, homogeneity or presence of liquid–solid boundaries.     

Experimental investigation into vortex structure and pressure drop across microcavities in 3D integrated electronics

Hydrodynamics in microcavities with cylindrical micropin fin arrays simulating a single layer of a water-cooled electronic chip stack is investigated experimentally. Both inline and staggered pin arrangements are investigated using pressure drop and microparticle image velocimetry (μPIV) measurements. The pressure drop across the cavity shows a flow transition at pin diameter–based Reynolds numbers (Re _d ) ~200. Instantaneous μPIV, performed using a pH-controlled high seeding density of tracer microspheres, helps visualize vortex structure unreported till date in microscale geometries. The post-transition flow field shows vortex shedding and flow impingement onto the pins explaining the pressure drop increase. The flow fluctuations start at the chip outlet and shift upstream with increasing Re _d . No fluctuations are observed for a cavity with pin height-to-diameter ratio h/d = 1 up to Re _d ~330; however, its pressure drop was higher than for a cavity with h/d = 2 due to pronounced influence of cavity walls.     

Effects of aspect ratio and orientation on the wake characteristics of low Reynolds number flow over a triangular prism

The wake characteristics of unconfined flows over triangular prisms of different aspect ratios have been numerically analysed in the present work. For this purpose, a fixed Cartesian-grid based numerical technique that involves the porous medium approach to mimic the effect of solid blockage has been utilised. Correspondingly, laminar flow simulations ranging from the sub-critical regime (before the onset of vortex shedding) to the super-critical regime have been considered here within the limits of two-dimensionality. In the sub-critical regime, correlations relating the wake bubble length with Reynolds number (Re) have been proposed for various aspect ratios. Also, the effects of aspect ratio and Reynolds Number on the drag force coefficient (C_D) have been characterised for two different geometrical orientations of the prism (base or apex facing the flow). Subsequently, the critical Reynolds number at the onset of vortex shedding has been predicted for each of the aspect ratio considered, by an extrapolation procedure. The unsteady flow characteristics of the super-critical regime are finally highlighted for different aspect ratios and triangular orientations considered in the study.     

Developing a physical influence upwind scheme for pressure-based cell-centered finite volume methods

In the framework of a cell-centered finite volume method (FVM), the advection scheme plays the most important role in developing FVMs to solve complicated fluid flow problems for a wide range of Reynolds numbers. Advection schemes have been widely developed for FVMs employing pressure-velocity coupling methodology in the incompressible flow limit. In this regard, the physical influence upwind scheme (PIS) is developed for a cell-centered finite volume coupled solver (FVCS) using a pressure-weighted interpolation method for linking the pressure and velocity fields. The well-known exponential differencing scheme and skew upwind differencing scheme are also deployed in the current FVCS and their numerical results are presented. The accuracy and convergence of the present PIS are evaluated solving flow in a lid-driven square cavity, a lid-driven skewed cavity, and over a backward-facing step (BFS). The flow within the lid-driven square cavity is numerically solved at Reynolds numbers from 400 to 10 000 on a relatively coarse mesh with respect to other reported solutions. The lid-driven skewed cavity test case at Reynolds number of 1000 demonstrates the numerical performance of the present PIS on nonorthogonal grids. The flow over a BFS at Reynolds number of 800 is numerically solved to examine capabilities of current FVCS employing the current PIS in inlet-outlet flow computations. The numerical results obtained by the current PIS are in excellent agreement with those of benchmark solutions of corresponding test cases. Incorporating implicit role of pressure terms in a pressure-weighted interpolation method and development of PIS provides satisfactory solution convergence alongside the numerical accuracy for the current FVCS. A particular numerical verification is performed for the V velocity calculation within the BFS flow field, which confirms the reliability of present PIS.     

Aerodynamic loading on a cylinder behind an airfoil

The interaction between the wake of a rotor blade and a downstream cylinder holds the key to the understanding and control of electronic cooling fan noise. In this paper, the aerodynamic characteristics of a circular cylinder are experimentally studied in the presence of an upstream NACA 4412 airfoil for the cylinder-diameter-based Reynolds numbers of Re_d=2,100–20,000, and the airfoil chord-length-based Reynolds numbers of Re_c=14,700–140,000. Lift and drag fluctuations on the cylinder, and the longitudinal velocity fluctuations of the flow behind the cylinder were measured simultaneously using a load cell and two hot wires, respectively. Data analysis shows that unsteady forces on the cylinder increase significantly in the presence of the airfoil wake. The dependence of the forces on two parameters is investigated, that is, the lateral distance (T) between the airfoil and the cylinder, and the Reynolds number. The forces decline quickly as T increases. For Re_c<60,000, the vortices shed from the upstream airfoil make a major contribution to the unsteady forces on the cylinder compared to the vortex shedding from the cylinder itself. For Re_c>60,000, no vortices are generated from the airfoil, and the fluctuating forces on the cylinder are caused by its own vortex shedding.     

Self-sustained oscillations of turbulent flows over an open cavity

The mechanism of self-sustained oscillations in laminar cavity flows has been well characterized; however, the occurrence of self-sustained oscillations in turbulent cavity flows has only previously been characterized by direct observation of flows. Here, the quantitative characteristics of vortical structures in turbulent flows over an open cavity were determined, and then statistical properties were examined for evidence of self-sustained oscillations. Specifically, instantaneous velocity fields were measured using PIV and wall pressure fluctuations were determined from microphone data. Cavity geometries of L/D = 1 and 2, where L and D are the length and depth of the cavity, respectively, were used under conditions where the incoming boundary layer was turbulent at Re _θ  = 830. Statistical analyses were applied based on the instantaneous velocity fields of PIV data. The spatial distributions of vertical velocity correlations (v–v) showed alternating patterns that reflect the organized nature of the large-scale vortical structures corresponding to the modes of N = 2 for L/D = 1 and N = 3 for L/D = 2. These values were consistent with the numbers of vortical structures obtained from a modified version of Rossiter’s equation. Furthermore the numbers of vortical structures determined in the statistical analyses were consistently observed in instantaneous distributions of the swirling strength (λ _ci). The incoming turbulent boundary layer can give rise to the formation of large-scale vortical structures responsible for self-sustained oscillations.     

Spatial characteristics of dynamic properties of modulated wavy vortex flow in a rotating Couette system

Time-dependent velocity profiles V _z (z, t) have been measured in a cylindrical Couette system for a range of Reynolds numbers corresponding to wavy vortex flow (WVF) and modulated wavy vortex flow (MWV). The spatial distribution of the power spectrum was obtained and the behaviour of the dynamic properties of WVF and MWV was investigated with respect to Reynolds number (Re) at four corners of cells (inside-outside and Inflow-Outflow). All modes of f ₁, f ₂ and B were found to be equally strong and broad at different corners for lower Re number. At large Re, however, f ₂ remains broad only at the outside-Inflow corner, while B is strong at Outflow. It was also found that B disappears at the outside-Inflow corner for R ^* > 18. These results suggest that the dynamic properties of WVF and MWV would have a spatial dependence within a cell structure scale.     

Laminar velocity profile development in straight pipes of circular cross section

Velocity profile development has been studied experimentally in Newtonian and some non-Newtonian fluids. The entry length for the development of 99% of the terminal axial velocity from an initially flat profile has been found to be given byZ _e = 1.1–0.112N(Re) for laminar flow Reynolds numbers between 1 and 1500 with Newtonian fluids. There were substantial increases in this length for weakly visco-elastic aqueous solutions of polyethylene oxide and polyacrylamide in the Reynolds number range (between 1 and 10) where these have been studied.     

Lock-on characteristics of a cavity shear layer

This investigation focuses on defining the lock-on regions of a cavity shear layer subject to local periodic excitations. A circular cylinder of small diameter (d=4 mm), located very close to the upstream edge of cavity, is used to generate the local periodic excitations in the form of oscillatory rotation about its center with various angular amplitudes (Δθ) and frequencies (f_e). All the experiments were conducted in a recirculating water channel at three different Reynolds numbers that are based on the momentum thickness at the upstream edge of cavity (Re_θ0=152, 216 and 278). The LDV system and the laser-sheet technique are employed to perform the quantitative velocity measurements and the qualitative flow visualization, respectively. For cavity flows at three Reynolds numbers studied, the resonant lock-on is found to be the primary lock-on region within the range of frequency ratio (f_e/f₀=0.28–2.0). Here f₀ denotes the natural instability frequency of an unexcited cavity shear layer. The frequency bandwidth of resonant lock-on region does increase with increasing excitation amplitudes (Δθ). While the excitation amplitudes are smaller than 5° (Δθ5°), the resonant lock-on region, at Reynolds numbers 216 and 278, distributes asymmetrically about f_e/f₀=1.0 and biases to the high frequency (or large f_e/f₀) side. However, the sidewise expansion of resonant lock-on region is enlarged and the degree of asymmetric distribution is alleviated at large excitation amplitudes (Δθ>5°). The amount of sidewise expansion of the resonant lock-on region biased toward the high-frequency side is more significant at the lowest Reynolds number (152) than those at two higher Reynolds numbers (216 and 278). Besides, there exists a sub-harmonic lock-on region only at the lowest Reynolds number 152. The existence of a sub-harmonic lock-on region clearly reveals that the differential equation governing the self-excited oscillation within a cavity contains the quadratic nonlinear term. Further, at the lowest Reynolds number (152), the sidewise expansion of the sub-harmonic lock-on region is much narrower than that of the resonant lock-on region.