Showing papers on "Pipe flow published in 2019"

Dynamics of viscoelastic pipe flow at low Reynolds numbers in the maximum drag reduction limit

Abstract: Polymer additives can substantially reduce the drag of turbulent flows and the upper limit, the so-called state of ‘maximum drag reduction’ (MDR), is to a good approximation independent of the type of polymer and solvent used. Until recently, the consensus was that, in this limit, flows are in a marginal state where only a minimal level of turbulence activity persists. Observations in direct numerical simulations at low Reynolds numbers ( from a separate instability and the underlying dynamics corresponds to the recently proposed state of elasto-inertial turbulence.

Present a new multi objective optimization statistical Pareto frontier method composed of artificial neural network and multi objective genetic algorithm to improve the pipe flow hydrodynamic and thermal properties such as pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient for non-Newtonian binary fluids

Abstract: This work aims to present a new statistical optimization approach of artificial neural network modified by multi objective genetic algorithm to improve the pipe flow hydrodynamic and thermal properties such as pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient for a non-Newtonian nanofluid composed of Fe3O4 nanoparticles dispersed in liquid paraffin. Hence the mixture pressure lose & convection coefficient are evaluated and then optimized so that to maximize the convection heat transfer and minimize the pressure drop. The results showed that the proposed model of multi objective optimization of GA Pareto optimal front, quantified the trade-offs to handle 2 fitness functions of the considered non-Newtonian pipe flow.

A universal velocity profile for smooth wall pipe flow

Abstract: The most important unanswered questions in turbulence regard the nature of turbulent flow in the limit of infinite Reynolds number. The Princeton superpipe (PSP) data comprise 26 velocity profiles that cover three orders of magnitude in the Reynolds number from . In the limit of infinite Reynolds number, the velocity profile asymptotes to plug flow with a vanishingly thin viscous wall layer and a continuous derivative everywhere. The shape function evaluated at the pipe centreline is used to produce a new friction law with an additive constant that depends on the Karman constant and a wall damping length scale.

Inertial migration of a deformable particle in pipe flow

Abstract: A study of the migration of a hyperelastic particle suspended in a Newtonian pipe flow for different Reynolds numbers and elasticity is presented. The particle deforms and undergoes a lateral displacement while traveling downstream through the pipe, finally focusing at the pipe centerline.

Exact coherent states of attached eddies in channel flow

Abstract: A new set of exact coherent states in the form of a travelling wave is reported in plane channel flow. They are continued over a range in from approximately up to , an order of magnitude higher than those discovered in the transitional regime. This particular type of exact coherent states is found to be gradually more localised in the near-wall region on increasing the Reynolds number. As larger spanwise sizes are considered, these exact coherent states appear via a saddle-node bifurcation with a spanwise size of and their phase speed is found to be at all the Reynolds numbers considered. Computation of the eigenspectra shows that the time scale of the exact coherent states is given by in channel flow at all Reynolds numbers, and it becomes equivalent to the viscous inner time scale for the exact coherent states in the limit of . The exact coherent states at several different spanwise sizes are further continued to a higher Reynolds number, , using the eddy-viscosity approach (Hwang & Cossu, Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 105, 2010, 044505). It is found that the continued exact coherent states at different sizes are self-similar at the given Reynolds number. These observations suggest that, on increasing Reynolds number, new sets of self-sustaining coherent structures are born in the near-wall region. Near this onset, these structures scale in inner units, forming the near-wall self-sustaining structures. With further increase of Reynolds number, the structures that emerged at lower Reynolds numbers subsequently evolve into the self-sustaining structures in the logarithmic region at different length scales, forming a hierarchy of self-similar coherent structures as hypothesised by Townsend (i.e. attached eddy hypothesis). Finally, the energetics of turbulent flow is discussed for a consistent extension of these dynamical systems notions to high Reynolds numbers.

Effect of fluid inertia on the orientation of a small prolate spheroid settling in turbulence

Abstract: We study the angular dynamics of small non-spherical particles settling in a turbulent flow, such as ice crystals in clouds, aggregates of organic material in the oceans, or fibres settling in turbulent pipe flow. Most solid particles encountered in Nature are not spherical, and their orientations affect their settling speeds, as well as their collision and aggregation rates in suspensions. Whereas the random action of turbulent eddies favours an isotropic distribution of orientations, gravitational settling breaks the rotational symmetry. The precise nature of the symmetry breaking, however, is subtle. We demonstrate here that the fluid-inertia torque plays a dominant role in the problem. As a consequence rod-like particles?tend to settle horizontally in turbulence, the more so the larger the settling number $\sv$ (a dimensionless measure of the settling speed). For large Sv we determine the fluctuations around this preferential horizontal orientation for prolate particles with arbitrary aspect ratios, assuming small Stokes number St (a dimensionless measure of particle inertia). Our theory is based on a statistical model representing the turbulent velocity fluctuations by Gaussian random functions. This overdamped theory predicts that the orientation distribution is very narrow at large Sv, with a variance proportional to Svalt;supagt;-4alt;/supagt;. By considering the role of particle inertia, we analyse the limitations of the overdamped theory, and determine its range of applicability. Our predictions are in excellent agreement with numerical simulations of simplified models of turbulent flows. Finally we contrast our results with those of an alternative theory predicting that the orientation variance \BM{is proportional to} Svalt;supagt;-2alt;/supagt; at large Sv.

Two-Phase Pipe Quenching Correlations for Liquid Nitrogen and Liquid Hydrogen

Abstract: Recently, two-phase cryogenic flow boiling data in liquid nitrogen (LN2) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) were compared to the most popular two-phase correlations, as well as correlations used in two of the most widely used commercially available thermal/fluid design codes in Hartwig et al. (2016, “Assessment of Existing Two Phase Heat Transfer Coefficient and Critical Heat Flux on Cryogenic Flow Boiling Quenching Experiments,” Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 93, pp. 441–463). Results uncovered that the correlations performed poorly, with predictions significantly higher than the data. Disparity is primarily due to the fact that most two-phase correlations are based on room temperature fluids, and for the heating configuration, not the quenching configuration. The penalty for such poor predictive tools is higher margin, safety factor, and cost. Before control algorithms for cryogenic transfer systems can be implemented, it is first required to develop a set of low-error, fundamental two-phase heat transfer correlations that match available cryogenic data. This paper presents the background for developing a new set of quenching/chilldown correlations for cryogenic pipe flow on thin, shorter lines, including the results of an exhaustive literature review of 61 sources. New correlations are presented which are based on the consolidated database of 79,915 quenching points for a 1.27 cm diameter line, covering a wide range of inlet subcooling, mass flux, pressure, equilibrium quality, flow direction, and even gravity level. Functional forms are presented for LN2 and LH2 chilldown correlations, including film, transition, and nucleate boiling, critical heat flux, and the Leidenfrost point.

Stabilisation and drag reduction of pipe flows by flattening the base profile

Abstract: Recent experimental observations (Kuhnen et al., Nat. Phys., vol. 14, 2018b, pp. 386–390) have shown that flattening a turbulent streamwise velocity profile in pipe flow destabilises the turbulence so that the flow relaminarises. We show that a similar phenomenon exists for laminar pipe flow profiles in the sense that the nonlinear stability of the laminar state is enhanced as the profile becomes more flattened. The flattening of the laminar base profile is produced by an artificial localised body force designed to mimic an obstacle used in the experiments of Kuhnen et al. (Flow Turbul. Combust., vol. 100, 2018a, pp. 919–943) and the nonlinear stability measured by the size of the energy of the initial perturbations needed to trigger transition. Significant drag reduction is also observed for the turbulent flow when triggered by sufficiently large disturbances. In order to make the nonlinear stability computations more efficient, we examine how indicative the minimal seed – the disturbance of smallest energy for transition – is in measuring transition thresholds. We first show that the minimal seed is relatively robust to base profile changes and spectral filtering. We then compare the (unforced) transition behaviour of the minimal seed with several forms of randomised initial conditions in the range of Reynolds numbers – and find that the energy of the minimal seed after the Orr and oblique phases of its evolution is close to that of a critical localised random disturbance. In this sense, the minimal seed at the end of the oblique phase can be regarded as a good proxy for typical disturbances (here taken to be the localised random ones) and is thus used as initial condition in the simulations with the body force. The enhanced nonlinear stability and drag reduction predicted in the present study are an encouraging first step in modelling the experiments of Kuhnen et al. and should motivate future developments to fully exploit the benefits of this promising direction for flow control.

Interfacial instability in pressure-driven core-annular pipe flow of a Newtonian and a Herschel–Bulkley fluid

Abstract: The linear stability characteristics of pressure-driven core-annular flow of a Newtonian core fluid and a Herschel–Bulkley annular fluid is investigated. The fluids are assumed to have the same density and separated by a sharp interface. The modified Orr–Sommerfeld equations for each layer are derived and solved using an efficient spectral collocation method considering a configuration without any unyielded region. The effect of various dimensionless parameters, such as the Bingham number (Bn), the flow index (n), the interface radius (R0) and the inverse capillary number (Γ) on the instability characteristics of the flow is investigated, and an energy budget analysis is conducted to explain the physical mechanism of the instability observed. We found that axisymmetric mode is the most dominant unstable mode for the interfacial flow configuration considered in the present work, which is in contrast to miscible core-annular flows. It is observed that increasing Bn has a non-monotonic effect on the growth rate of the axisymmetric mode, and two dominant modes appear at high Bn. We found that increasing the thickness of the core fluid increases the bandwidth of the unstable wavenumbers and destabilises the short waves; however, displays a non-monotonic trend in the growth rate curves. The instability behaviour observed for different sets of parameters are investigated by conducting an energy budget analysis and analysing the disturbance eigenfunctions and the basic velocity profiles.

Onset of turbulence in plane Poiseuille flow

Abstract: In many shear flows like pipe flow, plane Couette flow, plane Poiseuille flow, etc. turbulence emerges subcritically. Here, when subjected to strong enough perturbations, the flow becomes turbulent in spite of the laminar base flow being linearly stable. The nature of this instability has puzzled the scientific community for decades. At onset, turbulence appears in localized patches and flows are spatio-temporally intermittent. In pipe flow the localized turbulent structures are referred to as puffs and in planar flows like plane Couette and channel flow, patches arise in the form of localized oblique bands. In this thesis, we study the onset of turbulence in channel flow in direct numerical simulations from a dynamical system theory perspective, as well as by performing experiments in a large aspect ratio channel. The aim of the experimental work is to determine the critical Reynolds number where turbulence first becomes sustained. Recently, the onset of turbulence has been described in analogy to absorbing state phase transition (i.e. directed percolation). In particular, it has been shown that the critical point can be estimated from the competition between spreading and decay processes. Here, by performing experiments, we identify the mechanisms underlying turbulence proliferation in channel flow and find the critical Reynolds number, above which turbulence becomes sustained. Above the critical point, the continuous growth at the tip of the stripes outweighs the stochastic shedding of turbulent patches at the tail and the stripes expand. For growing stripes, the probability to decay decreases while the probability of stripe splitting increases. Consequently, and unlike for the puffs in pipe flow, neither of these two processes is time-independent i.e. memoryless. Coupling between stripe expansion and creation of new stripes via splitting leads to a significantly lower critical point ($Re_c=670+/-10$) than most earlier studies suggest. While the above approach sheds light on how turbulence first becomes sustained, it provides no insight into the origin of the stripes themselves. In the numerical part of the thesis we investigate how turbulent stripes form from invariant solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations. The origin of these turbulent stripes can be identified by applying concepts from the dynamical system theory. In doing so, we identify the exact coherent structures underlying stripes and their bifurcations and how they give rise to the turbulent attractor in phase space. We first report a family of localized nonlinear traveling wave solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations in channel flow. These solutions show structural similarities with turbulent stripes in experiments like obliqueness, quasi-streamwise streaks and vortices, etc. A parametric study of these traveling wave solution is performed, with parameters like Reynolds number, stripe tilt angle and domain size, including the stability of the solutions. These solutions emerge through saddle-node bifurcations and form a phase space skeleton for the turbulent stripes observed in the experiments. The lower branches of these TW solutions at different tilt angles undergo Hopf bifurcation and new solutions branches of relative periodic orbits emerge. These RPO solutions do not belong to the same family and therefore the routes to chaos for different angles are different. In shear flows, turbulence at onset is transient in nature. Consequently,turbulence can not be tracked to lower Reynolds numbers, where the dynamics may simplify. Before this happens, turbulence becomes short-lived and laminarizes. In the last part of the thesis, we show that using numerical simulations we can continue turbulent stripes in channel flow past the 'relaminarization barrier' all the way to their origin. Here, turbulent stripe dynamics simplifies and the fluctuations are no longer stochastic and the stripe settles down to a relative periodic orbit. This relative periodic orbit originates from the aforementioned traveling wave solutions. Starting from the relative periodic orbit, a small increase in speed i.e. Reynolds number gives rise to chaos and the attractor dimension sharply increases in contrast to the classical transition scenario where the instabilities affect the flow globally and give rise to much more gradual route to turbulence.

Direct numerical simulations of turbulent pipe flow laden with finite-size neutrally buoyant particles at low flow Reynolds number

Abstract: In this paper, turbulent pipe flows laden with finite-size particles are investigated, using the direct numerical simulations based on the lattice Boltzmann method. Our focus is on the modulation of turbulence statistics in the pipe due to the presence of finite-size neutrally buoyant particles, and the question if the characteristics of modulation differ from those in a turbulent channel flow under comparable system parameters in order to reveal the effect of curved walls in the pipe. The mechanisms responsible for modulations of the turbulent intensity in the pipe flow are clarified through a quantitative budget analysis of the turbulent kinetic energy.

Relaminarization of Pipe Flow by Means of 3D-Printed Shaped Honeycombs

Abstract: Based on a novel control scheme, where a steady modification of the streamwise velocity profile leads to complete relaminarization of initially fully turbulent pipe flow, we investigate the applicability and usefulness of custom-shaped honeycombs for such control. The custom-shaped honeycombs are used as stationary flow management devices which generate specific modifications of the streamwise velocity profile. Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry and pressure drop measurements are used to investigate and capture the development of the relaminarizing flow downstream these devices. We compare the performance of straight (constant length across the radius of the pipe) honeycombs with custom-shaped ones (variable length across the radius) and try to determine the optimal shape for maximal relaminarization at minimal pressure loss. The optimally modified streamwise velocity profile is found to be M-shaped, and the maximum attainable Reynolds number for total relaminarization is found to be of the order of 10,000. Consequently, the respective reduction in skin friction downstream of the device is almost by a factor of 5. The break-even point, where the additional pressure drop caused by the device is balanced by the savings due to relaminarization and a net gain is obtained, corresponds to a downstream stretch of distances as low as approximately 100 pipe diameters of laminar flow.