Measurement of virtual mass and drag coefficients of a disk oscillating sinusoidally in a two-phase mixture

This paper presents an experimental determination of the virtual mass and drag coefficients of a disk oscillating sinusoidally in a two-phase mixture of air flowing through stagnant water. The purpose of this experiment was to determine the importance of virtual mass on the transient response of an INEL-type drag-disk flow meter.The results indicate that for a given void fraction, the virtual mass coefficient increases, and the drag coefficient decreases, with increasing amplitude parameter. Also, for a given amplitude parameter, the virtual mass coefficient decreases, and the drag coefficient increases, with increasing void fraction.Based on the measured virtual mass coefficients, it was concluded that when an INEL-type drag-disk is used for the measurement of transient two-phase flows, virtual mass effects may be neglected in the analysis of its response without appreciable error.