Enhancing effect of an open pipe exit on the precessing vortex core occurring in confined swirling flows

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of an open pipe exit on the dynamic behaviour of the helical precessing vortex core (PVC) occurring in a confined swirling flow after vortex breakdown. This is achieved by carrying out extensive particle image velocimetry and dynamic pressure measurements downstream of an air swirling flow generator in two pipes configurations at two values of swirl number $$S=0.7$$ and $$S=1.1$$ . The first pipe configuration features a diffuser followed by a straight pipe and an open exit. In the second configuration, the open exit is placed closer to the outlet of the swirl generator by removing the straight part. In both configurations, the PVC structural parameters are properly determined by phase-averaging of the instantaneous velocity fields. In the first configuration, a sudden change in the pitch of the helical vortex is observed at both swirl number values downstream of the connection between the diffuser and the straight part. Beyond this transition, the vortex trajectory starts widening as it is getting closer to the open exit of the pipe. The results in the second configuration confirm this enhancing effect of the open exit on the PVC: at both swirl numbers, the vortex trajectory is strongly widened and its radius continuously increases from the swirl generator outlet to the pipe exit, resulting in an increase in the Strouhal number and pressure fluctuations amplitude by 20 $$\%$$ and a factor up to 9, respectively, compared with the first configuration. Finally, based on a dimensional analysis, a linear relation between two dimensionless parameters including the vortex parameters and the pressure fluctuations amplitude is derived and supported by the data obtained in both pipe configurations.