Thermographic visualization of a flow instability in an electromagnetically driven electrolyte layer

A body of finite size is moving freely inside, and interacting with, a channel flow. The description of this unsteady interaction for a comparatively dense thin body moving slowly relative to flow at medium-to-high Reynolds number shows that an inviscid core problem with vorticity determines much, but not all, of the dominant response. It is found that the lift induced on a body of length comparable to the channel width leads to differences in flow direction upstream and downstream on the body scale which are smoothed out axially over a longer viscous length scale; the latter directly affects the change in flow directions. The change is such that in any symmetric incident flow the ratio of slopes is found to be cos ⁡ ( π / 7 ) , i.e. approximately 0.900969, independently of Reynolds number, wall shear stresses and velocity profile. The two axial scales determine the evolution of the body and the flow, always yielding instability. This unusual evolution and linear or nonlinear instability mechanism arise outside the conventional range of flow instability and are influenced substantially by the lateral positioning, length and axial velocity of the body.

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Prediction and Evaluation of Waterjet Pump Performance under Nonuniform Inflow Using Parallel Compressor Theory

Water ◽

10.3390/w13010099 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 99

Author(s):

Puyu Cao ◽

Rui Zhu

Keyword(s):

Flow Instability ◽

Internal Flow ◽

Weighted Sum ◽

Pump Performance ◽

Inlet Velocity ◽

Inlet Distortion ◽

Pump Head ◽

Compressor Performance ◽

Waterjet Pump ◽

External Characteristics

Parallel compressor theory (PCT) is commonly used to estimate effects of inlet distortion on compressor performance. As well as compressor, the actual inflow to pump is also nonuniform and unfavorable for performances. Nowadays, insufficient understanding of nonuniform inflow effects on pump performance restricts its development. Therefore, this paper applies PCT to predict external characteristics and evaluate internal flow instability of waterjet pump under nonuniform inflow. According to features of nonuniform inflow, the traditional PCT is modified and makes waterjet pump sub-divided into two circumferential tubes owning same performances but with different inlet velocity (representing nonuniform inflow). Above all, numerical simulation has been conducted to validated the applicability and accuracy of PCT in head prediction of waterjet pump under nonuniform inflow, since area-weighted sum of each tube head (i.e., theoretical pump head) is highly consistent with simulated result. Moreover, based on identifications of when and which tube occurs stall, PCT evaluates four stall behaviors of waterjet pump: partial deep stall, partial stall, pre-stall and full stall. Furthermore, different stall behavior generates different interactions between head variation of each tube, resulting in a multi-segment head curve under nonuniform inflow. The modified PCT with associated physical interpretations are expected to provide a sufficient understanding of nonuniform inflow effects on pump performances.

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Centrifugal Compressor Stall Control by the Application of Engineered Surface Roughness on Diffuser Shroud Using Numerical Simulations

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma14082033 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (8) ◽

pp. 2033

Author(s):

Amjid Khan ◽

Muhammad Irfan ◽

Usama Muhammad Niazi ◽

Imran Shah ◽

Stanislaw Legutko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Roughness ◽

Mass Flow Rate ◽

Mass Flow ◽

Flow Rate ◽

Centrifugal Compressor ◽

Control Method ◽

Flow Instability ◽

Passive Flow Control ◽

Passive Flow ◽

Low Mass

Downsizing in engine size is pushing the automotive industry to operate compressors at low mass flow rate. However, the operation of turbocharger centrifugal compressor at low mass flow rate leads to fluid flow instabilities such as stall. To reduce flow instability, surface roughness is employed as a passive flow control method. This paper evaluates the effect of surface roughness on a turbocharger centrifugal compressor performance. A realistic validation of SRV2-O compressor stage designed and developed by German Aerospace Center (DLR) is achieved from comparison with the experimental data. In the first part, numerical simulations have been performed from stall to choke to study the overall performance variation at design conditions: 2.55 kg/s mass flow rate and rotational speed of 50,000 rpm. In second part, surface roughness of magnitude range 0–200 μm has been applied on the diffuser shroud to control flow instability. It was found that completely rough regime showed effective quantitative results in controlling stall phenomena, which results in increases of operating range from 16% to 18% and stall margin from 5.62% to 7.98%. Surface roughness as a passive flow control method to reduce flow instability in the diffuser section is the novelty of this research. Keeping in view the effects of surface roughness, it will help the turbocharger manufacturers to reduce the flow instabilities in the compressor with ease and improve the overall performance.

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