Flow structures around an equilateral triangle arrangement of three spheres

This paper represents the results of an experimental study on the flow structure around a single sphere and three spheres in an equilateral-triangular arrangement. Flow field measurements were performed using a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique and dye visualization in an open water channel for a Reynolds number of Re = 5 × 10³ based on the sphere diameter. The distributions and flow features at the critical locations of the contours of the velocity fluctuations, the patterns of sectional streamlines, the vorticity contours, the turbulent kinetic energy, the Reynolds stress correlations and shedding frequency are discussed. The gap ratios (G/D) of the three spheres were varied in the range of 1.0 ⩽ G/D ⩽ 2.5 where G was the distance between the sphere centers, and D was the sphere diameter which was taken as 30 mm. Due to the interference of the shedding shear layers and the wakes, more complex features of the flow patterns can be found in the wake region of the two downstream spheres behind the leading sphere. For G/D = 1.25, a jet-like flow around the leading sphere through the gap between the two downstream spheres occurred, which significantly enhanced the wake region. It was observed that a continuous flow development involving shearing phenomena and the interactions of shedding vortices caused a high rate of fluctuations over the whole flow field although most of the time-averaged flow patterns were almost symmetric about the two downstream spheres.     

Low Reynolds number flow over a square cylinder with a detached flat plate

A numerical study of the alteration of a square cylinder wake using a detached downstream thin flat plate is presented. The wake is generated by a uniform flow of Reynolds number 150 based on the side length of the cylinder, D. The sensitivity of the near wake structure to the downstream position of the plate is investigated by varying the gap distance (G) along the wake centerline in the range 0 ⩽ G ⩽ 7D for a constant plate length of L = D. A critical gap distance is observed to occur at G_c ≈ 2.3D that indicates the existence of two flow regimes. Regime I is characterised by vortex formation occurring downstream of the gap while for regime II, formation occurs within the gap. By varying the plate length and gap distance, a condition is found where significant unsteady total lift reduction can occur. The root mean square lift reduction is limited by an unsteady stall process on the plate.     

The effect of incidence angle on the mean wake of surface-mounted finite-height square prisms

The mean wake of a surface-mounted finite-height square prism was studied experimentally in a low-speed wind tunnel to explore the combined effects of incidence angle (α) and aspect ratio (AR). Measurements of the mean wake velocity field were made with a seven-hole pressure probe for finite square prisms of AR = 9, 7, 5 and 3, at a Reynolds number of Re = 3.7 × 10⁴, for incidence angles from α = 0° to 45°. The relative thickness of the boundary layer on the ground plane, compared to the prism width, was δ/D = 1.5. As the incidence angle increases from α = 0° to 15°, the mean recirculation zone shortens and the mean wake shifts in the direction opposite to that of the mean lift force. The downwash is also deflected to this side of the wake and the mean streamwise vortex structures in the upper part of the wake become strongly asymmetric. The shortest mean recirculation zone, and the greatest asymmetry in the mean wake, is found at the critical incidence angle of α_critical ≈ 15°. As the incidence angle increases from α = 15° to 45°, the mean recirculation zone lengthens and the mean streamwise vortex structures regain their symmetry. These vortices also elongate in the wall-normal direction and become contiguous with the horseshoe vortex trailing arms. The mean wake of the prism of AR = 3 has some differences, such as an absence of induced streamwise vorticity near the ground plane, which support its classification as lying below the critical aspect ratio for the present flow conditions.     

Instantaneous flow field above the free end of finite-height cylinders and prisms

The flow above the free ends of surface-mounted finite-height circular cylinders and square prisms was studied experimentally using particle image velocimetry (PIV). Cylinders and prisms with aspect ratios of AR = 9, 7, 5, and 3 were tested at a Reynolds number of Re = 4.2 × 10⁴. The bodies were mounted normal to a ground plane and were partially immersed in a turbulent zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer, where the boundary layer thickness relative to the body width was δ/D = 1.6. PIV measurements were made above the free ends of the bodies in a vertical plane aligned with the flow centreline. The present PIV results provide insight into the effects of aspect ratio and body shape on the instantaneous flow field. The recirculation zone under the separated shear layer is larger for the square prism of AR = 3 compared to the more slender prism of AR = 9. Also, for a square prism with low aspect ratio (AR = 3), the influence of the reverse flow over the free end surface becomes more significant compared to that for a higher aspect ratio (AR = 9). For the circular cylinder, a cross-stream vortex forms within the recirculation zone. As the aspect ratio of the cylinder decreases, the reattachment point of the separated flow on the free end surface moves closer to the trailing edge. For both the square prism and circular cylinder cases, the instantaneous velocity vector field and associated in-plane vorticity field revealed small-scale structures mostly generated by the separated shear layer.     

The flow field around a micropillar confined in a microchannel

The flow field over a low aspect ratio (AR) circular pillar (L/D = 1.5) in a microchannel was studied experimentally. Microparticle image velocimetry (μPIV) was employed to quantify flow parameters such as flow field, spanwise vorticity, and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) in the microchannel. Flow regimes of cylinder-diameter-based Reynolds number at 100 ⩽ Re_D ⩽ 700 (i.e., steady, transition from quasi-steady to unsteady, and unsteady flow) were elucidated at the microscale. In addition, active flow control (AFC), via a steady control jet (issued from the pillar itself in the downstream direction), was implemented to induce favorable disturbances to the flow in order to alter the flow field, promote turbulence, and increase mixing. Together with passive flow control (i.e., a circular pillar), turbulent kinetic energy was significantly increased in a controllable manner throughout the flow field.     

Particle image velocimetry investigation on mixing enhancement of non-circular sharp edge nozzles

An experimental study using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) on free jets issuing from different orifice plate (OP) nozzles is reported. Mean velocity, turbulence intensity and higher order profiles relevant for large and small scale mixing are considered in the near field and interaction zone (0 < X/D < 20). This is done to determine mixing enhancement due to rectangular, squared, elliptic and triangular nozzles in comparison to circular nozzle results in two orthogonal planes. The effect of Reynolds number on the differences among the nozzle shapes is also considered by performing measurements just after laminar–turbulent transition (Re = 8000) and in the fully turbulent regime (Re = 35,000). The results at low Reynolds number show two classes of jets, i.e. at one side, those closer to axial-symmetric conditions, as circular, square and triangular jets, whereas on the other side those with elongated nozzles as rectangular and elliptic. The reason for the different behavior of the latter is connected to the phenomenon of axis-switching which allows a rearrangement of turbulence over the different velocity components and directions. However, for the highest Reynolds number investigated, all nozzles show similar behavior especially in the jet far field (X/D > 10), thus suggesting a significant Reynolds number dependence of the results.     

Effects of rotation on flow in an asymmetric rib-roughened duct: LES study

We report on large-eddy simulations (LES) of fully-developed asymmetric flow in a duct of a rectangular cross-section in which square-sectioned, equally-spaced ribs oriented perpendicular to the flow direction, were mounted on one of the walls. The configuration mimics a passage of internal cooling of a gas-turbine blade. The duct flow at a Reynolds number Re = 15,000 (based on hydraulic diameter D_h and bulk flow velocity U₀) was subjected to clock-wise (stabilising) and anti-clock-wise (destabilising) orthogonal rotation at a moderate rotational number Ro = ΩD_h/U₀ = 0.3, where Ω is the angular velocity. The LES results reproduced well the available experimental results of Coletti et al. (2011) (in the mid-plane adjacent to the ribbed wall) and provided insight into the whole duct complementing the reference PIV measurement. We analyzed the effects of stabilising and destabilising rotation on the flow, vortical structures and turbulence statistics by comparison with the non-rotating case. The analysis includes the identification of depth of penetration of the rib-effects into the bulk flow, influence of flow three-dimensionality and the role of secondary motions, all shown to be strongly affected by the rotation and its direction.     

Comprehensive experimental investigation of the hydrodynamics of large-scale, 3D,oscillating bubble plumes

An extensive study of the most important hydrodynamic characteristics of fairly large-scale bubble plumes was conducted using several measurement techniques and a variety of tools to analyze the data. Particle image velocimetry (PIV), double-tip optical probes (OP) and photographic techniques were extensively applied to measure bubble and liquid velocities, void-fraction and bubble sizes. PIV measurements in a vertical plane crossing the centre of the injector provided the instantaneous velocity fields for both phases, as well as hydrodynamic parameters, such as the movement of the axis of the plume and its instantaneous shape. Statistical studies were performed using image processing to determine the distribution of the apparent instantaneous plume diameter and centreline position. An important finding was that there is little instantaneous spreading of the bubble plume core; the spreading of the time-averaged plume width (as measured from the time-averaged void-fraction and time-averaged liquid velocity fields) is largely due to plume meandering and oscillations. The liquid-phase stress tensor distributions obtained from the instantaneous velocity data indicate that, for the continuous phase, these stresses scale linearly with the local void-fraction in the range of 0.5% < α < 2.5%. The bubbles were found to be ellipsoidal, with shape factor e ≈ 0.5.     

Large-eddy simulation of thermal fatigue in a mixing tee

Temperature fluctuations occur due to thermal mixing of hot and cold streams in the T-junctions of the piping system in nuclear power plants, which may cause thermal fatigue of piping system. In this paper, three-dimensional, unsteady numerical simulations of coolant temperature fluctuations at a mixing T-junction of equal diameter pipes were performed using the large eddy simulation (LES) turbulent model. The experiments used in this paper to benchmark the simulations were performed by Hitachi Ltd. The calculated normalized mean temperatures and fluctuating temperatures are in good agreement with the measurements. The influence of the time-step ranging from 100 Hz to 1000 Hz on the numerical simulation results was explored. The simulation results indicate that all the results with different frequencies agree well with the experimental data. Finally, the attenuation of fluctuation of fluid temperature was also investigated. It is found that, drastic fluctuation occurs within the range of less than L/D = 4.0; the fluctuation of fluid temperature does not always attenuate from the pipe center to the wall due to the continuous generation of vortexes. At the top wall, the position of L/D = 1.5 has a minimum normalized mean temperature and a peak value of root-mean square temperature, whereas at the bottom wall, the position having the same characteristics is L/D = 2.0.     

Flow evolution of a turbulent submerged two-dimensional rectangular free jet of air. Average Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) visualizations and measurements

The paper presents average flow visualizations and measurements, obtained with the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique, of a submerged rectangular free jet of air in the range of Reynolds numbers from Re = 35,300 to Re = 2200, where the Reynolds number is defined according to the hydraulic diameter of a rectangular slot of height H. According to the literature, just after the exit of the jet there is a zone of flow, called zone of flow establishment, containing the region of mixing fluid, at the border with the stagnant fluid, and the potential core, where velocity on the centerline maintains a value almost equal to the exit one. After this zone is present the zone of established flow or fully developed region. The goal of the paper is to show, with average PIV visualizations and measurements, that, before the zone of flow establishment is present a region of flow, never mentioned by the literature and called undisturbed region of flow, with a length, L_U, which decreases with the increase of the Reynolds number. The main characteristics of the undisturbed region is the fact that the velocity profile maintains almost equal to the exit one, and can also be identified by a constant height of the average PIV visualizations, with length, L_CH, or by a constant turbulence on the centerline, with length L_CT. The average PIV velocity and turbulence measurements are compared to those performed with the Hot Film Anemometry (HFA) technique. The average PIV visualizations show that the region of constant height has a length L_CH which increases from L_CH = H at Re = 35,300 to L_CH = 4–5H at Re = 2200. The PIV measurements on the centerline of the jet show that turbulence remains constant at the level of the exit for a length, L_CT, which increases from L_CT = H at Re = 35,300 to L_CT = 4–5H at Re = 2200. The PIV measurements show that velocity remains constant at the exit level for a length, L_U, which increases from L_U = H at Re = 35,300 to L_U = 6H at Re = 2200 and is called undisturbed region of flow. In turbulent flow the length L_U is almost equal to the lengths of the regions of constant height, L_CH, and constant turbulence, L_CT. In laminar flow, Re = 2200, the length of the undisturbed region of flow, L_U, is greater than the lengths of the regions of constant height and turbulence, L_CT = L_CH = 4–5H. The average PIV and HFA velocity measurements confirm that the length of potential core, L_P, increases from L_P = 4–5H at Re = 35,300 to L_P = 7–8H at Re = 2200, and are compared to the previous experimental and theoretical results of the literature in the zone of mixing fluid and in the fully developed region with a good agreement.     

Theoretical stress analysis of intersecting cylindrical shells subjected to external loads transmitted through branch pipes

A thin shell theoretical solution of two normally intersecting cylindrical shells subjected to thrust-out force and three kinds of moments transmitted through branch pipes is presented in this paper. The solutions of modified Morley equation, which can be applicable up to ρ₀ = d/D ⩽ 0.8 and λ = d/(DT)^1/2 ⩽ 8 and the order of accuracy is raised to O(T/D), for the four loading cases are given. The accurate continuity conditions of generalized forces and displacements at the intersecting curve of two cylindrical shells for the four loading cases and the condition of the uniqueness of displacements are derived in this paper. The presented results are verified by experimental and numerical results successfully. They are in agreement with WRC Bulletin 297 when d/D is small.     

Heat transfer enhancement in a tube with equilateral triangle cross sectioned coiled wire inserts

The heat transfer and pressure drop were experimentally investigated in a coiled wire inserted tube in turbulent flow regime. The coiled wire has equilateral triangular cross section and was inserted separately from the tube wall. The experiments were carried out with three different pitch ratios (P/D = 1, 2 and 3) and two different ratio of equilateral triangle length side to tube diameter (a/D = 0.0714 and 0.0892) at a distance (s) of 1 mm from the tube wall in the range of Reynolds number from 3500 to 27,000. Uniform heat flux was applied to the external surface of the tube and air was selected as fluid. The experimental results obtained from a smooth tube were compared with those from the studies in literature for validation of experimental set-up. The use of coiled wire inserts leads to a considerable increase in heat transfer and pressure drop over the smooth tube. The Nusselt number rises with the increase of Reynolds number and wire thickness and the decrease of pitch ratio. The highest overall enhancement efficiency of 36.5% is achieved for the wire with a/D = 0.0892 and P/D = 1 at Reynolds number of 3858. Consequently, the experimental results reveal that the best operating regime of all coiled wire inserts is detected at low Reynolds number, leading to more compact heat exchanger.     

Spatiotemporal representation of the dynamic modes in turbulent cavity flows

Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) were used to extract the coherent structures in turbulent cavity flows. The spatiotemporal representation of the modes was achieved by performing the circular convolution of a change of basis on the data sequence, wherein the transformation function was extracted from the POD or DMD. The spatiotemporal representation of the modes provided significant insight into the evolutionary behavior of the structures. Self-sustained oscillations arise in turbulent cavity flows due to unsteady separation at the leading edge. The turbulent cavity flow at Re_D = 12,000 and a length to depth ratio L/D = 2 was analyzed. The dynamic modes extracted from the data clarified the presence of self-sustained oscillations. The spatiotemporal representation of the POD and DMD modes that caused self-sustained oscillations revealed the prevalent dynamics and evolutionary behavior of the coherent structures from their formation at the leading edge to their impingement at the trailing edge. A local minimum in the mode amplitude representing the energy contributions to the flow was observed upon the impingement of coherent structure at the trailing edge. The modal energy associated with the periodic formation of organized coherent structures followed by their dissipation upon impingement revealed the oscillatory behavior over time.     

Separated flow structures around a cylindrical obstacle in a narrow channel

A detailed experimental study is performed on the separated flow structures around a low aspect-ratio circular cylinder (pin-fin) in a practical configuration of liquid cooling channel. Distinctive features of the present arrangement are the confinement of the cylinder at both ends, water flow at low Reynolds numbers (Re = 800, 1800, 2800), very high core flow turbulence and undeveloped boundary layers at the position of the obstacle. The horseshoe vortex system at the junctions between the cylinder and the confining walls and the near wake region behind the obstacle are deeply investigated by means of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Upstream of the cylinder, the horseshoe vortex system turns out to be perturbed by vorticity bursts from the incoming boundary layers, leading to aperiodical vortex oscillations at Re = 800 or to break-away and secondary vorticity eruptions at the higher Reynolds numbers. The flow structures in the near wake show a complex three-dimensional behaviour associated with a peculiar mechanism of spanwise mass transport. High levels of free-stream turbulence trigger an early instabilization of the shear layers and strong Bloor–Gerrard vortices are observed even at Re = 800. Coalescence of these vortices and intense spanwise flow inhibit the alternate primary vortex shedding for time periods whose length and frequency increase as the Reynolds number is reduced. The inhibition of alternate vortex shedding for long time periods is finally related to the very large wake characteristic lengths and to the low velocity fluctuations observed especially at the lowest Reynolds number.     

Coherent vortical and straining structures in the finite wall-mounted square cylinder wake

Topological aspects of the turbulent wake of a finite, surface-mounted, square-cross-section cylinder of h/d = 4 are addressed by decomposing the velocity field into a quasi-periodic coherent part and the unresolved incoherent fluctuations. The three-dimensional large scale structure is educed through a reconstruction of planar phase-averaged PIV measurements using the simultaneously sampled surface pressure difference on opposing sides of the obstacle as a phase reference. A topological model for the vortex structure is educed and mean streamwise wake vorticity is explained in terms of the connections between initially vertical structures shed alternately from either side of the obstacle, rather than previously proposed ‘tip’ vortex structures generated at the obstacle free-end. The coherent structure educed accounts for a significant portion of the fluctuating energy in the wake. The turbulent field is further analyzed by finding Lagrangian straining structures that form by induction of the coherent vorticity field, and these structures are related to the energy transfer from the base phase-averaged flow since they act to stretch incoherent vorticity fluctuations in their neighbourhood.     

Heat transfer due to impinging co-axial jets and the jets’ fluid flow characteristics

This investigation had multiple goals. One goal was to obtain definitive information about the heat transfer characteristics of co-axial impinging jets, and this was achieved by measurements of the stagnation-point, surface-distribution and average heat transfer coefficients. These results are parameterized by the Reynolds number Re which ranged from 5000 to 25,000, the dimensionless separation distance between the jet exit and the impingement plate H/D (4–12), and the ratio of the inner diameters of the inner and outer pipes d/D (0–0.55). The d/D = 0 case corresponds to a single circular jet. The other major goal of this work was to quantify the velocity field of co-axial free jets (impingement plate removed). The velocity-field study included both measurements of the mean velocity and the turbulence intensity.It was found that the variation of the stagnation-point heat transfer coefficient with d/D attained a maximum at d/D = 0.55. Furthermore, the variation of the local heat transfer coefficient across the impingement surface was more peaked for d/D = 0 and became flatter with decreasing d/D. This suggests that for cooling a broad expanse of surface, co-axial jets of high d/D are preferable. On the other hand, for localized cooling, the single jet (d/D = 0) performed the best. In general, for a given Reynolds number, a co-axial jet yields higher heat transfer coefficients than a single jet. Off-axis velocity peaks were encountered for the jets with d/D = 0.105. The measurements of turbulence intensity yielded values as high as 18%.     

Flow structures and heat transfer on dimples in a staggered arrangement

Vortex structures and heat transfer enhancement mechanism of turbulent flow over a staggered array of dimples in a narrow channel have been investigated using Large Eddy Simulation (LES), Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) and pressure measurements for Reynolds numbers Re_H = 6521 and Re_H = 13,042.The flow and temperature fields are calculated by LES using dynamic mixed model applied both for the velocity and temperature. Simulations have been validated with experimental data obtained for smooth and dimpled channels and empiric correlations. The flow structures determined by LES inside the dimple are chaotic and consist of small eddies with a broad range of scales where coherent structures are hardly to detect. Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) method is applied on resolved LES fields of pressure and velocity to identify spatial–temporal structures hidden in the random fluctuations. For both Reynolds numbers it was found that the dimple package with a depth h to diameter D ratio of h/D = 0.26 provides the maximum thermo-hydraulic performance. The heat transfer rate could be enhanced up to 201% compared to a smooth channel.     

Turbulent flow past a bubble and an ellipsoid using shadow-image and PIV techniques

An experimental investigation on flow around an oscillating bubble and solid ellipsoid with a flat bottom was conducted. A single air bubble (equivalent diameter D_e=9.12 mm) was attached to a small disk (∼1 mm) at the end of a needle and suspended across a vertical square channel (100 mm) by wire wherein water flowed downward at a constant flowrate. The solid ellipsoid (D_e∼9.1 mm) was suspended across the square channel in the same manner. The equivalent diameter-based Reynolds and Eotvos number range, 1950<Re<2250 and 11<Eo<11.5, placed the bubble in the ‘wobbly’ regime while the flow in its wake was turbulent. A constant flowrate and one bubble size was used such that flow in the wake was turbulent. Velocity measurements of the flow field around the bubble or solid were made using a one CCD camera Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV) system enhanced by Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF). The shape of the bubble or solid was simultaneously recorded along with the velocity using a second CCD camera and an Infrared Shadow Technique (IST). In this way both the flow-field and the boundary of the bubble (solid) were measured. The velocity vector plots of flow around and in the wake of a bubble/solid, supplemented by profiles and contours of the average and root-mean-square velocities, vorticity, Reynolds stress and turbulent kinetic energy, revealed differences in the wake flow structure behind a bubble and solid. One of the significant differences was in the inherent, oscillatory motion of the bubble which not only produced vorticity in the near-wake, but as a result of apparent vorticity stretching distributed the turbulent kinetic energy associated with this flow more uniformly on its wake, in contrast to the solid.     

3D particle image velocimetry of the flow field around a sphere sedimenting near a wall: Part 1. Effects of Weissenberg number

The flow fields surrounding a sphere sedimenting through a liquid near a vertical wall are characterized using 3D stereoscopic particle-image velocimetry (PIV) experiments. Three different fluids, a Newtonian reference fluid, a constant (shear) viscosity Boger fluid, and a shear-thinning elastic fluid, are used to determine the effects of both elasticity and shear-thinning on the flow field. All three fluids have similar zero shear viscosities. The Weissenberg number is manipulated by varying the diameter and the composition of the ball. Significant differences are found for the different types of fluid, demonstrating both the influence of elasticity and shear-thinning on the velocity fields. In addition, the impact of the wall on the flow field is qualitatively different for each fluid. We find that the flow behind the sphere is strongly dependent on the fluid properties as well as the elasticity. Also, the presence of a negative wake is found for the shear-thinning fluid at high Weissenberg number (Wi > 1).     

Influence of single rectangular groove on the flow past a circular cylinder

In the present study, flow control mechanism of single groove on a circular cylinder surface is presented experimentally using Particle image velocimetry (PIV). A square shaped groove is patterned longitudinally on the surface of the cylinder with a diameter of 50 mm. The flow characteristics are studied as a function of angular position of the groove from the forward stagnation point of the cylinder within 0° ≤ θ ≤ 150°. In the current work, instantaneous and time-averaged flow data such as vorticity, ω streamline, Ψ streamwise, u/U_o and transverse, v/U_o velocity components, turbulent kinetic energy, TKE and RMS of streamwise, u_rms and transverse, v_rms velocity components are utilized in order to present the results of quantitative analyses. Furthermore, Strouhal numbers are calculated using Karman vortex shedding frequency, f_k obtained from single point spectral analysis. It is concluded that a critical angular position of the groove, θ = 80° is observed. The flow separation is controlled within 0° ≤ θ < 80°. At θ = 80°, the flow separation starts to occur in the upstream direction. The instability within the shear layer is also induced on grooved side of the cylinder with frequencies different than Karman vortex shedding frequency, f_k.