Showing papers on "Pipe flow published in 2004"

Experimental Observation of Nonlinear Traveling Waves in Turbulent Pipe Flow

Abstract: Transition to turbulence in pipe flow is one of the most fundamental and longest-standing problems in fluid dynamics. Stability theory suggests that the flow remains laminar for all flow rates, but in practice pipe flow becomes turbulent even at moderate speeds. This transition drastically affects the transport efficiency of mass, momentum, and heat. On the basis of the recent discovery of unstable traveling waves in computational studies of the Navier-Stokes equations and ideas from dynamical systems theory, a model for the transition process has been suggested. We report experimental observation of these traveling waves in pipe flow, confirming the proposed transition scenario and suggesting that the dynamics associated with these unstable states may indeed capture the nature of fluid turbulence.

Exact coherent structures in pipe flow: travelling wave solutions

Abstract: Three-dimensional travelling wave solutions are found for pressure-driven fluid flow through a circular pipe. They consist of three well-defined flow features – streamwise rolls and streaks which dominate and streamwise-dependent wavy structures. The travelling waves can be classified by the and traceable down to a Reynolds number (based on the mean velocity) of 1251. The new solutions are found using a constructive continuation procedure based upon key physical mechanisms thought generic to wall-bounded shear flows. It is believed that the appearance of these new alternative solutions to the governing equations as the Reynolds number is increased is a necessary precursor to the turbulent transition observed in experiments.

Heat Transfer Mechanisms During Flow Boiling in Microchannels

Abstract: The forces due to surface tension and momentum change during evaporation, in conjunction with the forces due to viscous shear and inertia, govern the two-phase flow patterns and the heat transfer characteristics during flow boiling in microchannels. These forces are analyzed in this paper, and two new nondimensional groups, K1 and K2 , relevant to flow boiling phenomenon are derived. These groups are able to represent some of the key flow boiling characteristics, including the CHF. In addition, a mechanistic description of the flow boiling phenomenon is presented. The small hydraulic dimensions of microchannel flow passages present a large frictional pressure drop in single-phase and two-phase flows. The small hydraulic diameter also leads to low Reynolds numbers, in the range 100‐1000, or even lower for smaller diameter channels. Such low Reynolds numbers are rarely employed during flow boiling in conventional channels. In these low Reynolds number flows, nucleate boiling systematically emerges as the dominant mode of heat transfer. The high degree of wall superheat required to initiate nucleation in microchannels leads to rapid evaporation and flow instabilities, often resulting in flow reversal in multiple parallel channel configuration. Aided by strong evaporation rates, the bubbles nucleating on the wall grow rapidly and fill the entire channel. The contact line between the bubble base and the channel wall surface now becomes the entire perimeter at both ends of the vapor slug. Evaporation occurs at the moving contact line of the expanding vapor slug as well as over the channel wall covered with a thin evaporating film surrounding the vapor core. The usual nucleate boiling heat transfer mechanisms, including liquid film evaporation and transient heat conduction in the liquid adjacent to the contact line region, play an important role. The liquid film under the large vapor slug evaporates completely at downstream locations thus presenting a dryout condition periodically with the passage of each large vapor slug. The experimental data and high speed visual observations confirm some of the key features presented in this paper. @DOI: 10.1115/1.1643090#

Further observations on the mean velocity distribution in fully developed pipe flow

Abstract: The measurements by Zagarola & Smits (1998) of mean velocity profiles in fully developed turbulent pipe flow are repeated using a smaller Pitot probe to reduce the uncertainties due to velocity gradient corrections. A new static pressure correction (McKeon & Smits 2002) is used in analysing all data and leads to significant differences from the Zagarola & Smits conclusions. The results confirm the presence of a power-law region near the wall and, for Reynolds numbers greater than 230×10^3 (R+ >5×10^3), a logarithmic region further out, but the limits of these regions and some of the constants differ from those reported by Zagarola & Smits. In particular, the log law is found for 600

Transition from laminar to turbulent flow in liquid filled microtubes

Abstract: The transition to turbulent flow is studied for liquids of different polarities in glass microtubes having diameters between 50 and 247 µm. The onset of transition occurs at Reynolds numbers of ~1,800–2,000, as indicated by greater-than-laminar pressure drop and micro-PIV measurements of mean velocity and rms velocity fluctuations at the centerline. Transition at anomalously low values of Reynolds number was never observed. Additionally, the results of more than 1,500 measurements of pressure drop versus flow rate confirm the macroscopic Poiseuille flow result for laminar flow resistance to within −1% systematic and ±2.5% rms random error for Reynolds numbers less than 1,800.

Critical assessment of turbulent drag reduction through spanwise wall oscillations

Abstract: Direct numerical simulations of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations are employed to study the turbulent wall-shear stress in a turbulent channel flow forced by lateral sinusoidal oscillations of the walls. The objective is to produce a documented database of numerically computed friction reductions. To this aim, the particular numerical requirements for such simulations, owing for example to the time-varying direction of the skin-friction vector, are considered and appropriately accounted for. A detailed analysis of the dependence of drag reduction on the oscillatory parameters allows us to address conflicting results hitherto reported in the literature. At the Reynolds number of the present simulations, we compute a maximum drag reduction of 44.7%, and we assess the possibility for the power saved to be higher than the power spent for the movement of the walls (when mechanical losses are neglected). A maximum net energy saving of 7.3% is computed. Furthermore, the scaling of the amount of drag reduction is addressed. A parameter, which depends on both the maximum wall velocity and the period of the oscillation, is found to be linearly related to drag reduction, as long as the half-period of the oscillation is shorter than a typical lifetime of the turbulent near-wall structures. For longer periods of oscillation, the scaling parameter predicts that drag reduction will decrease to zero more slowly than the numerical data. The same parameter also describes well the optimum period of oscillation for fixed maximum wall displacement, which is smaller than the optimum period for fixed maximum wall velocity, and depends on the maximum displacement itself.

Backward-Facing Step Flows for Various Expansion Ratios at Low and Moderate Reynolds Numbers

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the behavior of flows over a backward-facing step geometry for various expansion ratios H/h=1.9423, 2.5 and 3.0. A literature survey was carried out and it was found that the flow shows a strong two-dimensional behavior, on the plane of symmetry, for Reynolds numbers ReD=ρUbD/μ below approximately 400 (Ub= bulk velocity and D= hydraulic diameter). In this Reynolds number range, two-dimensional predictions were carried out to provide information on the general integral properties of backward-facing step flows, on mean velocity distributions and streamlines. Information on characteristic flow patterns is provided for a wide Reynolds number range, 10−4≤ReD≤800. In the limiting case of ReD→0, a sequence of Moffatt eddies of decreasing size and intensity is verified to exist in the concave corner also at ReD=1. The irreversible pressure losses are determined for various Reynolds numbers as a function of the expansion ratio. The two-dimensional simulations are known to underpredict the primary reattachment length for Reynolds numbers beyond which the actual flow is observed to be three-dimensional. The spatial evolution of jet-like flows in both the streamwise and the spanwise direction and transition to three-dimensionality were studied at a Reynolds number ReD=648. This three-dimensional analysis with the same geometry and flow conditions as reported by Armaly et al. (1983) reveals the formation of wall jets at the side wall within the separating shear layer. The wall jets formed by the spanwise component of the velocity move towards the symmetry plane of the channel. A self-similar wall-jet profile emerges at different spanwise locations starting with the vicinity of the side wall. These results complement information on backward-facing step flows that is available in the literature.

Scaling of the streamwise velocity component in turbulent pipe flow

Abstract: Statistics of the streamwise velocity component in fully developed pipe flow are examined for Reynolds numbers in the range 5.5 x 10^4 ≤ ReD ≤ 5.7 x 10^6. Probability density functions and their moments (up to sixth order) are presented and their scaling with Reynolds number is assessed. The second moment exhibits two maxima: the one in the viscous sublayer is Reynolds-number dependent while the other, near the lower edge of the log region, follows approximately the peak in Reynolds shear stress. Its locus has an approximate (R^+)^{0.5} dependence. This peak shows no sign of ‘saturation’, increasing indefinitely with Reynolds number. Scalings of the moments with wall friction velocity and $(U_{cl}-\overline{U})$ are examined and the latter is shown to be a better velocity scale for the outer region, y/R > 0.35, but in two distinct Reynolds-number ranges, one when ReD 7 x 10^4. Probability density functions do not show any universal behaviour, their higher moments showing small variations with distance from the wall outside the viscous sublayer. They are most nearly Gaussian in the overlap region. Their departures from Gaussian are assessed by examining the behaviour of the higher moments as functions of the lower ones. Spectra and the second moment are compared with empirical and theoretical scaling laws and some anomalies are apparent. In particular, even at the highest Reynolds number, the spectrum does not show a self-similar range of wavenumbers in which the spectral density is proportional to the inverse streamwise wavenumber. Thus such a range does not attract any special significance and does not involve a universal constant.

Reference values for drag and lift of a two‐dimensional time‐dependent flow around a cylinder

Abstract: We present a numerical study of a two-dimensional time-dependent flow around a cylinder. Its main objective is to provide accurate reference values for the maximal drag and lift coefficient at the cylinder and for the pressure difference between the front and the back of the cylinder at the final time. In addition, the accuracy of these values obtained with different time stepping schemes and different finite element methods is studied

Very Large-Scale Structures and Their Effects on the Wall Shear-Stress Fluctuations in a Turbulent Channel Flow up to Reτ=640

Abstract: Direct numerical simulation of a fully developed turbulent channel flow has been carried out at three Reynolds numbers, 180, 395, and 640, based on the friction velocity and the channel half width, in order to investigate very large-scale structures and their effects on the wall shear-stress fluctuations

Effect of Roughness on Wall-Bounded Turbulence

Abstract: Direct numerical simulation of turbulent incompressible plane-channel flow between a smooth wall and one covered with regular three-dimensional roughness elements is performed. While the impact of roughness on the mean-velocity profile of turbulent wall layers is well understood, at least qualitatively, the manner in which other features are affected, especially in the outer layer, has been more controversial. We compare results from the smooth- and rough-wall sides of the channel for three different roughness heights of h + = 5.4, 10.8, and 21.6 for Reτ of 400, to isolate the effects of the roughness on turbulent statistics and the instantaneous turbulence structure at large and small scales. We focus on the interaction between the near-wall and outer-layer regions, in particular the extent to which the near-wall behavior influences the flow further away from the surface. Roughness tends to increase the intensity of the velocity and vorticity fluctuations in the inner layer. In the outer layer, although the roughness alters the velocity fluctuations, the vorticity fluctuations are relatively unaffected. The higher-order moments and the energy budgets demonstrate significant differences between the smooth-wall and rough-wall sides in the processes associated with the wall-normal fluxes of the Reynolds shear stresses and turbulence kinetic energy. The length scales and flow dynamics in the roughness sublayer, the spatially inhomogeneous layer within which the flow is directly influenced by the individual roughness elements, are also examined. Alternative mechanisms involved in producing and maintaining near-wall turbulence in rough-wall boundary layers are also considered. We find that the strength of the inner/outer-layer interactions are greatly affected by the size of the roughness elements.

Development and validation of echo PIV

Abstract: The combination of ultrasound echo images with digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) methods has resulted in a two-dimensional, two-component velocity field measurement technique appropriate for opaque flow conditions including blood flow in clinical applications. Advanced PIV processing algorithms including an iterative scheme and window offsetting were used to increase the spatial resolution of the velocity measurement to a maximum of 1.8 mm×3.1 mm. Velocity validation tests in fully developed laminar pipe flow showed good agreement with both optical PIV measurements and the expected parabolic profile. A dynamic range of 1 to 60 cm/s has been obtained to date.

Lateral Forces on a Sphere

Abstract: The observation of inhomogeneous radial distributions of particles in tube flow dates from the work of Poiseuille (1836) who was mainly concerned by the flow of blood and the behavior of the red and white corpuscles it carries. These results were then generalized to non-biological flows and experiments on pipe flow of suspensions also indicated that significant deviations from ideal Poiseuille flow could occur in the presence of particles. We will consider systems where the fluid flow in the absence of particles is unidirectional. We will first present how fluid-particle interactions can induce lateral migration in the case of a single rigid particle in a shear flow, as a function of the Reynolds number. While the focus is upon inertial migration, a brief discussion of lateral migration in polymeric and viscoelastic fluids, where the nonlinearity results from the non-Newtonian behavior of the suspending fluid, will be presented at the conclusion of this Section. The role of interparticle interactions in a sheared fluid will be considered in the third section in the case of Stokes flow. The last section will briefly present how sedimentation can affect lateral motion.

Towards Practical Flow Sensing and Control via POD and LSE Based Low-Dimensional Tools

Abstract: Low-dimensional methods including the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and Linear Stochastic Estimation (LSE) have been applied to the flow between a backward facing ramp and an adjustable flap. A range of flap angles provide a flow which is incipiently separated and can be used to flesh out ideas for active feedback separation control strategies. The current study couples Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and multipoint wall pressure measurements using POD and LSE to estimate the full velocity field from the wall pressure alone. This technique yields a sufficiently accurate estimate of the velocity field that the incipient condition can be detected. The ability to estimate the state of the flow without inserting probes into the flow is important for the development of practical active feedback flow control strategies

Sensitive dependence on initial conditions in transition to turbulence in pipe flow

Abstract: The experiments by Darbyshire & Mullin (1995) on the transition to turbulence in pipe flow show that there is no sharp border between initial conditions that trigger turbulence and those that do not. We here relate this behaviour to the possibility that the transition to turbulence is connected with the formation of a chaotic saddle in the phase space of the system. We quantify a sensitive dependence on initial conditions and find in a statistical analysis that in the transition region the distribution of turbulent lifetimes follows an exponential law. The characteristic mean lifetime of the distribution increases rapidly with Reynolds number and becomes inaccessibly large for Reynolds numbers exceeding about 2250. Suitable experiments to further probe this concept are proposed.

Friction factors for smooth pipe flow

Abstract: Friction factor data from two recent pipe flow experiments are combined to provide a comprehensive picture of the friction factor variation for Reynolds numbers from 10 to 36,000,000.

Viscous linear stability analysis of rectangular duct and cavity flows

Abstract: The viscous linear stability of four classes of incompressible flows inside rectangular containers is studied numerically. In the first class the instability of flow through a rectangular duct, driven by a constant pressure gradient along the axis of the duct (essentially a two-dimensional counterpart to plane Poiseuille flow – PPF), is addressed. The other classes of flow examined are generated by tangential motion of one wall, in one case in the axial direction of the duct, in another perpendicular to this direction, corresponding respectively to the two-dimensional counterpart to plane Couette flow (PCF) and the classic lid-driven cavity (LDC) flow, and in the fourth case a combination of both the previous tangential wall motions. The partial-derivative eigenvalue problem which in each case governs the temporal development of global three-dimensional small-amplitude disturbances is solved numerically. The results of Tatsumi & Yoshimura (1990) for pressure-gradient-driven flow in a rectangular duct have been confirmed; the relationship between the eigenvalue spectrum of PPF and that of the rectangular duct has been investigated. Despite extensive numerical experimentation no unstable modes have been found in the wall-bounded Couette flow, this configuration found here to be more stable than its one-dimensional limit. In the square LDC flow results obtained are in line with the predictions of Ding & Kawahara (1998b), Theofilis (2000) and Albensoeder et al. (2001b) as far as one travelling unstable mode is concerned. However, in line with the predictions of the latter two works and contrary to all previously published results it is found that this mode is the third in significance from an instability analysis point of view. In a parameter range unexplored by Ding & Kawahara (1998b) and all prior investigations two additional eigenmodes exist, which are both more unstable than the mode that these authors discovered. The first of the new modes is stationary (and would consequently be impossible to detect using power-series analysis of experimental data), whilst the second is travelling, and has a critical Reynolds number and frequency well inside the experimentally observed bracket. The effect of variable aspect ratio $A\in[0.5,4]$ of the cavity on the most unstable eigenmodes is also considered, and it is found that an increase in aspect ratio results in general destabilization of the flow. Finally, a combination of wall-bounded Couette and LDC flow, generated in a square duct by lid motion at an angle $\phi\in(0,{\pi}/{2})$ with the homogeneous duct direction, is shown to be linearly unstable above a Reynolds number $\Rey\,{=}\,800$ (based on the lid velocity and the duct length/height) at all $\phi$ parameter values examined. The excellent agreement with experiment in LDC flow and the alleviation of the erroneous prediction of stability of wall-bounded Couette flow is thus attributed to the presence of in-plane basic flow velocity components.

Direct numerical simulation of compressible turbulent channel flow between adiabatic and isothermal walls

Abstract: In this paper, the effects of adiabatic and isothermal conditions on the statistics in compressible turbulent channel flow are investigated using direct numerical simulation (DNS). DNS of two compressible turbulent channel flows (Cases 1 and 2) are performed using a mixed Fourier Galerkin and B-spline collocation method. Case 1 is compressible turbulent channel flow between isothermal walls, which corresponds to DNS performed by Coleman et al. (1995). Case 2 is the flow between adiabatic and isothermal walls. The flow of Case 2 can be a very useful framework for the present objective, since it is the simplest turbulent channel flow with an adiabatic wall and provides ideal information for modelling the compressible turbulent flow near the adiabatic wall. Note that compressible turbulent channel flow between adiabatic walls is not stationary if there is no sink of heat. In Cases 1 and 2, the Mach number based on the bulk velocity and sound speed at the isothermal wall is 1.5, and the Reynolds number based on the bulk density, bulk velocity, channel half-width, and viscosity at the isothermal wall is 3000.To compare compressible and incompressible turbulent flows, DNS of two incompressible turbulent channel flows with passive scalar transport (Cases A and B) are performed using a mixed Fourier Galerkin and Chebyshev tau method. The wall boundary conditions of Cases A and B correspond to those of Cases 1 and 2, respectively. Case A corresponds to the DNS of Kim & Moin (1989). In Cases A and B, the Reynolds number based on the friction velocity, the channel half-width, and the kinematic viscosity is 150.The mean velocity and temperature near adiabatic and isothermal walls for compressible turbulent channel flow can be explained using the non-dimensional heat flux and the friction Mach number. It is found that Morkovin's hypothesis is not applicable to the near-wall asymptotic behaviour of the wall-normal turbulence intensity even if the variable property effect is taken into account. The mechanism of the energy transfers among the internal energy, mean and turbulent kinetic energiesis investigated, and the difference between the energy transfers near isothermal and adiabatic walls is revealed. Morkovin's hypothesis is not applicable to the correlation coeffcient between velocity and temperature fluctuations near the adiabatic wall.

Computational Analysis of Wall Roughness Effects for Liquid Flow in Micro-Conduits

Abstract: Fluid flow in microchannels or microtubes may differ in terms of wall frictional effects, and hence flow rates, when compared to macrochannels. Focusing on steady laminar fully developed flow of a liquid in different micro-conduits, relative surface roughness is captured in terms of a porous medium layer (PML) model. The new approach allows the evaluation of microfluidics variables as a function of PML characteristics, i.e., layer thickness and porosity, uncertainties in measuring hydraulic diameters as well as the inlet Reynolds number. Specifically, realistic values for the PML Darcy number, relative surface roughness, and actual flow area are taken into account to match observed friction factors in micro-conduits