INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF ELASTIC WALLS AND INCLINED BAFFLES ON THERMAL MIXING OF TWO FLUIDS IN Y-JUNCTIONS

Abstract

In this study, the mixing of two fluids with different temperatures in Y-junctions with elastic walls and rigid baffles is studied. The Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) model is implemented to capture the interaction between the fluid and the solid structure by using the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method. The main purpose of the present study is to improve the temperature mixing between the two fluids flowing inside the Y-junction by utilizing partly elastic walls and inclined baffles in the configuration of the Y-junction. The oscillation of the elastic walls in the present study is caused by sinusoidal inlet velocities and external forces applied to the walls. The obtained results indicate that the thermal mixing between the hot fluid and cold fluid is improved with an increase in the amplitude and frequency of the applied load on the elastic walls. Moreover, an increase in the frequency of the inlet sinusoidal velocities contributes to enhanced temperature mixing and better thermal mixing of the hot fluid and cold fluid. Besides, with a decrease in the elastic modulus of the elastic walls and a decrease in the distance of the elastic walls from the start point of the horizontal branch of the Y-junction, the thermal mixing index improves. Finally, the addition of the two fins considerably enhances the thermal mixing of the cold fluid.