Numerical Modeling of Gas Expansion From Microtubes

Author(s):  
Ryan E. Chamberlin ◽  
Nikolaos A. Gatsonis

The expansion of argon from microtubes into hard vacuum has been extensively investigated using a three dimensional unstructured DSMC code. The simulation results for cases with an aspect ratio of 1.5 have been shown to compare well with theoretical formulations of free jet expansion. The discrepancies between the theoretical formulation and the DSMC results have been found to increase with increasing Knudsen number. DSMC simulations have been used to investigate the effects of Knudsen number, aspect ratio, Reynolds number and microtube scale on plume structure. The plume shape has been found to narrow with increasing Knudsen number, increasing aspect ratio and decreasing Reynolds number. The relative number density drop along the flow axis has been found to decrease with increasing Knudsen number and Reynolds number.

2008 ◽  
Vol 603 ◽  
pp. 63-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. SUBRAMANIAN ◽  
DONALD L. KOCH

A theoretical framework is developed to describe, in the limit of small but finite Re, the evolution of dilute clusters of sedimenting particles. Here, Re =aU/ν is the particle Reynolds number, where a is the radius of the spherical particle, U its settling velocity, and ν the kinematic viscosity of the suspending fluid. The theory assumes the disturbance velocity field at sufficiently large distances from a sedimenting particle, even at small Re, to possess the familiar source--sink character; that is, the momentum defect brought in via a narrow wake behind the particle is convected radially outwards in the remaining directions. It is then argued that for spherical clusters with sufficiently many particles, specifically with N much greater than O(R0U/ν), the initial evolution is strongly influenced by wake-mediated interactions; here, N is the total number of particles, and R0 is the initial cluster radius. As a result, the cluster first evolves into a nearly planar configuration with an asymptotically small aspect ratio of O(R0U/N ν), the plane of the cluster being perpendicular to the direction of gravity; subsequent expansion occurs with an unchanged aspect ratio. For relatively sparse clusters with N smaller than O(R0U/ν), the probability of wake interactions remains negligible, and the cluster expands while retaining its spherical shape. The long-time expansion in the former case, and that for all times in the latter case, is driven by disturbance velocity fields produced by the particles outside their wakes. The resulting interactions between particles are therefore mutually repulsive with forces that obey an inverse-square law. The analysis presented describes cluster evolution in this regime. A continuum representation is adopted with the clusters being characterized by a number density field (n(r, t)), and a corresponding induced velocity field (u (r, t)) arising on account of interactions. For both planar axisymmetric clusters and spherical clusters with radial symmetry, the evolution equation admits a similarity solution; either cluster expands self-similarly for long times. The number density profiles at different times are functions of a similarity variable η = (r/t1/3), r being the radial distance away from the cluster centre, and t the time. The radius of the expanding cluster is found to be of the form Rcl (t) = A (ν a)1/3N1/3t1/3, where the constant of proportionality, A, is determined from an analytical solution of the evolution equation; one finds A = 1.743 and 1.651 for planar and spherical clusters, respectively. The number density profile in a planar axisymmetric cluster is also obtained numerically as a solution of the initial value problem for a canonical (Gaussian) initial condition. The numerical results compare well with theoretical predictions, and demonstrate the asymptotic stability of the similarity solution in two dimensions for long times, at least for axisymmetric initial conditions.


1970 ◽  
Vol 185 (1) ◽  
pp. 407-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. R. M. Craig ◽  
H. J. A. Cox

A comprehensive method of estimating the performance of axial flow steam and gas turbines is presented, based on analysis of linear cascade tests on blading, on a number of turbine test results, and on air tests of model casings. The validity of the use of such data is briefly considered. Data are presented to allow performance estimation of actual machines over a wide range of Reynolds number, Mach number, aspect ratio and other relevant variables. The use of the method in connection with three-dimensional methods of flow estimation is considered, and data presented showing encouraging agreement between estimates and available test results. Finally ‘carpets’ are presented showing the trends in efficiencies that are attainable in turbines designed over a wide range of loading, axial velocity/blade speed ratio, Reynolds number and aspect ratio.


2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bok-Cheol Sim ◽  
Abdelfattah Zebib

Abstract Three-dimensional, time-dependent thermocapillary convection in open cylindrical containers is investigated numerically. Results for aspect ratios (Ar) of 1, 2.5, 8, and 16 and a Prandtl number of 6.84 are obtained to compare the results of numerical simulations with ongoing experiments. Convection is steady and axisymmetric at sufficiently low values of the Reynolds number (Re). Transition to oscillatory states occurs at critical values of Re which depend on Ar. With Ar = 1.0 and 2.5, we observe, respectively, 5 and 9 azimuthal wavetrains travelling clockwise at the free surface near the critical Re. With Ar = 8.0 and 16.0, there are substantially more, but pulsating waves near the critical Re. In the case of Ar = 16.0, which approaches the conditions in an infinite layer, our results are in good agreement with linear theory. While the critical Reynolds number decreases with increasing aspect ratio in the case of azimuthal rotating waves, it increases with increasing aspect ratio in the case of azimuthal pulsating waves. The critical frequency of temperature oscillations is found to decrease linearly with increasing Ar. We have also computed supercritical time-dependent states and find that while the frequency increases with increasing Re near the critical region, the frequency of supercritical convection decreases with Re.


2012 ◽  
Vol 256-259 ◽  
pp. 844-849
Author(s):  
Han Feng Wang

The flow around a finite-length square prism with aspect ratio of 5 is numerical investigated using LES at Red = 3900. The prism is mounted on a flat wall, with one end free. Based on the simulation results, it is found that the near wake is highly three dimensional under the effects of free-end downwash flow. The shear layers from prism side walls and free end form an arch-type structure. There are two typical flow modes presence in the near wake: first, the spanwise vortices are staggered arranged similar to that in 2D cylinder wake; second, the spanwise vortices are quasi-symmetrically arranged. These two modes occur alternately and intermittently. When the first mode occurs, the pressure on the prism side surface fluctuates periodically, corresponding to large values of drag and fluctuating lift coefficients; when the second modes occurs, there is no obvious pressure fluctuation on prism side surfaces, and the correspond drag and fluctuation life coefficients are significantly smaller than those for the first mode.


2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
V. S. Duryodhan ◽  
Shiv Govind Singh ◽  
Amit Agrawal

Aspect ratio is an important parameter in the study of flow through noncircular microchannel. In this work, three-dimensional numerical study is carried out to understand the effect of cross aspect ratio (height to width) on flow in diverging and converging microchannels. Three-dimensional models of the diverging and converging microchannels with angle: 2–14 deg, aspect ratio: 0.05–0.58, and Reynolds number: 130–280 are employed in the simulations with water as the working fluid. The effects of aspect ratio on pressure drop in equivalent diverging and converging microchannels are studied in detail and correlated to the underlying flow regime. It is observed that for a given Reynolds number and angle, the pressure drop decreases asymptotically with aspect ratio for both the diverging and converging microchannels. At small aspect ratio and small Reynolds number, the pressure drop remains invariant of angle in both the diverging and converging microchannels; the concept of equivalent hydraulic diameter can be applied to these situations. Onset of flow separation in diverging passage and flow acceleration in converging passage is found to be a strong function of aspect ratio, which has not been shown earlier. The existence of a critical angle with relevance to the concept of equivalent hydraulic diameter is identified and its variation with Reynolds number is discussed. Finally, the effect of aspect ratio on fluidic diodicity is discussed which will be helpful in the design of valveless micropump. These results help in extending the conventional formulae made for uniform cross-sectional channel to that for the diverging and converging microchannels.


Author(s):  
Abhishek Agrawal ◽  
Amit Agrawal

Three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann method based simulations of a microduct have been undertaken in this paper. The objective is to understand the different physical phenomena occurring at these small scales and to investigate when the flow can be treated as two-dimensional. Towards this end, the Knudsen number and aspect ratio (depth to width ratio) are varied for a fixed pressure ratio. The pressure in the microduct is non-linear with the non-linearity in pressure reducing with an increase in Knudsen number. The pressure and velocity behaves somewhat similar to two-dimensional microchannels even when the aspect ratio is unity. The slip velocity at the impenetrable wall has two components: along and perpendicular to the flow. Our results show that the streamwise velocity near the centerline is relatively invariant along the depth for aspect ratio more than three, suggesting that the microduct can be modeled as a two-dimensional microchannel. However, the velocity component along the depth is never identically zero, implying that the flow is not truly two-dimensional. A curious change in vector direction in a plane normal to the flow direction is observed around aspect ratio of four. These first set of three-dimensional results are significant because they will help in theoretical development and flow modeling at micro scales.


2007 ◽  
Vol 339 ◽  
pp. 377-381
Author(s):  
Xiao Quan Zhang ◽  
L. Tian

Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) are catching more and more attentions for their broad application in civilian and military fields. Since the theories on the aerodynamics of low Reynolds number are not maturely presented and the wind-tunnel experiments cost long periods and great expenses. The numerical simulation based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a good method to choose. Through three-dimensional simulation of the wings, the aerodynamic characteristics of the flows around MAVs can be easily obtained. The tip vortices produced around low-Reynolds-number and low-aspect-ratio wings can increase the lift and stall angles. The result of numerical simulation can be used as references of theory analysis and wind-tunnel experiments.


1965 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun-Yuan Shi

The results of Proudman & Pearson (1957) and Kaplun & Lagerstrom (1957) for a sphere and a cylinder are generalized to study an ellipsoid of revolution of large aspect ratio with its axis of revolution perpendicular to the uniform flow at infinity. The limiting case, where the Reynolds number based on the minor axis of the ellipsoid is small while the other Reynolds number based on the major axis is fixed, is studied. The following points are deduced: (1) although the body is three-dimensional the expansion is in inverse power of the logarithm of the Reynolds number as the case of a two-dimensional circular cylinder; (2) the existence of the ends and the variation of the diameter along the axis of revolution have no effect on the drag to the first order; (3) a formula for drag is obtained to higher order.


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