Return to axi-symmetry for pipe flows generated after a fractal orifice

Abstract

We present experimental results obtained from pipe flows generated by fractal shaped orifices or openings. We compare different fractal orifices and their efficiencies to re-generate axi-symmetric flows and to return to the standard flow generated by a perforated plate or a circular orifice plate. We consider two families of fractal openings: mono-orifice and complex orifice and emphasize the differences between the two fractal families. For the Reynolds number we used, we found that there is an optimum iteration for the fractal level above which no improvement for practical applications such as flowmetering is to be expected. The main parameters we propose for the characterization of the fractal orifice are the connexity parameter, the symmetry angle and the gap to the wall δ*g. The results presented here are among the first for flows forced through fractal openings and will serve as a reference for future studies and benchmarks for numerical applications.