Vortex Breakdown and Recirculation Bubble Formation in Counter Swirl Flows

For achieving better fuel-air mixing within a short distance or for improved atomization of liquid fuels counter rotating swirler designs are preferred in gas turbine engine combustors. In this study, vortex breakdown phenomenon is investigated in co and counter rotating swirlers using CFD. The swirler assembly consists of two axial swirlers, an inner and an outer swirler both with straight vanes. Swirler vane angles are varied from 30° to 60° in steps of 10° while keeping inner and outer swirler vane angles equal. CFD simulations are performed with air at ambient conditions as the working fluid at a constant mass flow rate. It is observed that strong shear layers are created in counter swirl flows due to the opposite flow rotation. The shear layers result in rapid decay of inner swirler tangential velocities for the counter swirlers compared to the co-swirlers. The tangential velocity decay is characterized with a parameter named tangential velocity integral (TVI). TVI was observed to decay faster for the counter swirl flows compared to the co-swirl flows. The faster decay in TVI for the counter swirlers is found to result in a stronger adverse pressure gradient in the axial direction at the center. The strong adverse pressure gradient resulted in higher pressure excess ratios (PER) for the counter swirlers. The higher PERs are observed to induce vortex breakdown in counter swirlers even at low vane angles whereas in co-swirlers vortex breakdown is not observed except for the highest vane angle. It is demonstrated that vortex breakdown could be suppressed in counter swirlers using a converging mixer passage. The converging mixer passage creates a favorable pressure gradient that counters the adverse pressure gradient due to swirl decay, resulting in breakdown suppression.

On the scaling of three dimensional shock induced separated flow due to protuberances

Supersonic flow over 3-dimensional bodies protruding out of the turbulent boundary layer was investigated by performing experiments and numerical computations. A parametric study was undertaken varying shapes, heights, and diameters of the protuberance. To study the Mach number effects on the shock boundary layer interactions due to protuberances flows with varying Mach numbers (1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5) were also examined. Surface oil flow technique, surface pressure measurements and schlieren flow visualization using a high-speed camera were employed along with 3-dimensional RANS computations to elicit flow features such as core of the horseshoe vortex, which greatly influences the flow in recirculation bubble. Though some of the parameters involved in such interactions are individually investigated in the literature, a comprehensive study is still lacking. It was observed that the viscous interaction was strongly related to the inviscid phenomenon happening close to the surface of the protuberance. Radius of curvature of the inviscid shock at the nose was found to be a determining parameter incorporating information on adverse pressure gradient experienced by local boundary layer, geometrical parameters of the protuberances, and Mach number of the incoming flow. Based on this, a scaling law is presented to relate the separation length involved in such interaction with various geometrical and incoming flow parameters. The scaled separation length was predicted remarkably well by the proposed correlation. As a comprehensive correlation, it was also tested with data from a 2-dimensional forward facing step study in the literature, and a good agreement was found. It was also observed that the location of the horseshoe vortex core was also dependent on the inviscid shock in the same way as is separation length.

Wind-Tunnel Measurement of Differential Pressure on the Surface of a Dynamically Inflatable Wing Cell

An instrumentation system for in-situ measurement of the inner-outer pressure differential at the upper and lower surfaces of dynamically inflatable wings is designed and tested, revealing important insights into the aerodynamic characteristics of inflatable airfoils. Wind tunnel tests demonstrated full capability of low-pressure differential readings in the range of 1.0–120 Pa, covering speeds from 3 to 10 m/s at angles of attack from −20 to +25°. Readings were stable, presenting coefficients of variation from 2% to 7% over the operational flight envelope. The experimental data confirmed the occurrence of a bottom leading-edge recirculation bubble, linked to the low Reynolds regime and the presence of an air intake. It supported the proposition of a novel approach to aerodynamic characterization based on local pressure differentials, which takes in account the confined airflow structure and provides lift forces estimations compatible with practical observation. The results were also compatible with data previously obtained following different strategies and were shown to be effective for parameterizing the inflation and stall phenomena. Overall, the instrumentation may be applied straightforwardly as a flight-test equipment, and it can be further converted into collapse alert and prevention systems.

Particle image velocimetry measurement of turbulent wake past circular cylinder at Reynolds numbers from 2.5·103 to 1.5·104

A canonical case of air flow past a circular cylinder is studied by using Particle Image Velocimetry technique. This contribution focus to the ensemble statistics (first and second moment) of the stream-wise and transverse velocity component as well as to the in-plane vorticity component. Although the range of explored Reynolds numbers is narrow, we observe a significant shortening of recirculation bubble within this range.

Flow and spreading behaviors of coaxial jets wake

Flow and spreading behaviors of swirling jets using a dual-blockage disk are studied experimentally. The control and blockage disks are placed concentrically in tandem. The smoke flow patterns are obtained using the flow visualization technique. The axial velocity and turbulence intensity are detected using a 1-D hot-wire sensor. The jet spreading characteristics are illustrated by using an Edge Detection Method. Two pairs of lung-formed vortices and triangle-formed vortices are induced in downstream wake at Rec ≤ 200. Two vortices are found near the field at 200 < Rec < 700, while no toroidal structure was found above the reflected jet at Rec ≥ 700. The recirculation bubble length was increased with increasing Rec until Rec < 700. The axial velocity and turbulence intensity at 200 < Rec < 700 are significantly greater than those in other modes. At Rec ≥ 700, the shear-layer vortices are found far away from the control disk.

Effects of Cross Jet on Turbulent Main Stream Flow in A Non-Circular Elbow – A Numerical Approach

The performance of fluid transportation model through non-circular elbow ducts with wall mass injection in predicting the velocity and pressure fields is important in Industrial applications. The present work pertains to the two-dimensional numerical analysis of the developing turbulent fluid flow with uniform mass injection through the top wall of a rectangular elbow. A numerical experimentation using control volume formulation considering standard k   turbulence model has been conducted to study different parameters like the velocity distributions, size and shape of the recirculation bubble as well as the friction factor etc. The size and strength of the recirculation bubbles generated in the bend regions are affected by the continuous entry of mass injected through the wall of the elbow. The results show that the velocity field, reattachment points, friction factor etc. are influenced by the side mass injection. The recirculation bubble has been observed to diminish in size by the injection of mass with corresponding changes in the velocity and the friction factors.

Numerical Simulation of the Boundary Layer Control on the NACA 0015 Airfoil Through Vortex Generators

This paper studies the influence caused by a vortex generator (VG) on a wing section with NACA 0015 airfoil when this generator is located before and after a recirculation bubble caused by the boundary layer detachment. The study was numerically carried out and concentrated under conditions of flow with Rec = 2.38 × 105 and angles of attack AoA = 3 and 6, characterized by the fact that they undergo detachment of the boundary layer before and after the location of the VG, respectively. The use of the generator in AoA = 3 strongly influenced the reduction of the recirculation bubble, leading to a drag reduction of 1.43%. In AoA = 6 with a bubble recirculation, the effect was much lower, with no well-defined formation of longitudinal vortices, resulting in increased drag and lift at 0.33 and 0.35%, respectively.

Effect of excitation frequency on flow characteristics around a square cylinder with a synthetic jet positioned at front surface

The flow over a square cylinder controlled by a slot synthetic jet positioned at the front surface is investigated experimentally at different excitation frequencies. The Reynolds number based on the free-stream velocity and the side length of the square cylinder is 1000. The flow visualization was conducted using the laser-induced fluorescence technique. The velocity fields upstream and downstream of the square cylinder were measured synchronously with the two-dimensional time-resolved particle image velocimetry technique. Both the evolution of vortex structures and the characteristic frequencies of upstream and downstream flow fields are presented. The flow dynamics vary significantly with the excitation frequency at a fixed stroke length. During one excitation cycle, the synthetic jet vortex pair deflects to one side and later swings to the other side at a quite small excitation frequency of $f_{e}/f_{0}=0.6$, while it only deflects toward one side and does not turn to the other side at $f_{e}/f_{0}=1.0$. Compared with the natural case, the wake characteristics for the above two cases are not changed much by the synthetic jet adopted. At a moderate excitation frequency of $f_{e}/f_{0}=2.0$, the synthetic jet deflects upwards and downwards alternatively. The upstream flow field has a dominant frequency identical to half of the excitation frequency. Under the perturbations of the synthetic jet, two wake vortex pairs are formed per shedding cycle with a shedding frequency equal to that of the square cylinder without control. At a higher excitation frequency of $f_{e}/f_{0}=3.4$, the synthetic jet keeps deflecting to one side, and the upstream flow field is governed by the excitation frequency. The flow separation on the deflected side is suppressed effectively, and no periodic vortex shedding can be observed in the wake. Statistically, the velocity profiles also change with control. The recirculation bubble length in the wake is shortened, and the time-averaged velocity fluctuation is weakened remarkably. The control effects of the synthetic jet and the continuous jet are compared in this paper when placed at the front surface of a square cylinder.

On the subsonic near-wake of a space launcher configuration with exhaust jet

The Ariane 5 failure flight 157 made clear that the loads in the base region of space launcher configurations were underestimated and its near-wake dynamics required more attention. In the recent years, many studies have been published on buffet/buffeting in the critical high subsonic flow regime. Nevertheless, not much experimental data are available on the interaction of the ambient flow with an exhaust jet over a wide subsonic Mach number range. Further, a preceding study without exhaust jet revealed questions regarding a similar distribution of the velocity and Reynolds stress in the near-wake if scaled with the reattachment length. Consequently, a generic space launcher configuration featuring a cold, supersonic, over-expanded jet is investigated experimentally in the vertical test section Cologne (VMK) by means of particle image velocimetry (PIV) for five subsonic Mach numbers ranging from 0.5 to 0.9 with corresponding Reynolds numbers between $$Re_{\text {D}}=0.8\times 10^6$$ReD=0.8×106 to $$1.6\times 10^6$$1.6×106. The velocity and Reynolds stress distribution are provided for the near-wake flow and additionally for the incoming boundary layer. Just as in the preceding study, self-similar features are found in the flow field as long as the separated shear layer reattaches on the solid nozzle wall. Substantial changes are then measured for an alternating (hybrid) reattachment between the solid nozzle wall and supersonic exhaust jet as found for Mach 0.8, one of them being the increased axial turbulence in the recirculation bubble due to a ‘dancing’ large-scale, clockwise-rotating vortex. Graphic abstract

Effect of Fineness Ratio of 0.5 - 2.0 on the Wake Structure Around a Circular Cylinder Measured Using Time-Resolved PIV

In this study, the wake structure around freestream-aligned cylinder is investigated and its aerodynamic characteristics are discussed. A magnetic suspension and balance system (MSBS) was used to support a model without interference from a mechanical support device. Seven models with the fineness ratio (length to diameter, L/D) of 0.5, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2.0, and 2.25 were used. Reynolds number based on the cylinder diameter were 3.2 × 104 and 6.3 × 104. The velocity field was obtained by particle image velocimetry (PIV) in the center plane of the cylinder. In the case of fineness ratio over 1.5, the reattachment of shear layer was observed from the mean velocity field. The characteristic fluctuation of velocity was confirmed in power spectral density of streamwise component and vertical component. The length of the recirculation region is different depending on fineness ratio. The characteristic frequencies of the velocity fluctuation which seems to be due to recirculation bubble pumping and large-scale structure are observed from power spectrum density.