Investigation of flow separation in a transonic-fan linear cascade using visualization methods

An extensive experimental study into the nature of the separated flows on the blade suction surface of modern transonic fans is described in this paper. The study was a subtask of a larger experimental effort focused on blade flutter excited by flow separation in the blade tip region. The tip sections of airfoils on transonic fan blades are designed for precompression and consequently they differ from sections on the rest of the blade. The blade tip section was modeled by a low aspect ratio blade and therefore most of the blade tested was exposed to the secondary flow effects. The aim of this work was to supply reliable data on flow separation on transonic fan blades for validation of future analytical studies. The experimental study focused on two visualization techniques: surface flow visualization using dye oils and schlieren (and shadowgraph) flow visualization. The following key observations were made during the study. For subsonic inlet flow, the flow on the suction surface of the blade was separated over a large portion of the blade, and the separated area increased with increasing inlet Mach number. For the supersonic inlet flow condition, the flow was attached from the leading edge up to the point where a bow shock from the upper neighboring blade imposed on the blade surface. Downstream, there was a separated flow region in which air flowed in the direction opposite the inlet flow. Finally, past the separated flow region, the flow reattached to the blade surface. For subsonic inlet flow, the low cascade solidity resulted in an increased area of separated flow. For supersonic flow conditions, the low solidity resulted in an improvement in flow over the suction surface.     

Reverse flow in channel-influence of obstruction geometry

In the present study the flow through and around a parallel walled channel with various obstruction geometries placed at the channel entry is investigated. The flow inside the channel is found to be either stagnant, reverse, or in the forward direction depending upon the position of the obstruction. Experiments were carried out with various obstruction geometries like square, triangular, circular and semi-circular to study the effect of the shape of the geometry on the reverse flow phenomenon. Of the four, the triangular geometry gave the maximum reverse flow. The square and the semi-circular gave almost the same as the flat plate. The maximum forward flow also depends upon the shape of the obstruction geometry. To study the effect of the afterbody length the rectangular shape was chosen and models of different afterbody lengths were investigated. It is seen that the shorter afterbody lengths give a higher reverse flow. The maximum forward flow velocity however is higher for larger afterbody lengths.     

Numerical simulation of the flow around a simplified vehicle model with active flow control

Large-eddy simulation (LES) was used to study the influence and the resulting flow mechanisms of active flow control applied to a two-dimensional vehicle geometry. The LES results were validated against existing Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and force measurement data. This was followed by an exploration of the influence of flow actuation on the near-wake flow and resulting aerodynamic forces. Not only was good agreement found with the previous experimental study, but new knowledge was gained in the form of a complex interaction of the actuation with the coherent flow structures. The resulting time-averaged flow shows a strong influence of the extension of the actuation slots and the lateral solid walls on the near-wake flow structures and thereby on the resulting drag.     

Predicting the Onset of Inertial Effects in Sandstone Rocks

This study presents a method to determine the onset of inertial effects at the microscopic level, to distinguish between Darcy and non-Darcy flow regions within porous media at the pore level, and to quantify the effects of retained polymer on gas mobility. Capillary pressure and polymer flood experiments were conducted using Elgin and Okesa sandstone samples. The pore-size distributions were used to study the high-velocity flow effects. A modified capillary-orifice model was used to determine the non-Darcy flow effects at the pore level, with and without residual polymer.The overall flow behavior at any flow rate may be described as the average of all contributions from the Darcy and the non-Darcy terms in all pores. Results of this study suggest that the conventional Reynolds number may lead to incorrect analysis of flow behavior when evaluating non-Darcy flow effects in porous media. The Forchheimer number, defined as the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces, is found more adequate for analyzing microscopic flow behavior in porous media.     

Generalization of the chaplygin problem on vortical flow past a semicylindrical surface

We study sheared flow past a flat surface with a projection in the form of a circular cylinder. The stream function of this flow is found as the limiting case. We study the behavior of the stagnation points as a function of the degree of nonuniformity of the free stream. A situation similar to that discussed arises in the flow past a lenticular profile or two touching circular cylinders in the wake behind the body. We also examine the dynamic effect of sheared flow on a cylinder that is separated from the bottom.The author thanks V. E. Davidson for his continuing interest in this study.     

Suppression of vortex-induced vibration of a circular cylinder using suction-based flow control

In the present study, a flow control method is employed to mitigate vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a circular cylinder by using a suction flow method. The VIV of a circular cylinder was first reproduced in a wind tunnel by using a spring–mass system. The time evolution of the cylinder oscillation and the time histograms of the surface pressures of 119 taps in four sections of the circular cylinder model were measured during the wind tunnel experiments. Four steady suction flow rates were used to investigate the effectiveness of the suction control method to suppress VIV of the circular cylinder. The vibration responses, the mean and fluctuating pressure coefficients, and the resultant aerodynamic force coefficients of the circular cylinder under the suction flow control are analyzed. The measurement results indicate clearly that the steady suction flow control method exhibits excellent control effectiveness and can distinctly suppress the VIV by dramatically reducing the amplitudes of cylinder vibrations, fluctuating pressure coefficients and lift coefficients of the circular cylinder model. By comparing the test cases with different suction flow rates, it is found that there exists an optimal suction flow rate for the maximum VIV control. The cases with higher suction flow rates do not necessarily behave better than those with lower suction flow rates. With the experimental setting used in the present study, the suction flow control method is found to behave better for VIV suppression when the ratio of the suction flow velocity to the oncoming flow velocity is less than one.     

STABILITY ANALYSIS OF SLOWLY DIVERGENT SWIRLINGFLOW (I)——THEORY

The stability of inviscid incompressible swirling flow with slowly divergence is investigated. A multiple scale expansion is used to develop a linear stability study of slowly divergent swirling flow with non-axisymmetric disturbances. The differential equations of zero-order and first-order disturbance module and governing equation of amplitude variation due to slowly divergent flow are derived. The Plaschko's equation for slowly divergent swirl-free jet has been extended to slowly divergent flow with swirl in the present study. Project supported by National Science Foundation of China     

Analysis of high-order velocity moments in a strained channel flow

In the current study, model expressions for fifth-order velocity moments obtained from the truncated Gram-Charlier series expansions model for a turbulent flow field probability density function are validated using data from direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a planar turbulent flow in a strained channel. Simplicity of the model expressions, the lack of unknown coefficients, and their applicability to non-Gaussian turbulent flows make this approach attractive to use for closing turbulent models based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The study confirms validity of the model expressions. It also shows that the imposed flow deformation improves an agreement between the model and DNS profiles for the fifth-order moments in the flow buffer zone including when the flow reverses its direction. The study reveals sensitivity of particularly odd velocity moments to the grid resolution. A new length scale is proposed as a criterion for the grid generation near the wall and in the other flow areas dominated by high mean velocity gradients when higher-order statistics have to be collected from DNS.     

Stability of wave forms of motion of a viscous fluid layer under tangential stress

We study the stability of wave flow of a viscous incompressible fluid layer subjected to tangential stress and an inclined gravity force with respect to long-wave disturbances.An asymptotic solution is constructed for the equations of the disturbed motion and the problem is reduced to the study of a second-order ordinary differential equation. It is shown that after loss of stability by a Poiseuille flow the laminar nature of the flow is not destroyed, but the form of the free surface acquires a wave-like profile. The Poiseuille regime is stable for low Reynolds numbers. The critical Reynolds number for wave flow is found, and the stability and instability regions are determined.     

An experimental investigation into the effect of vortex generators on the near-wake flow of a circular cylinder

The effect of the streamwise vortex generators on the near-wake flow structure of a circular cylinder was experimentally investigated. Digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) measurements were performed in a large circulating water tunnel facility at a Reynolds number of 41,300 where the flow around a bare cylinder was expected to be at the sub-critical flow state. In order to capture various flow properties and to provide a detailed wake flow topology, the DPIV images were analysed with three different but complementary flow field decomposition techniques which are Reynolds averaging, phase averaging and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). The effect of the vortex generators was clearly demonstrated both in qualitative and in quantitative manner. Various topological features such as vorticity and stress distribution of the flow fields as well as many other key flow characteristics including the length scales and the Strouhal number were discussed in the study. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study presents the first DPIV visualization of the near-wake flow of a circular cylinder fitted with the vortex generators in the open literature.     

A numerical study of bifurcation in laminar flow in curved ducts

The bifurcation phenomenon whereby multiple-vortex secondary flow occurs in place of the normal two-vortex flow in laminar flow in curved ducts has previously been studied numerically by several researchers. However, the various results have been conflicting on many points. The present paper describes a set of numerical experiments conducted to study the effect of numerical accuracy on the solution. The results show that the transition from two- to four-vortex structure depends strongly on the differencing scheme and to a lesser extent on the grid size. The study also shows that as the Reynolds number of the flow increases, a two-vortex structure is re-established via a path which involves strongly asymmetric secondary flow patterns. These results are in agreement, at least qualitatively, with recent experimental theoretical and numerical results.     

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.     

Theoretical and numerical study of Couette-Taylor flow with an axial flow using lattice Boltzmann method

In this study, the numerical models for swirling flows developed by Li et al and Zhou for lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) are chosen. These models were firstly validated using the Couette-Taylor flow between two concentric cylinders simulations. Numerical results showed the efficiency of the Zhou's model. Numerical simulation results using LBM are in good agreement for the steady and unsteady regimes compared to the literature review. In a second step, the Zhou model was then adopted to our study to determine the Couette-Taylor instabilities with an axial flow. Two protocols are tested. The first one (direct protocol) starts with an azimuthal flow without any axial flow (Re = 0). Once the regime is established, an axial flow is then superposed to the Couette-Taylor flow (with a sudden or a progressive manner). The second protocol (inverse protocol) starts with an axial flow at a given Reynolds number (Poiseuille flow). Once the regime is established, an azimuthal flow is the executed (with a sudden or a progressive manner). The effect of various parameters controlling the physical situation is also discussed. The increase of the azimuthal velocity mainly led to the emergence and development of Taylor vortices. Its influence decreases when the axial Reynolds number increases. The relevant result for this study is the change of the critical axial Reynolds number Re_c (total disappearance of instabilities) with both protocols and both manners.     

Uncertainty analysis of flow rate measurement for multiphase flow using CFD

The venturi meter has an advantage in its use,because it can measure flow without being much affected by the type of the measured fluid or flow conditions.Hence,it has excellent versatility and is being widely applied in many industries.The flow of a liquid containing air is a representative example of a multiphase flow and exhibits complex flow characteristics.In particular,the greater the gas volume fraction(GVF),the more inhomogeneous the flow becomes.As a result,using a venturi meter to measure the rate of a flow that has a high GVF generates an error.In this study,the cause of the error occurred in measuring the flow rate for the multiphase flow when using the venturi meter for analysis by CFD.To ensure the reliability of this study,the accuracy of the multiphase flow models for numerical analysis was verified through comparison between the calculated results of numerical analysis and the experimental data.As a result,the Grace model,which is a multiphase flow model established by an experiment with water and air,was confirmed to have the highest reliability.Finally,the characteristics of the internal flow Held about the multiphase flow analysis result generated by applying the Grace model were analyzed to find the cause of the uncertainty occurring when measuring the flow rate of the multiphase flow using the venturi meter.A phase separation phenomenon occurred due to a density difference of water and air inside the venturi,and flow inhomogeneity happened according to the flow velocity difference of each phase.It was confirmed that this flow inhomogeneity increased as the GVF increased due to the uncertainty of the flow measurement.     

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.     

平行平板流动腔脉动流切应力的计算

高度远小于横向和纵向几何尺寸的矩形平行平板流动腔是人们用以体外研究细胞在切应力作用下力学行为的主要工具之一。大多数研究者主要对定常层流情进行研究。本文通过对矩形平行平板流动腔内的层流脉动流进行详细分析,给出腔内速和腔室底部切应力的准确计算公式。当Ｗｏｍｅｒｓｌｅｙ数较小时,准确公式简化为准定常公式。数值计算结果表明,在脉动流条件下,对于人们常用的流动腔几何尺寸,准定常公式具有相当高的精度。这为在脉     

热毛细对流速度场测试研究

为了探索微重力状态下表面张力驱动流速度场的测试技术，本文在地面进行了模拟实验，对位于热壁下流体中气泡周围的表面张力驱动流进行了研究，并用ＰＩＶ技术测量了流场的速度分布．     

Controlling Transonic Flow around Airfoils by Means of Local Pulsed Addition of Energy

The influence of local pulsed-periodic addition of energy into a supersonic region on the flow structure and wave drag of an airfoil in transonic flow regimes is considered by methods of mathematical modeling. The study reveals significant prospects of the considered method of controlling airfoil performance in transonic flow regimes, including wave-drag reduction.     

A confrontation of 1D and 2D RKDG numerical simulation of transitional flow at open‐channel junction

In this study, a comparison between the 1D and 2D numerical simulation of transitional flow in open‐channel networks is presented and completely described allowing for a full comprehension of the modeling water flow. For flow in an open‐channel network, mutual effects exist among the channel branches joining at a junction. Therefore, for the 1D study, the whole system (branches and junction) cannot be treated individually. The 1D Saint Venant equations calculating the flow in the branches are then supplemented by various equations used at the junction: a discharge flow conservation equation between the branches arriving and leaving the junction, and a momentum or energy conservation equation. The disadvantages of the 1D study are that the equations used at the junction are of empirical nature due to certain parameters given by experimental results and moreover they often present a reduced field of validity. On the contrary, for the 2D study, the entire network is considered as a single unit and the flow in all the branches and junctions is solved simultaneously. Therefore, we simply apply the 2D Saint Venant equations, which are solved by a second‐order Runge–Kutta discontinuous Galerkin method. Finally, the experimental results obtained by Hager are used to validate and to compare the two approaches 1D and 2D. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.