Finite-amplitude solutions in the flow through a sudden expansion in a circular pipe

2011 ◽  
Vol 691 ◽  
pp. 201-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Sanmiguel-Rojas ◽  
T. Mullin

AbstractResults of three-dimensional numerical simulations of the flow through a sudden expansion in a pipe are presented. The axisymmetric state is known to be stable over the range of Reynolds numbers studied, but recent experimental results suggest bifurcation phenomena. A resolution of this dichotomy between calculation and experiment is provided using imperfections to promote the nonlinear development of asymmetric steady states. These lose stability to disordered motion and the boundary between the steady and time-dependent flows has been established over a range of parameters. Moreover, disordered flows are found to co-exist with the axisymmetric regime when the disturbance is removed from the flow. Hence we provide direct numerical evidence for multiplicity of solutions for the axisymmetric expansion problem, which may have relevance to pipe flows.

1990 ◽  
Vol 211 ◽  
pp. 595-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Fearn ◽  
T. Mullin ◽  
K. A. Cliffe

The origin of steady asymmetric flows in a symmetric sudden expansion is studied using experimental and numerical techniques. We show that the asymmetry arises at a symmetry-breaking bifurcation and good agreement between the experiments and numerical calculations is obtained. At higher Reynolds numbers the flow becomes time-dependent and there is experimental evidence that this is associated with three-dimensional effects.


2004 ◽  
Vol 127 (3) ◽  
pp. 400-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amador M. Guzmán ◽  
Rodrigo A. Escobar ◽  
Cristina H. Amon

Computational investigations of flow mixing and oxygen transfer characteristics in an intravenous membrane oxygenator (IMO) are performed by direct numerical simulations of the conservation of mass, momentum, and species equations. Three-dimensional computational models are developed to investigate flow-mixing and oxygen-transfer characteristics for stationary and pulsating balloons, using the spectral element method. For a stationary balloon, the effect of the fiber placement within the fiber bundle and the number of fiber rings is investigated. In a pulsating balloon, the flow mixing characteristics are determined and the oxygen transfer rate is evaluated. For a stationary balloon, numerical simulations show two well-defined flow patterns that depend on the region of the IMO device. Successive increases of the Reynolds number raise the longitudinal velocity without creating secondary flow. This characteristic is not affected by staggered or non-staggered fiber placement within the fiber bundle. For a pulsating balloon, the flow mixing is enhanced by generating a three-dimensional time-dependent flow characterized by oscillatory radial, pulsatile longitudinal, and both oscillatory and random tangential velocities. This three-dimensional flow increases the flow mixing due to an active time-dependent secondary flow, particularly around the fibers. Analytical models show the fiber bundle placement effect on the pressure gradient and flow pattern. The oxygen transport from the fiber surface to the mean flow is due to a dominant radial diffusion mechanism, for the stationary balloon. The oxygen transfer rate reaches an asymptotic behavior at relatively low Reynolds numbers. For a pulsating balloon, the time-dependent oxygen-concentration field resembles the oscillatory and wavy nature of the time-dependent flow. Sherwood number evaluations demonstrate that balloon pulsations enhance the oxygen transfer rate, even for smaller flow rates.


2002 ◽  
Vol 450 ◽  
pp. 67-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
CH. BLOHM ◽  
H. C. KUHLMANN

The incompressible fluid flow in a rectangular container driven by two facing sidewalls which move steadily in anti-parallel directions is investigated experimentally for Reynolds numbers up to 1200. The moving sidewalls are realized by two rotating cylinders of large radii tightly closing the cavity. The distance between the moving walls relative to the height of the cavity (aspect ratio) is Γ = 1.96. Laser-Doppler and hot-film techniques are employed to measure steady and time-dependent vortex flows. Beyond a first threshold robust, steady, three-dimensional cells bifurcate supercritically out of the basic flow state. Through a further instability the cellular flow becomes unstable to oscillations in the form of standing waves with the same wavelength as the underlying cellular flow. If both sidewalls move with the same velocity (symmetrical driving), the oscillatory instability is found to be tricritical. The dependence on two sidewall Reynolds numbers of the ranges of existence of steady and oscillatory cellular flows is explored. Flow symmetries and quantitative velocity measurements are presented for representative cases.


Author(s):  
Francine Battaglia ◽  
George Papadopoulos

The effect of three-dimensionality on low Reynolds number flows past a symmetric sudden expansion in a channel was investigated. The geometric expansion ratio of in the current study was 2:1 and the aspect ratio was 6:1. Both experimental velocity measurements and two- and three-dimensional simulations for the flow along the centerplane of the rectangular duct are presented for Reynolds numbers in the range of 150 to 600. Comparison of the two-dimensional simulations with the experiments revealed that the simulations fail to capture completely the total expansion effect on the flow, which couples both geometric and hydrodynamic effects. To properly do so requires the definition of an effective expansion ratio, which is the ratio of the downstream and upstream hydraulic diameters and is therefore a function of both the expansion and aspect ratios. When the two-dimensional geometry was consistent with the effective expansion ratio, the new results agreed well with the three-dimensional simulations and the experiments. Furthermore, in the range of Reynolds numbers investigated, the laminar flow through the expansion underwent a symmetry-breaking bifurcation. The critical Reynolds number evaluated from the experiments and the simulations was compared to other values reported in the literature. Overall, side-wall proximity was found to enhance flow stability, helping to sustain laminar flow symmetry to higher Reynolds numbers in comparison to nominally two-dimensional double-expansion geometries. Lastly, and most importantly, when the logarithm of the critical Reynolds number from all these studies was plotted against the reciprocal of the effective expansion ratio, a linear trend emerged that uniquely captured the bifurcation dynamics of all symmetric double-sided planar expansions.


In this work, bifurcation characteristics of unsteady, viscous, Newtonian laminar flow in two-dimensional sudden expansion and sudden contraction-expansion channels have been studied for different values of expansion ratio. The governing equations have been solved using finite volume method and FLUENT software has been employed to visualize the simulation results. Three different mesh studies have been performed to calculate critical Reynolds number (Recr) for different types of bifurcation phenomena. It is found that Recr decreases with the increase in expansion ratio (ER).


1993 ◽  
Vol 256 ◽  
pp. 615-646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Orlandi ◽  
Roberto Verzicco

Accurate numerical simulations of vortex rings impinging on flat boundaries revealed the same features observed in experiments. The results for the impact with a free-slip wall compared very well with previous numerical simulations that used spectral methods, and were also in qualitative agreement with experiments. The present simulation is mainly devoted to studying the more realistic case of rings interacting with a no-slip wall, experimentally studied by Walker et al. (1987). All the Reynolds numbers studied showed a very good agreement between experiments and simulations, and, at Rev > 1000 the ejection of a new ring from the wall was seen. Axisymmetric simulations demonstrated that vortex pairing is the physical mechanism producing the ejection of the new ring. Three-dimensional simulations were also performed to investigate the effects of azimuthal instabilities. These simulations have confirmed that high-wavenumber instabilities originate in the compression phase of the secondary ring within the primary one. The large instability of the secondary ring has been explained by analysis of the rate-of-strain tensor and vorticity alignment. The differences between passive scalars and the vorticity field have been also investigated.


2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Viktorov ◽  
Carmen Visconte ◽  
Md Readul Mahmud

A novel passive micromixer, denoted as the Y-Y mixer, based on split-and-recombine (SAR) principle is proposed and studied both experimentally and numerically over Reynolds numbers ranging from 1 to 100. Two species are supplied to a prototype via a Y inlet, and flow through four identical elements repeated in series; the width of the mixing channel varies from 0.4 to 0.6 mm, while depth is 0.4 mm. An image analysis technique was used to evaluate mixture homogeneity at four target areas along the mixer. Numerical simulations were found to be a useful support for observing the complex three-dimensional flow inside the channels. Comparison with a known mixer, the tear-drop one, based on the same SAR principle, was also performed, to have a point of reference for evaluating performances. A good agreement was found between numerical and experimental results. Over the examined range of Reynolds numbers Re, the Y-Y micromixer showed at its exit an almost flat mixing characteristic, with a mixing efficiency higher than 0.9; conversely, the tear-drop mixer showed a relevant decrease of efficiency at the midrange. The good performance of the Y-Y micromixer is due to the three-dimensional 90 deg change of direction that occurs in its channel geometry, which causes a fluid swirling already at the midrange of Reynolds numbers. Consequently, the fluid path is lengthened and the interfacial area of species is increased, compensating for the residence time reduction.


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