Viscous dissipation of Rankine vortex profile in zero meridional flow

An analytical solution is given for a time-decay Rankine vortex profile due to viscous effects. The vortex filament is assumed to be isolated, strong, concentrated and having zero-meridional flow (i.e. radial and axial velocities are equal to zero). Zero-meridional renders the governing equations for an unsteady, incompressible and axisymmetric vortex in a simple form. Based on the tangential momentum equation, the spatial-temporal distributions of the swirl velocity are given in terms of Fourier-Bessel series by using separation of variables technique. A general formula is derived by total differentiation of the swirl velocity with respect to time, depicting the viscous dissipation for Oseen and Taylor-like vortex profiles. This analysis is validated by comparison with previous experimental data.     

圆环旋转黏性液体射流空间不稳定性研究

利用线性稳定性理论, 进行了液体黏性对不同旋转强度下圆环旋转液体射流 空间不稳定性影响的研究. 在推导出的三维扰动下具有固体涡核型旋转速度分布的圆环旋转 黏性液体射流色散方程的基础上, 针对中低速射流, 进行了类反对称模式与类对称模式下圆 环旋转黏性液体射流的空间不稳定性分析. 研究结果表明, 对于旋转强度较大的圆环旋转液 体射流, 液体黏性的增加, 不利于射流的破碎; 随着液体黏性的增加, 射流的特征频率和最 不稳定波数减小. 然而, 对于旋转强度较小的圆环旋转液体射流, 液体黏性的增加, 有利于 射流的破碎; 随着液体黏性的增加, 类反对称模式下射流特征频率先减小后增大, 类对称模 式下射流特征频率增大; 随着液体黏性的增加, 类反对称模式下射流最不稳定波数先减小后 增大, 类对称模式下射流最不稳定波数增大.     

Stability of a viscous subsonic swirl flow

The results of calculating the stability of a three-dimensional swirl flow of a viscous heat-conducting gas are presented. The stability characteristics are determined using the linear time-dependent theory of plane-parallel flow stability. The main undisturbed axisymmetric vortex flow was determined numerically using a quasi-cylindrical approximation for the complete set of Navier-Stokes equations. The circulation of the peripheral velocity in the cocurrent flow surrounding the viscous vortex core was assumed to be constant. In analyzing the stability, nonaxisymmetric perturbations in the shape of waves traveling along the vortex axis with both positive and negative wavenumbers were considered; in these two cases the perturbation rotation is either the same or opposite in sense to the rotation in the vortex core. Neutral stability curves are determined for various values of the swirling parameter and the cocurrent flow Mach number. Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 50–59, May–June, 1998.     

Flow in a simple swirl chamber with and without controlled inlet forcing

Results are presented from a swirl chamber with and without controlled inlet forcing. The controlled inlet forcing is induced using arrays of vortex generators placed along one wall of the swirl chamber inlet duct. Flow visualization results are given, along with surveys of circumferential mean velocity, static pressure, and total pressure, at Reynolds numbers (based on inlet duct characteristics) as high as 8000. The controlled inlet forcing provides means to alter and control: (i) the spacing and number of Görtler vortices across the span of the swirl chamber, (ii) the amount of vortex development at a particular Reynolds number and circumferential location, (iii) the circumferential location and Reynolds number of initial Görtler vortex development, and (iv) the circumferential location and Reynolds number of Görtler vortex breakup into more chaotic flow.     

The effects of inlet conditions and expansion ratio on the onset of flow reversal in swirling flow in a sudden expansion

Experiments are reported in which the minimum swirl intensity required to produce a central recirculation zone in a swirling sudden expansion flow is determined as a function of expansion ratio and inlet conditions. Using a swirl generator which allows for independent variation of velocity profile shape and swirl number, it is shown that an inlet tangential velocity distribution with a large solid body vortex core or an axial velocity profile with a maximum on the axis will lead to a higher critical swirl.     

Viscous flow through the swirl chamber of a pressure-swirl atomizer

We study theoretically the viscous flow through the swirl chamber of a pressure-swirl atomizer. The aim is to predict quantitatively the flow rate of a given liquid driven by a given pressure difference across the atomizer in order to explain the counter-intuitive experimental finding that, for moderate liquid dynamic viscosities, at a given driving pressure difference and atomizer geometry, a higher liquid viscosity results in a higher flow rate. The concept for the flow analysis is to subdivide the flow field in the swirl chamber into zones allowing for neglect of velocity components or boundary-layer simplification. The result is a quantitative prediction of the liquid flow rate for a given driving pressure difference and atomizer geometry, and for given liquid properties relevant for the discharge from the atomizer. Flow rates are compared to experimental data from various sources and show good agreement. Another part of the results is the diameter of the air core formed around the symmetry axis of the swirl chamber, which is of sub-millimetric order here. This result is compared to different experimental correlations and also shows very good agreement. For small values of the swirl velocity and/or very high liquid viscosities, the air core breaks down. The phenomenon of air core break down has been analysed, and it is shown that for high viscosities the air core breaks down due to weak swirl velocity.     

Axial plus tangential entry swirling jet

This paper presents an experimental investigation on swirling jets with well-defined initial conditions. The axial, radial, and azimuthal velocity components, with their respective fluctuations were measured using high spatial–resolution particle image velocimetry. These detailed measurements allow the initial conditions of the swirling jets to be established and the jets to be characterized using various swirl number definitions. The significance of each term in the swirl number calculations are quantified, and the effect of the common assumptions and simplifications are examined. The characteristics of the jets in relation to the initial conditions are then investigated and compared with the previous studies using similar characterization parameters. Jets with Reynolds number of approximately 5700 and swirl conditions ranging from a non-swirling reference case to high swirl are studied. General properties of swirling jets such as higher spreading rate, higher centerline velocity decay, and higher turbulence level are observed. When the degree of swirl is sufficiently high, vortex breakdown occurs. A swirl number of 0.94 is recorded for a high swirl case prior to vortex breakdown, much higher than the critical swirl number reported in the literature. This behavior is attributed to the effect of the initial conditions on the swirl number calculation.     

Diffusion velocity for a three-dimensional vorticity field

A discussion is presented on the existence of a diffusion velocity for the vorticity vector that satisfies extensions of the Helmholtz vortex laws in a three-dimensional, incompressible, viscous fluid flow. A general form for the diffusion velocity is derived for a complex-lamellar vorticity field that satisfies the property that circulation is invariant about a region that is advected with the sum of the fluid velocity and the diffusion velocity. A consequence of this property is that vortex lines will be material lines with respect to this combined velocity field. The question of existence of diffusion velocity for a general three-dimensional vorticity field is shown to be equivalent to the question of existence of solutions of a certain Fredholm equation of the first kind. An example is given for which it is shown that a diffusion velocity satisfying this property does not, in general, exist. Properties of the simple expression for diffusion velocity for a complex-lamellar vorticity field are examined when applied to the more general case of an arbitrary three-dimensional flow. It is found that this form of diffusion velocity, while not satisfying the condition of circulation invariance, nevertheless has certain desirable properties for computation of viscous flows using Lagrangian vortex methods. The significance and structure of the noncomplex-lamellar part of the viscous diffusion term is examined for the special case of decaying homogeneous turbulence.     

Dynamic Response of Swirl Stabilized Turbulent Premixed Flames Based on the Helmholtz-Hodge Velocity Decomposition

The dynamic response of fully premixed flames stabilized in strongly swirled flows undergoing vortex breakdown is investigated with axisymmetric unsteady RANS simulations. The analysis relies on the well known Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition of the velocity field into its irrotational and rotational components. A novel methodology based on the linearization of the progress variable transport equation is developed to determine the separate contribution of these velocity components to the Flame Transfer Function (FTF). Due to the phase delay between the convected tangential velocity and instantaneously propagating axial velocity perturbations, a non-monotonic frequency dependence of the swirl number amplitude downstream the swirl generator is detected. In line with experimental observations, such non-monotonic frequency dependence is found also for the amplitude and phase of the FTF. This behaviour is associated here with rotational velocity perturbations generated by the Central Recirculation Zone (CRZ) generated by the phenomenon of vortex breakdown which, responding in a fashion totally similar to the swirl number perturbation, produces flame surface area fluctuations with the same distribution versus frequency.     

Mass and momentum transport in the near field of swirling turbulent jets. Effect of swirl rate

Local transport of the flow momentum and scalar admixture in the near-field of turbulent swirling jets (Re = 5,000) has been investigated by using a combination of the particle image velocimetry and planar laser-induced fluorescence methods. Advection and turbulent and molecular diffusions are evaluated based on the measured distributions of the mean velocity and concentration and the Reynolds stresses and fluxes. As has been quantified from the data, the flow swirl intensifies the entrainment of the surrounding fluid and promotes mass and momentum exchange in the outer mixing layer. A superimposed swirl results in the appearance of a wake/recirculation region at the jet axis and, consequently, the formation of an inner shear layer. In contrast to the scalar admixture, the momentum exchange in the inner shear layer is found to be strongly intensified by the swirl. For the jet with the highest considered swirl rate, a substantial portion of the surrounding fluid is found to enter the unsteady central recirculation zone, where it mixes with the jet that is issued from the nozzle. The contribution of the coherent velocity fluctuations, which are induced by large-scale vortex structures, to the turbulent transport has been evaluated based on triple decomposition, which was based on proper orthogonal decomposition analysis of the velocity data sets. For the considered domain of the jet with the highest swirl rate and vortex breakdown, the contributions of detected helical vortex structures, inducing pressing vortex core, to the radial fluxes of the flow momentum and the scalar admixture are found to locally exceed 65% and 80%, respectively.     

Numerical computation of a three-dimensional vortex sheet in a swirl flow

We consider an incompressible and inviscid fluid flow, called “swirl flow” that rotates around a certain axis in three-dimensional space. We investigate numerically the dynamics of a three-dimensional vortex sheet which is defined as a surface across which the velocity field of the swirl flow changes discontinuously. The vortex method and a fast summation method are implemented on a parallel computer. These numerical methods make it possible to compute the evolution of the vortex sheet for a long time and to describe the complex dynamics of the sheet.     

Generalised vortex rings with and without swirl

Steady solutions of the Euler equations for flow of an inviscid incompressible fluid may be obtained by considering the process of magnetic relaxation to analogous magnetostatic equilibria in a viscous perfectly conducting fluid. In particular, solutions which represent rotational disturbances propagating without change of structure in an unbounded fluid may be obtained by this method. When conditions are axisymmetric, these disturbances are vortex rings of general structure, which may include a swirl component of velocity. This situation is analysed in some detail, and it is shown that the vortex is characterised by two functions: V(ψ), the volume within toroidal surfaces ψ = cst. and W(ψ), the toroidal volume flux inside the torus ψ = cst. For each choice of {V(ψ), W(ψ)}, satisfying appropriate limit conditions, there exists at least one vortex ring of steady structure.     

圆环旋转粘性液膜射流三维不稳定性研究

利用线性稳定性理论进行了射流液体粘性对圆环旋转液膜射流稳定性影响的研究,推导出了三维扰动下具有固体旋涡型速度分布的圆环旋转粘性液膜射流的色散方程;在此基础上进行了类反对称模式与类对称模式下的圆环旋转粘性液膜射流的三维不稳定性分析。研究结果表明,在类反对称模式下,液体粘性超过一定值后,射流最大扰动增长率随液体粘性的增加而迅速减小;轴对称模态的射流特征频率产生一个突降变化;随液体粘性增加,轴对称模态不稳定波数范围减小,非轴对称模态不稳定波数范围呈现出先减小后增大趋势。在类对称模式下,液体粘性对射流最大扰动增长率的影响主要体现在对非轴对称模态的影响上;液体粘性只在粘性较大时才会对非轴对称模态射流特征频率产生一定影响;液体粘性超过一定值后,轴对称模态与非轴对称模态的不稳定波数范围都会快速下降。     

Obstacle-induced spiral vortex breakdown

An experimental investigation on vortex breakdown dynamics is performed. An adverse pressure gradient is created along the axis of a wing-tip vortex by introducing a sphere downstream of an elliptical hydrofoil. The instrumentation involves high-speed visualizations with air bubbles used as tracers and 2D Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV). Two key parameters are identified and varied to control the onset of vortex breakdown: the swirl number, defined as the maximum azimuthal velocity divided by the free-stream velocity, and the adverse pressure gradient. They were controlled through the incidence angle of the elliptical hydrofoil, the free-stream velocity and the sphere diameter. A single helical breakdown of the vortex was systematically observed over a wide range of experimental parameters. The helical breakdown coiled around the sphere in the direction opposite to the vortex but rotated along the vortex direction. We have observed that the location of vortex breakdown moved upstream as the swirl number or the sphere diameter was increased. LDV measurements were corrected using a reconstruction procedure taking into account the so-called vortex wandering and the size of the LDV measurement volume. This allows us to investigate the spatio-temporal linear stability properties of the flow and demonstrate that the flow transition from columnar to single helical shape is due to a transition from convective to absolute instability.     

Some Observations of Vortex Breakdown in a Confined Flow with Solid Body Rotation

The occurrence of breakdown in slender vortex flows as a ``bubble'' or ``spiral'' pattern depends on the degree of radial deflection of the vortex core from its original axis as shown in [1]. A smooth transition from a bubble to a spiral-type ``mode'' can be forced by inducing a small asymmetric disturbance which led to the conclusion, that the patterns do not represent different fundamental modes of breakdown. The subject presented herein addresses the following question: how does breakdown evolve in a swirling flow in which the vortex core is forced on a straight axis? In addition, what is the effect of turbulent inflow conditions? This type of vortex conditions is achieved in a spinning tube flow. The swirl is introduced at the entrance of the rotating tube with a honeycomb package and maintained by the viscous action in the boundary layer of the spinning tube. A diffuser at the end induces an adverse pressure gradient to force the breakdown. Flow visualization experiments are carried out to characterize the nature of breakdown over a range of different flow conditions. For some selected characteristic stages, detailed velocity fields were obtained using the method of Digital Particle-Image-Velocimetry (DPIV). The results show, that for the range of parameters investigated, breakdown is initiated at Rossby-numbers below a critical value of Ro ≈ 0.6 similar to those observed in other experiments. The bursted part of the vortex has a near axi-symmetric slender conical shape containing approximately stagnant flow. Its downstream end is characterized by a jump-like contraction where the flow evolves into a jet with enhanced swirl on the axis. It is only in this region downstream of the jump-like contraction that asymmetric instabilities and wavy flow patterns could be observed. Perturbations caused by them travel upstream but do not change the near-axisymmetric shape of the bursted part of the vortex.     

An experimental study of viscous vortex rings

The work focuses on the problem of stability and viscous decay of single vortex rings. A tentative classification scheme is proposed for vortex rings which is based on extensive hot-wire measurements of velocity in the ring core and wake, and flow visualization, viz. laminar, wavy, turbulence-producing, and turbulent. Prediction of vortex ring type is shown to be possible, at least approximately, based on the vortex ring Reynolds number alone. Linear growth rates of ring diameter with time are observed for all types of vortex rings, with different growth rates occurring for laminar and turbulent vortex rings. Data on the viscous decay of vortex rings are used to provide experimental confirmation of the accuracy of Saffman's equation for the velocity of propagation of a vortex ring.The work reported herein is supported through a grant of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Special thanks are due to CAPES (Brazil) for the award of a scholarship to the senior author.     

Reynolds stress modelling of jet and swirl interaction inside a gas turbine combustor

Influences of the inlet swirl levels on the interaction between the dilution air jets and the swirling cross‐flow to the interior flow field inside a gas turbine combustor were investigated numerically by Reynolds stress transport model (RSTM). Due to the intense swirl and jet interaction, a high level of swirl momentum is transported to the centreline and hence, an intense vortex core is formed. The strength of the centreline vortex core was found to depend on the inlet swirl levels. For the higher swirling inlet, the decay of the swirling motion causes strong streamline variation of pressure; and consequently leads to an elevated level of deceleration of its axial velocity. Predictions contrasted with measurements indicate that the stress model reproduces the flow correctly and is able to reflect the influences of inlet swirl levels on the interior flow structure. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulation of plate autorotation in a viscous fluid flow

A general formulation of the plane coupled dynamical and aerodynamical problem of the motion of a rigid body with a rotational degree of freedom in a viscous incompressible fluid flow is given. A computation technique for solving the Navier-Stokes equations based on the meshless viscous vortex domain method is used. The autorotation of a single plate and a pair of plates is investigated. The effect of the reduced moment of inertia and the Reynolds number on the angular rotation velocity is determined. The time dependences of the hydrodynamic loads are compared with the corresponding instantaneous flow patterns. The increased the autorotation velocity of two plates in tandem is detected.     

Considerations for the design of swirl chambers for the cyclone cooling of turbine blades and for other applications with high swirl intensity

The focus of this study lies on turbulent incompressible swirling flows with high swirl intensity. A systematic parameter study is conducted to examine the sensitivity of the mean velocity field in a swirl chamber to changes in the Reynolds number, swirl intensity and channel outlet geometry. The investigated parameter range reflects the typical kinematic flow conditions found in heat transfer applications, such as the cooling of the turbine blade known as cyclone cooling. These applications require a swirl intensity, which is typically much higher than necessary for vortex breakdown. The resulting flows are known as flow regime II and III. In comparison to flow regime I, which denotes a swirling flow without vortex breakdown, these flow regimes are characterized by a subcritical behavior. In this context, subcritical means that the flow is affected by the downstream channel section. Based on mean velocity field measurements in various swirl chamber configurations, it is shown that flow regime III is particularly sensitive to these effects. The channel outlet geometry becomes a determining parameter and, therefore, small changes at the outlet can produce entirely different flow patterns in the swirl chamber. In contrast, flow regime II, as well as flow regime I and axial channel flows, are much less sensitive to changes at the channel outlet. The knowledge about the sensitivity of the flow in different flow regimes is highly relevant for the design of a cyclone cooling system. Cooling systems employing flow regime III can result in a weakly robust flow system that may change completely over the operating range. As a remedy, the swirl intensity needs to be decreased so that flow regime III cannot be reached, which, however, reduces the maximum achievable heat transfer in the cooling system. Alternatively, the flow has to transition back from flow regime III to flow regime II or I before the flow leaves the swirl chamber. Two practical methods are presented. These findings can be directly applied in the design processes of future cyclone cooling systems, and other applications of swirling flow.     

基于反馈力浸入边界法模拟复杂动边界流动

浸入边界法是模拟流固耦合的重要数值方法之一。本文采用反馈力浸入边界方法,对旋转圆柱和水轮机活动导叶旋转摆动绕流后的动边界流场进行数值模拟。其中,固体边界采用一系列离散的点近似代替,流体为不可压缩牛顿流体,使用笛卡尔自适应加密网格,利用有限差分法进行求解。固体对流场的作用通过构造适宜的反馈力函数实现。本文首先通过旋转圆柱绕流的计算结果同实验结果进行对比,吻合较好,验证了该计算方法的可靠性。然后针对水电站水力过渡过程中水轮机活动导叶旋转摆动绕流后的动边界流场进行数值模拟,得到导叶动态绕流后的流场分布特性和涡结构的演化特性。