(1) Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G8, Canada
Abstract:
The flow field near the edge of a model porous medium was investigated using particle-image velocimetry (PIV). The medium was an annular array of regularly spaced rods, and the adjacent flow field was circular Couette flow. Since the radius of curvature was large, the flow was approximately linear, with the result that the medium was effectively a square array of rods and the external flow was effectively a simple shear flow. The velocity field was found under creeping flow conditions for three arrays with small solid volume fractions. Streamlines computed from the velocity vectors revealed flow circulation between the first and second rows of rods for volume fractions of 5.2% and 10%; circulation was not observed inside a 2.5% array. These observations confirmed earlier numerical predictions.
