Ryuichiro Iwano

Bio: Ryuichiro Iwano is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Vortex & Cavitation. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 33 citations.

Measurement of the flow around the submerged vortex cavitation in a pump intake by means of piv

Abstract: The flow structure of the vortex occurring in a pump suction intake sump has been investigated and the accuracy of CFD calculation predicting vortex cavitation evaluated experimentally by using particle image velocimetry to measure the flow around the vortex. The test apparatus consisting of the model suction intake and the pressure tank could control the mean inlet velocity, the circulation, and the pressure at the pump intake bell mouth. Vortices of various strengths were generated using this apparatus, and velocity fields around them were measured and compared — with respect to the velocity distribution, the circulation, and the core radius — with the corresponding fields obtained by CFD calculation. The results of those comparisons and the difference between the instantaneous and time-averaged velocity profiles are described and discussed.

Underwater vortex generation anticipating method and device therefor

Abstract: PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To anticipate generation of an underwater vortex even by spatial resolution of a practical lattice number. SOLUTION: Data on a boundary condition on a passage of fluid and a shape of the passage is inputted from a data input part 10 to analyze a flow of the fluid in the passage in a flow analyzing part 12 on the basis of this inputted data to calculate a central position of a vortex existing in the fluid in a vortex center position calculating part 16 on the basis of this analyzing result to approximate a vortex center vicinal flow to a vortex model in a vortex center pressure calculating part 20 on the basis of this calculating result and a flow analyzing result to determine the speed distribution in the vortex center vicinity on this vortex model to calculate vortex center pressure from the speed distribution and fluid density to judge this calculated result and preset pressure by an underwater pressure judging part 24 to judge that an underwater vortex is generated when the calculated pressure becomes saturated vapor pressure or less to display this judging result on an image screen of a display part 28.

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus

Abstract: Encoded transmission and reception which reduces time side lobe are realized while suppressing increase of circuit scale. Transmission signals corresponding to a composite modulation code sequence composed from two or more modulation code sequences are outputted as transmission signals. A reception means demodulates reception signals stepwise by two or more demodulators. The demodulator can be thereby divided into two or more stages, and therefore with a circuit scale corresponding to the sum of the operation circuit numbers of two or more demodulators, time side lobe reduction effect can be obtained at a level equivalent to that obtainable with a circuit scale corresponding to the product of the operation circuit numbers of two or more demodulators.

CFD prediction and model experiment on suction vortices in pump sump

Abstract: The sump size is being reduced in order to lower the construction costs of urban drainage pump stations in Japan. As a result of such size reductions, undesirable vortices such as air-entrained and submerged vortices are apt to appear in sumps because of the higher flow velocities. The Turbomachinery Society of Japan (TSJ) Standard S002:2005 states that the appearance of such visible vortices is not permissible for conventional sumps, and experiments with scale models usually have been done to assess the performance of sumps. Such tests, however, are expensive and time-consuming, and therefore, alternative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods for evaluating sump performance are desirable. The Research Committee on Pump Sump Model Testing, which is an organization in the TSJ, carried out a benchmark for flows in model sumps. They contributed commercial CFD codes such as “Virtual Fluid System 3D”, “Star-CD 3.22”, “Star-CD 3.26”, and “ANSYS CFX 10.0”. Some of the benchmark results were reported by Matsui, J. at the 23 rd IAHR Symposium in Yokohama, Oct 2006. The remaining results comprise this second paper. The calculated results were compared with experimental ones for flow patterns, locations of vortices, and their vorticity. In the experiments, the critical submergences for flow rates were minutely examined through visual observation with a video camera. The locations of the vortices were obtained by using the laser light sheet visualization method. The velocity and vorticity distribution in the sump were measured by using a PIV method. The following results were obtained. 1) The critical submergence for the air-entrained vortex is almost proportional to the flow rate in the sump. The vortex behavior is unsteady and the duration of the vortex varies greatly. 2) The submerged vortex appears accompanying the air-entrained vortex in the region of low submergences and high flow rates. The critical submergence for the submerged vortex is also proportional to the flow rate. 3) Some CFD codes can predict the visible vortex occurrence and its location for submergence and flow rate conditions with enough accuracy for industrial use. 4) The calculated velocity distribution at the bell entrance qualitatively agrees with the experimental results. However, the agreement is poor in terms of the magnitude and distribution patterns of the vorticity. This difference is caused by the lack of accuracy of the experiment and CFD computation. 5) Predicting the critical submergence for the visible vortices was not imposed in the benchmark. The calculated stream lines and vortex core lines are not able to be used to predict the visible vortices with much accuracy. An additional post-processing such as obtaining the vortex core static pressure and comparing it with ambient pressure for an air-entrained vortex or with the saturated vapor pressure of the water for a submerged vortex would be necessary to predict the visible vortices.

Flow uniformity in a multi-intake pump sump model

Abstract: The head-capacity curves for pumps developed by the pump manufacturer are based on tests of a single pump operation in a semi-infinite basin with no close walls or floors and with no stray currents. Therefore, flow into the pump intake is with no vortices or swirling. However, pump station designers relying on these curves to define the operating conditions for the pump selected sometimes experience reductions of capacity and efficiency, as well as the increase of vibration and additional noise, which are caused by free air mixed with the pump inlet flow. Therefore, sump model test is necessary in order to examine the flow structure around pump intake. In this study, flow uniformity according to the flow distribution in the pump intake channel is examined to find out the cause of vortex occurrence in detail. A multi-intake pump sump model with 7 pump intakes and a single-intake pump sump model are adopted for the investigation. Furthermore, effectiveness of anti-submerged vortex device (AVD) for the suppression of the vortex occurrence in a single pump intake, as well as in a multi-intake pump sump model has been examined by the methods of experiment and numerical analysis. The results show that most high value of flow uniformity is found at the inlet of pump intakes #3 and 5 in the multi-intake pump sump with 7 pump intakes. Therefore, when the pump station is designed, the flow patterns at the upstream region of pump intake inlet in the forebay diffusing area should be to consider in detail because the unbalanced flow at the channel inlet region gives considerable influence on the vortex occurrence around bell-mouth. Strong submerged vortex can be successfully suppressed by AVD installation on the bottom of pump intake channel just below the bell mouth.

A study on the effectiveness of an anti vortex device in the sump model by experiment and CFD

Abstract: The head-capacity curves of pumps developed by the pump manufacturer are based on tests of a single pump operation in a semi-infinite basin with no closed walls of floors and with no stray currents. Therefore, the flow into the pump intake has no vortices of swirling. However, pump station designers relying on these curves to define the operating conditions for the selected pump sometimes experience reductions in capacity and efficiency, as well as an increase of vibration and additional noise. Therefore, sump model testing is necessary in order to examine the flow structure around intake. In this study, flow uniformity according to the flow distribution in the pump intake channel is examined to find out the cause of vortex occurrence in detail by experiment and CFD. Furthermore, the effectiveness of an anti vortex device for the suppression of the vortex occurrence in a single intake pump sump model has been examined by AVD type. The AVDs used for experimental testing, one of which has the shape of a rectangular bar and the other was a trident shape, are attached at the bottom of pump intake channel just below the bell-mouth. The AVD type for CFD test is in the shape of a trident. The experimental sump model was scaled down by a ratio of 1:8 whereas the CFD sump model was scaled to the actual size.

An effective shape of floor splitter for reducing sub-surface vortices in pump sump

Abstract: An experimental investigation on the effective shape of a floor splitter to reduce sub-surface vortices and cavitation which arise in the vicinity of the pump bells in pump sump is performed. A test model sump was designed based on the Froude number similitude for the recommended structure layout by HI-9.8 standard for pump intake design. To obtain an effective shape of the splitter as an anti-vortex device (AVD), three types of quadrilateral submerged bar with different shape and dimension in sectional area are considered. From the experimental results with and without the splitter attached on the floor under the bell mouth, it was confirmed that the installation of the AVD is very effective to reduce abnormal vortices including sub-surface vortices, pre-swirls and other undesirable hydraulic phenomena. Because of the splitter, sub-surface vortices under the bell mouth did not appear anymore and the swirl was dramatically weakened. The evaluation of AVD was made by the measurement of swirl angles indicating the strength of the vortices and pre-swirls. Splitters with square sections showed partly large swirl angles beyond the acceptable criteria of HI standard though a large square was more effective than a small one. Meanwhile, the splitter with trapezoidal section was showed swirl angle values of less than 5 degrees in all cases of pump operation. Among the three types of AVD, the trapezoidal splitter is the most effective one to suppress the vortices. It is very useful to reduce the occurrence of submerged vortices and to obtain stable inflow condition for designing a high performance pump sump.