Pressure and flow in two dimensional numerical bifurcation models

The finite element method has been used to solve the Navier-Strokes equations for steady flow conditions in bifurcations. The results are presented as pressure, velocity and streamline plots at different Reynolds number. The three bifurcations considered have rigid walls and bifurcation angles of 0°, 20° and 180°. For the bifurcation with branch angles 0° and 20° there is flow separation along the inner wall of the outlet branches and large spatial pressure variations, these phenomena being more pronounced at the higher Reynolds numbers. For the bifurcation with a branch angle of 180° the high pressure gradients occured at the outer corner and for the high Reynolds number a vortex formation developed downstream of this corner.