The Transition Process of Pulsatile Flow in Grooved Channel at Intermediate Reynolds Number (Effect of Groove Length)

Abstract

The transition process of pulsatile flow in a grooved channel is studied both numerically and experimentally for five different groove-lengths at intermediate Reynolds number. The effects of the pulsating flow frequency upon the transition process are also examined for fixed Reynolds number and pulsation amplitude. The numerical simulation reveals the occurrence of multi-period oscillations and the transition process from periodic to chaotic flow follows the Feigenbaum scenario, where the period-doubling occurs by increasing the groove length. The double-period oscillation was also observed experimentally. However, the experimental results show that the pulsatile flow is more unstable than predicted by numerical simulation.