A comparison between the experimental visualization and numerical simulations of the occurrence of vortex breakdown in laminar swirling flows produced by a rotating endwall is presented. The experimental visualizations of Escudier (1984) were the first to detect the presence of multiple recirculation zones and the numerical model presented here, consisting of a numerical solution of the unsteady axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations, faithfully reproduces these phenomena and all other observed characteristics of the flow. Further, the numerical calculations elucidate the onset of oscillatory flow, an aspect of the flow that was not clearly resolved by the flow visualization experiments. Part 2 of the paper examines the underlying physics of these vortex flows.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022112090003664

Axisymmetric vortex breakdown, part 1. confined swirling flow

Numerical solutions of viscous, swirling flows through circular pipes of constant radius and circular pipes with throats have been obtained. Solutions were computed for several values of vortex circulation, Reynolds number and throat/inlet area ratio, under the assumptions of steady flow, rotational symmetry and frictionless flow at the pipe wall. When the Reynolds number is sufficiently large, vortex breakdown occurs abruptly with increased circulation as a result of the existence of non-unique solutions. Solution paths for Reynolds numbers exceeding approximately 1000 are characterized by an ensemble of three inviscid flow types: columnar (for pipes of constant radius), soliton and wavetrain. Flows that are quasi-cylindrical and which do not exhibit vortex breakdown exist below a critical circulation, dependent on the Reynolds number and the throat/inlet area ratio. Wavetrain solutions are observed over a small range of circulation below the critical circulation, while above the critical value, wave solutions with large regions of reversed flow are found that are primarily solitary in nature. The quasi-cylindrical (QC) equations first fail near the critical value, in support of Hall's theory of vortex breakdown (1967). However, the QC equations are not found to be effective in predicting the spatial position of the breakdown structure.

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The role of non-uniqueness in the development of vortex breakdown in tubes

A numerical investigation of steady states, their stability, onset of oscillatory instability, and slightly supercritical unsteady regimes of an axisymmetric swirling flow of a Newtonian incompressible fluid in a closed circular cylinder with a rotating lid is presented for aspect ratio (height/radius) 1 [les ] γ [les ] 3.5. Various criteria for the appearance of vortex breakdown are discussed. It is shown that vortex breakdown takes place in this system not as a result of instability but as a continuous evolution of the stationary meridional flow with increasing Reynolds number. The dependence of the critical Reynolds number Recr and frequency of oscillations ωcr on the aspect ratio of the cylinder γ is obtained. It is found that the neutral curve Recr(γ) and the curve ωcr(γ) consist of three successive continuous segments corresponding to different modes of the dominant perturbation. The calculated critical parameters are in good agreement with the available experimental and numerical data for γ < 3. It is shown that the onset of the oscillatory instability does not depend on the existence of a separation bubble in the subcritical steady state. By means of a weakly nonlinear analysis it is shown that the axisymmetric oscillatory instability sets in as a result of a supercritical Hopf bifurcation for each segment of the neutral curve. A weakly nonlinear asymptotic approximation of slightly supercritical flows is carried out. The results of the weakly nonlinear analysis are verified by direct numerical solution of the unsteady Navier-Stokes equation using the finite volume method. The analysis of the supercritical flow field for aspect ratio less than 1.75, for which no steady vortex breakdown is found, shows the existence of an oscillatory vortex breakdown which develops as a result of the oscillatory instability.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022112096002492

Stability of confined swirling flow with and without vortex breakdown

When the fluid inside a completely filled cylinder is set in motion by the rotation of one endwall, steady and unsteady axisymmetric vortex breakdown is possible. Nonlinear dynamical systems theory is used to describe the changing kinematics of the flow as the speed of the rotating endwall is increased. Two distinct modes of oscillation have been found in the unsteady regime and the chaotic advection caused by the oscillations has been investigated. The results of this study are used to describe the filling and emptying processes of the vortex breakdown bubbles observed in flow visualization experiments.

/pdf/axisymmetric-vortex-breakdown-part-3-onset-of-periodic-flow-10n9q6qmbv.pdf

Axisymmetric vortex breakdown. Part 3 Onset of periodic flow and chaotic advection

An Efficient Spectral-Projection Method for the Navier–Stokes Equations in Cylindrical Geometries: I. Axisymmetric Cases

A flow circulation in a closed circular-cylindrical container is produced by a rotating lid. After a transient phase from an initial state at rest a steady-flow situation is reached for a certain parameter range. In a subspace of this parameter range an undulating meridional flow occurs that may exhibit at the axis of rotation one or several separation bubbles which are interpreted as vortex breakdown. Numerical calculations on the basis of the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible homogeneous and Boussinesq fluids enable the study of the influence of various flow parameters on the properties of these separation bubbles. The parameters varied are the Reynolds, Prandtl, Rayleigh, and Eckert numbers together with the ratio of height to radius of the container. The numerical results are in good agreement with experiments performed by Vogel, Ronnenberg, and Escudier. The stability of the fluid motions in these experiments with respect to non-axisymmetric disturbances strongly suggests that the corresponding axisymmetric solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations are stable configurations.

Axisymmetric vortex breakdown with and without temperature effects in a container with a rotating lid

This report presents a numerical study of the two-dimensional, steady and inviscid flow of a perfect gas past wedge profiles with detached shock waves for free-stream Mach numbers between 1.05 and 1.44.Utilizing the hodograph transformation, a boundary-value problem for the mixed flow is formulated in the hodograph plane and subsequently solved by a finite-difference scheme, iterating respectively between the elliptic and hyperbolic regions. The use of boundary-fitted coordinates and a graded lattice failed to achieve satisfactory results, owing to either convergence difficulties or numerical inaccuracies introduced through the coordinate generator. On the other hand, Cartesian coordinates presented no convergence problems and yielded accurate results.After transforming the solution back to the physical plane, the flow field between the shock wave and the limiting Mach wave is determined. A comparison of the results with experiments and other theories shows a good agreement both for the pressure distribution on the wedge and for the shock stand-off distance.Also of special interest is a quantitative comparison of the results with the small-disturbance theory (solution of the Tricomi equation) and the limiting case of the free-stream Mach number 1.Moreover, an example of the flow past round-nosed wedges, with and without an angle of attack, is treated using the inverse method.

Michel Abboud

Papers

Axisymmetric vortex breakdown with and without temperature effects in a container with a rotating lid

Theoretical study of the transonic flow past wedge profiles with detached shock waves