Transient effects of orthogonal pipe oscillations on laminar developing incompressible flow

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical study of the transient developing laminar flow of a Newtonian incompressible fluid in a straight horizontal pipe oscillating around the vertical diameter at its entrance. The flow field is influenced by the tangential and Coriolis forces, which depend on the through-flow Reynolds number, the oscillation Reynolds number and the angular amplitude of the pipe oscillation. The impulsive start of the latter generates a transient pulsating flow, whose duration increases with axial distance. In any cross-section, this flow consists of a pair of symmetrical counter-rotating vortices, which are alternatively clockwise and anti-clockwise. The circumferentially averaged friction factor and the axial pressure gradient fluctuate with time and are always larger than the corresponding values for a stationary pipe. On the other hand, local axial velocities and local wall shear stress can be smaller than the corresponding stationary pipe values during some part of the pipe oscillation. The fluctuation amplitude of these local variables increases with axial distance and can be as high as 50% of the corresponding stationary pipe value, even at short distances from the pipe entrance. Eventually, the flow field reaches a periodic regime that depends only on the axial position. The results show that the transient flow field depends on the pipe oscillation pattern (initial position and/or direction of initial movement). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.