Showing papers on "Pressure gradient published in 1996"

Disturbance growth in an unstable three-dimensional boundary layer and its dependence on environmental conditions

Abstract: Experimental investigations in the three-dimensional boundary layer of a swept flat plate with the pressure gradient induced from outside are aimed at enhancing knowledge of the transition process in the presence of pure crossflow instability. The development of disturbances is characterized by the occurrence of both stationary and travelling instability modes, by early nonlinear development and by complex dependence upon the environmental conditions. Experiments under natural conditions of transition showed a good correspondence of the identified modes with those predicted by local linear stability theory. The disturbance growth, however, is generally overpredicted. Controlled excitation of crossflow vortices allowing measurements closer to the linear range of amplification confirmed this result. Nonlinear effects such as interaction between stationary disturbances and base flow and between travelling and stationary modes have already been observed when the naturally excited instabilities become of measurable size.The most striking feature of the disturbance development is the complex dependence on initial conditions. Experiments under systematically varied environments showed that surface roughness represents the key parameter responsible for the initiation of stationary crossflow vortices. In contrast to two-dimensional boundary layers, free-stream turbulence influences the transition process indirectly. Only for turbulence levels Tu > 0.2% and smooth surfaces do the travelling instability waves dominate. The location of the final breakdown of laminar flow is clearly determined by the saturation amplitude of crossflow vortices. The receptivity to sound, two-dimensional surface roughness and non-uniformities of the test-section mean flow was found to be very weak.

Reconstruction of Brachial Artery Pressure From Noninvasive Finger Pressure Measurements

Abstract: Background Pulse wave distortions, mainly caused by reflections, and pressure gradients, caused by flow in the resistive vascular tree, may cause differences between finger and brachial artery pressures. These differences may limit the use of finger pressure measurements. We investigated whether brachial artery pressure waves could be reconstructed from finger pressure measurements by correcting for the pressure gradient in addition to correction for pulse wave distortion with a previously described filter. Methods and Results Finger artery pressure (with Finapres), intra-arterial brachial artery pressure (BAP), Riva-Rocci/Korotkoff (RRK), oscillometric, and return-to-flow (RTF) measurements were simultaneously performed in 57 healthy elderly subjects and patients with vascular disease and/or hypertension. A generalized waveform filter was used to correct for pulse wave distortions. Correction equations for the pressure gradient, based on finger pressure, RRK, RTF, or oscillometric measurements, were obtained in 28 randomly selected subjects and tested in 29. Before reconstruction, Finapres underestimated mean and diastolic BAP (finger pressure minus BAP: systolic, −3.2±16.9 mm Hg; mean, −13.0±10.5 mm Hg; diastolic, −8.4±9.0 mm Hg [mean±SD]). After filtering, reconstructed BAP waves were similar to actual BAP in shape but not in pressure level. Optimal correction for the pressure gradient with an equation based on RTF measurements reduced the pressure differences to meet American Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation criteria (reconstructed finger pressure minus BAP: systolic, 3.7±7.0 mm Hg; mean, 0.7±4.6 mm Hg; and diastolic, 1.0±4.9 mm Hg). Conclusions BAP waves can be reconstructed from noninvasive finger pressure registrations when finger pressure waves are corrected for pulse wave distortion and individual pressure gradients.

MHD flow between two parallel plates with heat transfer

Abstract: In the present paper, the steady flow of an electrically conducting, viscous, incompressible fluid bounded by two parallel infinite insulated horizontal plates and the heat transfe through it are studied. The upper plate is given a constant velocity while the lower plate is kept stationary. The viscosity of the fluid is assumed to vary with temperature. The effect of an external uniform magnetic field as well as the action of an inflow perpendicular to the plates together with the influence of the pressure gradient on the flow and temperature distributions are reported. A numerical solution for the governing non-linear ordinary differential equations is developed.

Modeling and measuring lateral line excitation patterns to changing dipole source locations

Abstract: In order to determine excitation patterns to the lateral line system from a nearby 50 Hz oscillating sphere, dipole flow field equations were used to model the spatial distribution of pressures along a linear array of lateral line canal pores. Modeled predictions were then compared to pressure distributions measured for the same dipole source with a miniature hydrophone placed in a small test tank used for neurophysiological experiments. Finally, neural responses from posterior lateral line nerve fibers in the goldfish were measured in the test tank to demonstrate that modeled and measured pressure gradient patterns were encoded by the lateral line periphery. Response patterns to a 50 Hz dipole source that slowly changed location along the length of the fish included (1) peaks and valleys in spike-rate responses corresponding to changes in pressure gradient amplitudes, (2) 180° phase-shifts corresponding to reversals in the direction of the pressure gradient and (3) distance-dependent changes in the locations of peaks, valleys and 180° phase-shifts. Modeled pressure gradient patterns also predict that the number of neural amplitude peaks and phase transitions will vary as a function of neuromast orientation and axis of source oscillation. The faithful way in which the lateral line periphery encodes pressure gradient patterns has implications for how source location and distance might be encoded by excitation patterns in the CNS. Phase-shift information may be important for (1) inhibitory/excitatory sculpting of receptive fields and (2) unambiguously encoding source distance so that increases in source distance are not confused with decreases in source amplitude.

Axisymmetric pressure-driven flow of rigid pellets through a cylindrical tube lined with a deformable porous wall layer

Abstract: A closed-form analytic solution for the motion of axisymmetric rigid pellets suspended in a Newtonian fluid and driven under a pressure gradient through a rigid impermeable cylindrical tube lined with a porous deformable biphasic wall layer is derived using mixture and lubrication theories. The analysis details the velocity distributions in the lubrication and wall layers as well as the solid-phase displacement field in the wall layer. Expressions for the shear stress and pressure gradient are obtained throughout the lubrication and wall layers. Results are presented in terms of resistance, volume flow, and driving pressure relative to smooth-walled tubes for cases both with and without rigid spheres flowing in the free lumen. The analysis is motivated by its possible relevance to the rheology of blood in the microcirculation wherein the endothelial-cell glycocalyx – a carbohydrate-rich coat of macromolecules consisting of proteoglycans and glycoproteins expressed on the luminal surface of the capillary wall – might exhibit similar behaviour to the wall layer modelled here. Estimates of the permeability of the glycocalyx are taken from experimental data for fibrinogen gels formed in vitro. In a tube without pellets lined with a porous wall layer having a thickness which is 15% of the tube radius and having a permeability in the range of fibrinogen gels, approximately a 70% greater pressure drop is required to achieve the same volume flow as would occur in an equivalent smooth-walled tube without a wall layer. If, in the presence of this same wall layer, a rigid spherical pellet is introduced which is 99.5% of the free-lumen radius, the apparent viscosity increases by as much as a factor of four with a concomitant reduction in tube hematocrit of about 10% relative to the corresponding values in an equivalent smooth-walled tube having the same sphere-to-tube diameter ratio without a wall layer.

Turbulence characteristics of a boundary layer over a two-dimensional bump

Abstract: The turbulent flow development was examined for a two-dimensional boundary layer over a bump. The upstream boundary layer had a momentum-thickness. Reynolds number of approximately 4030. The ratios of upstream boundary layer thickness to bump height and convex radius of curvature were 1.5 and 0.06, respectively. The bump was defined by three tangential circular arcs, which subjected the flow to alternating signs of pressure gradient and surface curvature. The boundary layer grew rapidly on the downstream side of the bump but did not separate. The mean velocity profiles deviated significantly from the law of the wall above the bump. The change from concave to convex surface curvature near the leading edge triggered an internal boundary layer, as shown by knee points in the turbulent stress profiles. The internal layer grew rapidly away from the wall on the downstream side of the bump owing to the adverse pressure gradient. The effect of convex surface curvature was considered small since the flow behaviour was generally explained by the effects due to streamwise pressure gradient. A second internal layer was triggered by the change from convex to concave curvature near the trailing edge. The boundary layer recovered rapidly in the downstream section and approached typical flat-plate boundary layer behaviour at the last measurement location.

LDA investigation of the flow development through rotating U-ducts

Abstract: This paper reports results from the use of laser-Doppler anemometry (LDA) to measure the mean and fluctuating flow field in a U-bend of strong curvature, Rc/D = 0.65, that is either stationary or rotating in orthogonal mode (the axis of rotation being parallel to the axis of curvature). The data acquisition system enables a stationary optical fiber probe to collect flow data from a rotating U-bend sweeping past it. Three cases have been examined, all concerning a flow Reynolds number of 100,000; a stationary case, a case of positive rotation (the pressure side of the duct coincides with the outer side of the U-bend) at a rotational number (ΩD/U m ) of 0.2, and a case of negative rotation at a rotational number of -0.2. Measurements have been obtained along the symmetry plane of the duct and also along a plane near the top wall. The most important influence on the development of the mean and turbulence flow fields is exerted by the streamwise pressure gradients that occur over the entry and exit regions of the U-bend. In the stationary case a three-dimensional separation bubble is formed along the inner wall at the 90 deg location and it extends to about two diameters downstream of the bend, causing the generation of high-turbulence levels. Along the outer side, opposite the separation bubble, turbulence levels are suppressed due to streamwise flow acceleration. For the rotation numbers examined, the Coriolis force also has a significant effect on the flow development. Positive rotation doubles the length of the separation bubble and generally suppresses turbulence levels. Negative rotation causes an extra separation bubble at the bend entry, raises turbulence levels within and downstream of the bend, increases velocity fluctuations in the cross-duct direction within the bend, and generates strong secondary motion after the bend exit. It is hoped that the detailed information produced in this study will assist in the development of turbulence models suitable for the numerical computation of flow and heat transfer inside blade-cooling passages.

Turbulence measurements around a mild separation bubble and downstream of reattachment

Abstract: This paper describes the behaviour of a turbulent boundary layer on a smooth, axisymmetric body exposed to an adverse pressure gradient of sufficient strength to cause a short region of mean reverse flow ('separation’). The pressure distribution is tailored such that the boundary layer reattaches and then develops in a nominally zero pressure gradient. Hot-wire and pulsed-wire measurements are presented over the separated region and downstream of reattachment. The response of the turbulence quantities to separation and to reattachment is discussed, with emphasis on the relaxation behaviour after reattachment. Over the separation bubble, the response is characteristic of that seen by other workers: the Reynolds stresses in the inner region are reduced and stress peaks develop away from the wall. At reattachment, the skewness of the fluctuating wall shear stress vanishes, as it is known to do at separation. After reattachment, the outer-layer stresses decay towards levels typical of unperturbed boundary layers. But the inner-layer relaxation is unusual. As the viscous wall stress increases downstream of reattachment, the recovery does not start at the wall and travel outward via the formation of an ‘internal’ layer, the process observed in many other relaxing flows. In fact, the inner layer responds markedly more slowly than the outer layer, even though response times are shortest near the wall. It is concluded that the large-scale, outer structures in the turbulent boundary layer survive the separation process and interfere with the regeneration of Reynolds stresses in the inner region after reattachment. This behaviour continues for at least six bubble lengths (20 boundary-layer thicknesses) after reattachment and is believed to have profound implications for our understanding of the interaction between inner and outer layers in turbulent boundary layers.

Transition Length Prediction for Flows With Rapidly Changing Pressure Gradients

Abstract: A new method for calculating intermittency in transitional boundary layers with changing pressure gradients is proposed and tested against standard turbomachinery flow cases. It is based on recent experimental studies, which show the local pressure gradient parameter to have a significant effect on turbulent spot spreading angles and propagation velocities (and hence transition length). This can be very important for some turbomachinery flows. On a turbine blade suction surface, for example, it is possible for transition to start in a region of favorable pressure gradient and finish in a region of adverse pressure gradient. Calculation methods that estimate the transition length from the local pressure gradient parameter at the start of transition will seriously overestimate the transition length under these conditions. Conventional methods based on correlations of zero pressure gradient transition date are similarly inaccurate. The new calculation method continuously adjusts the spot growth parameters in response to changes in the local pressure gradient through transition using correlations based on data given in the companion paper by Gostelow et al. (1996). Recent experiment correlations of Gostelow et al. (1994a) are used to estimate the turbulent spot generation rate at the start of transition. The method has been incorporated in amore » linear combination integral computation and tested with good results on cases that report both the intermittency and surface pressure distribution data. It has resulted in a much reduced sensitivity to errors in predicting the start of the transition zone, and can be recommended for engineering use in calculating boundary layer development on axial turbomachine blades.« less

Effects of Streamwise Pressure Gradient on Turbulent Spot Development

Abstract: A pressure distribution representative of a controlled diffusion compressor blade suction surface is imposed on a flat plate. Boundary layer transition in this situation is investigated by triggering a wave packet, which evolves into a turbulent spot. The development from wave packet to turbulent spot is observed and the interactions of the turbulent spot with the ongoing natural transition and the ensuing turbulent boundary layer are examined. Under this steeply diffusing pressure distribution, strong amplification of primary instabilities prevails. Breakdown to turbulence is instigated near the centerline and propagates transversely along the wave packet until the turbulent region dominates. An extensive calmed region is present behind the spot, which persists well into the surrounding turbulent layer. Celerities of spot leading and trailing edges are presented, as is the spanwise spreading half-angle. Corresponding measurements for spots under a wide range of imposed pressure gradients are compiled and the present results are compared with those of other authors. Resulting correlations for spot propagation parameters are provided for use in computational modeling of the transition region under variable pressure gradients.

Influence of radial pressure gradients on solute exchange in stirred benthic chambers

Abstract: Bromide was used as a conservative tracer for evaluating the effect of stirring-induced radial pressure gradients in 2 typical benthic chamber designs. One chamber was square, w ~ t h side lengths of 30 cm (volume 9.0 l), and the other was cylindrical, with a diameter of 19 cm (volume 2.5 l). It was demonstrated that radial pressure gradients associated with chamber water rotation could induce advectlve porewater transport In both chambers. The intensity of the advective porewater transport was a function of sediment pel-meability and stlrring rate. Stirrrd at 12 rpm, solute transport chdnged from diffusive to advective at a sediment permeability >2 X 10' ' in the square chamber and >5 X 10.'' m-' in the cylindrical chamber. The s rd imrnt permeability at which solute exchange was still controlled by diffusion could be increased h). almost 1 order of magnitude in the square chamber by decreasing the stirring rate to 7 rpm. The sediment permeability values can be used as a guide to when benthic chamber experiments can be performed without introducing a serious stirring-induced artefact. K E Y WORDS. Lander Renth~c exchange . Flux chambers Convection Pressure gradients 131-omlde

General wellbore flow model for horizontal, vertical, and slanted well completions

Abstract: A general wellbore flow model, which incorporates not only frictional, accelerational, and gravitational pressure drops, but also the pressure drop caused by inflow, is presented in this paper. The new wellbore model is readily applicable to different wellbore perforation patterns and well completions, and can be easily incorporated in reservoir simulators or analytical reservoir inflow models. Three dimensionless numbers, the accelerational to frictional pressure gradient ratio R af , the gravitational to frictional pressure gradient ratio R gf and the inflow-directional to accelerational pressure gradient ratio R da , have been introduced to quantitatively describe the relative importance of different pressure gradient components. For fluid flow in a production well, it is expected that there exist three different flow regions along the wellbore, the laminar flow region, the partially-developed turbulent flow region, and the fully-developed turbulent flow region. For wellbore flow with uniform influx, R af in the laminar flow region is a constant which is only dependent on fluid properties, inflow rate and pipe ID, but independent of axial location and pipe roughness; R af in the fully-developed turbulent flow region is related to the axial location and pipe geometry (pipe ID and pipe roughness) and may be independent of the fluid properties and inflow rate; whereas R af in the partially-developed turbulent flow region depends on location, pipe geometry, fluid properties and inflow rate. It is found that the influence of either inflow or outflow depends on the flow regime present in the wellbore. For laminar flow, wall friction increases due to inflow but decreases due to outflow. For turbulent flow, inflow reduces the wall friction, while outflow increases the wall friction. New wall friction factor correlations for wellbore flows have been developed, which can be applied to determine the wall friction shear and the frictional pressure drop for either inflow (production well) or outflow (injection well) and for either laminar or turbulent flow regime. Calculation results show that the accelerational pressure drop may or may not be important compared to the frictional component depending on the specific pipe geometry, fluid properties and flow conditions. It is recommended that the new wellbore flow model be included in wellbore-reservoir coupling models to achieve more accurate predictions of pressure drop and inflow distribution along the wellbore as well as the well production or injection rates.

Turbulent boundary layer in an adverse pressure gradient - Effectiveness of riblets

Abstract: Measurements of skin friction by means of a drag balance and of velocity profiles by means of a hot wire have been carried out in the boundary layer over a flat plate in a wind tunnel. A convergent/divergent test section produces a moderate adverse pressure gradient in the divergent part. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the characteristics of this boundary layer and to examine the effectiveness of riblets for skin-friction reduction. We find that the mean velocity follows a logarithmic profile that is shifted downward with respect to the logarithmic law for a zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer. The profile of the streamwise velocity fiuctuations exhibits two maxima. Application of riblets in this case leads to a skin-friction reduction of 13%, which implies a considerable increase over the 6% obtained in the zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer. Measurements with a hot wire show that only close to the wall is the mean velocity affected by the presence of riblets and that streamwise velocity fluctuations are reduced here.

One-way flow of a rarefied gas induced in a channel with a periodic temperature distribution

Abstract: A rarefied gas in a channel of two parallel plane walls with a spatially periodic steady temperature distribution, on which a series of ditches is dug periodically, is considered, and the behavior of a flow induced by the temperature variation on the walls is investigated numerically for various Knudsen numbers and ditch sizes by the standard direct simulation Monte Carlo method (Bird’s method). It is found that a steady one‐way flow is induced through the channel without any pressure gradient being applied externally. The pumping effect owing to the one‐way flow is discussed.

The onset of instability in unsteady boundary-layer separation

Abstract: The process of unsteady two-dimensional boundary-layer separation at high Reynolds number is considered. Solutions of the unsteady non-interactive boundary-layer equations are known to develop a generic separation singularity in regions where the pressure gradient is prescribed and adverse. As the boundary layer starts to separate from the surface, however, the external pressure distribution is altered through viscous-inviscid interaction just prior to the formation of the separation singularity; hitherto this has been referred to as the first interactive stage. A numerical solution of this stage is obtained here in Lagrangian coordinates. The solution is shown to exhibit a high-frequency inviscid instability resulting in an immediate finite-time breakdown of this stage. The presence of the instability is confirmed through a linear stability analysis. The implications for the theoretical description of unsteady boundary-layer separation are discussed, and it is suggested that the onset of interaction may occur much sooner than previously thought.

Local ocean response to a multiphase westerly wind burst: 1. Dynamic response

Abstract: The dynamic response to a westerly wind burst which occurred during the Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment in the warm pool of the equatorial Pacific Ocean is described using velocity, hydrography, and microstructure measurements. Turbulent fluxes distributed momentum input from the wind over a near-surface layer of variable thickness. Coriolis and pressure gradient terms combined to induce a wavelike response whose frequency was close to the local inertial frequency. Wind stress variations on near-inertial timescales interfered both constructively and destructively with the wave response, exerting considerable influence on the observed currents.

Bubble transport through constricted capillary tubes with application to resin transfer molding

Abstract: This paper describes and expounds a theoretical and experimental study of bubble motion through constricted capillary tubes. In the experiment, two liquidfilled capillaries are used. They have unequal radii and are glued together. Gas bubbles are injected into the larger capillary. Then the pressure required to force the bubbles through the constriction is measured for various liquids, bubble lengths, capillary radii and constriction geometry. It appears that the pressure directly follows Young's-Laplace law for capillary pressure. The results of the study are used to understand the bubble transport through fiber reinforcements, which generally takes place during the manufacturing of composites. The bubbles are carried if: (i) the pressure gradient is high enough, (ii) the surface tension of the liquid is low enough, (iii) the cross-sectional area of the channels in the reinforcement is sufficiently uniform. The theory reveals that the bubbles are more likely to be trapped on a small scale, i.e. within fiber bundles rather than on a large scale, i.e. between the bundles. It is also concluded that, if the bubbles are trapped at the resin flow front, a converging flow is better for the transport of the voids than a diverging flow.

The characterization of fluid transport in a porous solid by pulsed gradient stimulated echo NMR

Abstract: Pulsed magnetic field gradient stimulated echo NMR measurements are reported for the flow and diffusion of an aqueous phase within a sample of Fontainebleau sandstone. The stimulated echo dependence on the gradient pulse area, q, for a fixed observation time Δ, is used to derive the displacement probability distributions, P Δ(X), where X, the direction of the field gradient, is arranged to be parallel or perpendicular to the applied pressure gradient driving the flow. The shape of the P Δ(X) as a function of Δ is modelled in terms of laminar flow within a set of randomly oriented capillaries. For small Δ, molecules remain largely within the capillaries they occupy at the beginning of the time Δ and, as a consequence, the P Δ(X) for small Δ are dominated by the orientational distribution of the capillaries. For large Δ, the evolution of the P Δ(X) is reproduced only when diffusion of molecules across the velocity gradients within the capillaries is introduced and, in addition, the fluid transfers between d...

Hydrodynamic characteristics of a three-phase inverse fluidized-bed column

Abstract: Gas–liquid–solid inverse fluidized beds were studied, in which the gas and the continuous liquid phase flow countercurrently fluidizing particles that are lighter than the liquid. Conductivity and static pressure measurements were combined to provide the vertical profiles of the gas, liquid and solid holdup, in beds of 4- or 6-mm polypropylene particles with a density of about 870 kg/m3. Various bed heights were obtained with different measurement methods. The minimum fluidization velocity was estimated using the bed static pressure gradient. A new transition velocity, called the uniform fluidization velocity, was identified using conductivity measurements. This is the superficial liquid velocity at which the fluidization quality becomes the same throughout the bed.

Computational analysis of the ductus venosus fluid dynamics based on Doppler measurements

Abstract: The simplified Bernoulli equation is currently used to evaluate pressure gradients on the basis of Doppler velocity measurements when direct pressure data require highly invasive procedures. Recently, this method was applied to the ductus venosus (DV) in order to estimate the fetal central venous pressure. The complex geometry- and consequently hemodynamics-of this fetal region suggests caution in automatically converting Doppler velocity measurements to pressure data. To investigate the reliability of the Bernoulli equation for this practice, we simulated the hemodynamics of the branching between the umbilical vein (UV) and the DV on the basis of ultrasonographic data from a normal fetus, using a simplified parametric 3D numerical model of a bent tube with varying cross section (UV) and a smaller trumpet-shaped branch (DV). A finite element formulation has been adopted to solve the governing Navier-Stokes equations. The results show that the simplified Bernoulli equation, despite of its simplicity, provides a good estimation of the pressure drop between the UV and the DV outlet section (with an error of about 0.25 mmHg, equal to 15%, compared with the model results). Nevertheless, attention must be paid to the velocity measurement sites, as discussed in this paper. In turn, the error becomes notable (2.8 mmHg, i.e., 34%) for high velocity values, thus suggesting that the error in evaluating the pressure drop with the simplified Bernoulli equation during fetal inspiratory movements may be substantial.