Averaged Flow Field Research Articles

Minimal polar swimmer at low Reynolds number

We propose a minimal model for a polar swimmer, consisting of two spheres connected by a rigid slender arm, at low Reynolds number. The propulsive velocity for the proposed model is the maximum for any swimming cycle with the same variations in its two degrees of freedom and its displacement in a cycle is achieved entirely in one step. The stroke averaged flow field generated by the contractile swimmer at large distances is found to be dipolar. In addition, the changing radius of one of the spheres generates the field of a potential doublet centered at its initial position.

Average Flow Inside and Around Fish Cages With and Without Fouling in a Uniform Flow

The average flow field inside and around the bottom of porous cylinders in a uniform flow is explored using particle image velocimetry (PIV). Tests were conducted on six cylinders with porosities of 0%, 30%, 60%, 75%, 82%, and 90% in a flume tank where the flow field inside and around the models is time averaged over 180 s. The models had a height-to-diameter ratio of 3 and were made from metal mesh. The Reynolds numbers ranged from 5000 to 20,000 based on the diameter of the models and from 75 to 300 based on the diameter of individual strands of the mesh, which corresponds to the Reynolds numbers occurring at salmon fish cage netting used along the Norwegian coast. The porosities of 82%, 75%, and 60% correspond to those of a fish cage netting in Norwegian salmon farming with no, light, and heavy biofouling, respectively. The results from this study are discussed with respect to the instantaneous flow field in and around the same cylinders at identical Reynolds numbers. The focus is on the effect of porosity on the ventilation inside the cages and the vertical transports within the near wake. It is shown that heavy fouling of aquacultural netting can lead to internal circulation inside fish cages and, therefore, has the potential to dramatically reduce the ventilation of the net pens. The description of the time-averaged flow field inside and around porous cylinders can be used as benchmarks to validate and adjust numerical models of the flow past porous cylinders. The results from this study can also be valuable for the fish farming industry, since bio-fouling and the reduced porosity of fish cages can be monitored and controlled directly by fish farmers.

Experimental study of vortex-flame interaction in a gas turbine model combustor

The interaction of a helical precessing vortex core (PVC) with turbulent swirl flames in a gas turbine model combustor is studied experimentally. The combustor is operated with air and methane at atmospheric pressure and thermal powers from 10 to 35kW. The flow field is measured using particle image velocimetry (PIV), and the dominant unsteady vortex structures are determined using proper orthogonal decomposition. For all operating conditions, a PVC is detected in the shear layer of the inner recirculation zone (IRZ). In addition, a co-rotating helical vortex in the outer shear layer (OSL) and a central vortex originating in the exhaust tube are found. OH chemiluminescence (CL) images show that the flames are mainly stabilized in the inner shear layer (ISL), where also the PVC is located. Phase-averaged images of OH-CL show that for all conditions, a major part of heat release takes place in a helical zone that is coupled to the PVC. The mechanisms of the interaction between PVC and flame are then studied for the case P=10kW using simultaneous PIV and OH-PLIF measurements with a repetition rate of 5kHz. The measurements show that the PVC causes a regular sequence of flame roll-up, mixing of burned and unburned gas, and subsequent ignition of the mixture in the ISL. These effects are directly linked to the periodic vortex motions. A phase-averaged analysis of the flow field further shows that the PVC induces an unsteady lower stagnation point that is not present in the average flow field. The motion of the stagnation point is linked to the periodic precession of the PVC. Near this point burned and unburned gas collide frontally and a significant amount of heat release takes place. The flame dynamics near this point is also coupled to the PVC. In this way, a part of the reaction zone is periodically drawn from the stagnation point into the ISL, and thus serves as an ignition source for the reactions in this layer. In total, the effects in the ISL and at the stagnation point showed that the PVC plays an essential role in the stabilization mechanism of the turbulent swirl flames. In contrast to the PVC, the vortices in the OSL and near the exhaust tube have no direct effect on the flame since they are located outside the flame zone.

On the resolution limit of digital particle image velocimetry

This work analyzes the spatial resolution that can be achieved by digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) as a function of the tracer particles and the imaging and recording system. As the in-plane resolution for window-correlation evaluation is related by the interrogation window size, it was assumed in the past that single-pixel ensemble-correlation increases the spatial resolution up to the pixel limit. However, it is shown that the determining factor limiting the resolution of single-pixel ensemble-correlation are the size of the particle images, which is dependent on the size of the particles, the magnification, the f-number of the imaging system, and the optical aberrations. Furthermore, since the minimum detectable particle image size is determined by the pixel size of the camera sensor in DPIV, this quantity is also considered in this analysis. It is shown that the optimal magnification that results in the best possible spatial resolution can be estimated from the particle size, the lens properties, and the pixel size of the camera. Thus, the information provided in this paper allows for the optimization of the camera and objective lens choices as well as the working distance for a given setup. Furthermore, the possibility of increasing the spatial resolution by means of particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) is discussed in detail. It is shown that this technique allows to increase the spatial resolution to the subpixel limit for averaged flow fields. In addition, PTV evaluation methods do not show bias errors that are typical for correlation-based approaches. Therefore, this technique is best suited for the estimation of velocity profiles.

Stability of a subsonic gas microjet

The stability of and the laminar-turbulent transition in a plane subsonic helium microjet flowing out into the atmosphere is studied experimentally. The microjet experiences both natural perturbations and controlled periodic acoustic effects. The averaged and instantaneous flow fields are visualized using the Schlieren method and particle tracking method. The pulsation parameters of the mass flow rate are measured, and data for nonlinear interaction between the perturbations at the laminar-turbulent transition in the microstructure are obtained by bispectral analysis.

Structures of turbulent open-channel flow in the presence of an air–water interface

Direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of open-channel flows in the presence of an air–water interface were performed to examine the effects of interface deformation on the turbulence structures. In the water-driven turbulence, flows characterized by either of the two Froude numbers (Fr = 0.2 and 0.8) were examined and compared. A coupled level-set and volume-of-fluid (CLSVOF) method was employed to track the interface. The mean and root-mean-square of the air–water interface elevation varied rapidly with the spanwise distance as Fr increased. The air that contacted the water was entrained into the turbulent flow. At high Fr, all turbulent normal stresses on the air side of the interface were high near the sidewall. Two-point correlations between the streamwise vortex and the velocity fluctuations provided structural information about the near-wall streaky structures and the inner secondary flows in the cross-stream plane. Linear stochastic estimates of the conditionally averaged flow field showed that the inner secondary flow consisted of not only in-plane velocity components but also streamwise velocity components.

Numerical simulation of single-sided ventilation using RANS and LES and comparison with full-scale experiments

Single-sided natural ventilation is a simple and energy-efficient method to passively cool a building, thus reducing or avoiding air-conditioning use. CFD has the potential to give detailed information about the complex flow generated by the interaction of buoyancy and wind in single-sided ventilation. In this paper, three experiments on single-sided ventilation are reproduced by CFD, using two turbulence models (RANS and LES). A detailed description of the experimental set-up, the numerical methods and the comparison method between experiments and simulations are provided. Results from RANS and LES are compared to experiments in terms of average and turbulent flow field, local airspeed, turbulence and temperature at the opening and airflow rates. The comparison shows that LES has the potential to provide more accurate results than RANS in most of the cases, capturing better the turbulent characteristics of the flow. However, the computational cost of LES is at least an order of magnitude higher than that of RANS.

Flow field and heat transfer on the base surface of a finite circular cylinder in crossflow

This work deals with an experimental analysis of the flow field downstream of a finite circular cylinder and of the convective heat transfer coefficient over the wall the cylinder is mounted on. The influence of the cylinder aspect ratio AR and of the Reynolds number Re are investigated. Heat transfer measurements are performed by using infrared thermography along with the heated thin foil heat flux sensor, at four values of Re (4,000, 8,000, 16,000 and 32,000) and four values of AR (1, 2, 4 and 8), while flow field measurements are carried out in the cylinder wake at Re = 16,000 by means of PIV and Stereo PIV for AR = 2 and 8. The average flow field and the coherent structures are investigated in order to understand their influence on the heat transfer topology and enhancement. Some correlations for the heat transfer enhancement are also presented.

Flow field analysis inside a gas turbine trailing edge cooling channel under static and rotating conditions

The flow field inside a modern internal cooling channel specifically designed for the trailing edge of gas turbine blades has been experimentally investigated under static and rotating conditions. The passage is characterized by a trapezoidal cross-section of high aspect-ratio and coolant discharge at the blade tip and along the wedge-shaped trailing edge, where seven elongated pedestals are also installed. The tests were performed under engine similar conditions with respect to both Reynolds (Re = 20,000) and Rotation (Ro = 0, 0.23) numbers, while particular care was put in the implementation of proper pressure conditions at the channel exits to allow the comparison between data under static and rotating conditions. The flow velocity was measured by means of 2D and Stereo-PIV techniques applied in the absolute frame of reference. The relative velocity fields were obtained through a pre-processing procedure of the PIV images developed on purpose. Time averaged flow fields inside the stationary and rotating channels are analyzed and compared. A substantial modification of the whole flow behavior due to rotational effects is commented, nevertheless no trace of rotation induced secondary Coriolis vortices has been found because of the progressive flow discharge along the trailing edge. For Ro = 0.23, at the channel inlet the high aspect-ratio of the cross section enhances inviscid flow effects which determine a mass flow redistribution towards the leading edge side. At the trailing edge exits, the distortion of the flow path observed in the channel central portion causes a strong reduction in the dimensions of the 3D separation structures that surround the pedestals.

Three-dimensional numerical study of jet-in-crossflow characteristics at low Reynolds number

A numerical study of a square jet in a cross flow is carried out at a Reynolds number of 100. The flow field and heat transfer characteristic downstream of the jet have been explored by solving three-dimensional unsteady Navier–Stokes equations and energy equation using higher order spatial and temporal discretization. The projection of vortical structure on a plane is seen to give the component of vortex normal to the plane. Four combinations of velocity profile namely (1) uniform crossflow and uniform jet, (2) laminar boundary layer crossflow and uniform jet, (3) uniform crossflow and parabolic jet profile, and (4) laminar boundary layer crossflow and parabolic jet are compared at same phase to see their effect on the flow field and heat transfer characteristic. All the four cases are seen to exhibit unsteadiness but the jet with parabolic profile is seen to show stronger unsteadiness. The instantaneous vortical structures of all the cases at the same phase show that the structures are more complex for the jet with parabolic velocity profile. The temperature field is seen to be correlated with the vortical structures. Comparison of the time averaged flow field reveals that the jet penetration is the highest for the jet having parabolic profile and boundary layer crossflow. The adiabatic effectiveness is observed to be more for the jet with uniform velocity profile and uniform crossflow and was least for the jet with parabolic velocity profile and boundary layer crossflow.

ANALYSIS OF SYNTHETIC JET FLOW FIELD: APPLICATION OF URANS APPROACH

The present paper reports the time dependent simulation of a turbulent plane synthetic jet using an unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes approach on the basis of the first and second moment closure turbulence models. All the applied turbulence models can capture a global feature of the long time averaged flow field quite well. However, the standard k – ε model yields a disappointing prediction of the turbulence field with inaccurately high levels of turbulence kinetic energy and normal Reynolds stress distributions. The second moment closure model with quadratic nonlinear pressure strain approximation shows the most reasonable prediction of the phase averaged flow and turbulence fields.

Large Eddy Simulation of Supersonic Jet Noise from a Circular Nozzle

An imperfectly expanded supersonic jet is simulated with large eddy simulation (LES) method. The full 3D filtered Navier-Stokes equations in cylindrical coordinates coupled with the standard Smagorinsky model are solved by a computational aeroacoustic method. The Dispersion-Relation-Preserving scheme is used for spatial discretization and the low dissipation low dispersion Runge-Kutta method in 2N storage form is utilized for time marching. A high order explicit spatial filter is applied to remove the grid oscillations. An adaptive artificial selective damping is used for shock capturing. The supersonic jet with Mach number 1.19 is simulated. The simultaneous and time average flow field is analyzed. The near filed noise spectra are presented and compared with the experimental data of Ponton et al. and with the numerical results of the present authors by unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) method. It is shown that the numerical results by LES method agree better with the experimental data than the results by URANS method.

PIV Measurement of Secondary Flow in a Rotating Two-Pass Cooling System With an Improved Sequencer Technique

The flow field characteristics of a two-pass cooling system with an engine-similar layout have been investigated experimentally using the nonintrusive particle image velocimetry (PIV). It consists of a trapezoidal inlet duct, a nearly rectangular outlet duct, and a sharp 180 deg turn. The system has been investigated with smooth and ribbed walls. Ribs are applied on two opposite walls in a symmetric orientation inclined with an angle of 45 deg to the main flow direction. The applied rib layout is well proven and optimized with respect to heat transfer improvement versus pressure drop penalty. The system rotates about an axis orthogonal to its centerline. The configuration was analyzed with the planar two-component PIV technique, which is capable of obtaining complete maps of the instantaneous as well as the averaged flow field even at high levels of turbulence, which are typically found in sharp turns, in ribbed ducts, and, especially, in rotating ducts. In the past, a slip between motor and channel rotation causes additional non-negligible uncertainties during PIV measurements due to an unstable image position. These were caused by the working principle of the standard programmable sequencer unit used in combination with unsteady variations in the rotation speed. Therefore, a new sequencer was developed using FPGA-based hardware and software components from National Instruments (NI), which revealed a significant increase in the stability of the image position. Furthermore, general enhancements of the operability of the PIV system were achieved. The presented investigations of the secondary flow were conducted in stationary and, with the new sequencer technique applied, in rotating mode. Especially in the bend region, vortices with high local turbulence were found. The ribs also change the fluid motion as desired by generating additional vortices impinging the leading edge of the first pass. The flow is turbulent and isothermal; no buoyancy forces are active. The flow was investigated at a Reynolds number of Re=50,000, based on the reference length d (see Fig. 3). The rotation numbers are Ro=0.0 (nonrotating) and 0.1. Engine relevant rotation numbers are in order of 0.1 and higher. A reconstruction of some test rig components, especially the model mounting, has become necessary to reach higher values of the rotational speed compared with previous investigations such as the work of Elfert et al. (2008, “Detailed Flow Investigation Using PIV in a Rotating Square-Sectioned Two-Pass Cooling System With Ribbed Walls,” ASME Turbo Expo, Berlin, Germany, Jun. 9–13, Paper No. GT-2008-51183). This investigation is aimed to analyze the complex flow phenomena caused by the interaction of several vortices, generated by rotation, flow turning, or inclined wall ribs. The flow maps obtained with PIV are of good quality and high spatial resolution and therefore provide a test case for the development and validation of numerical flow simulation tools with special regard to the prediction of flow turbulence under the rotational flow regime, which is typical of turbomachinery. Future work will include the investigation of buoyancy effects to the rotational flow. This implicates wall heating, which results from the heater glass in order to provide transparent models.

METHODS FOR SUPPRESSING SHEAR LAYER INSTABILITIES FOR CAA

The rearward propagation of tonal noise from the main fan and the engine core of modern high bypass aeroengines is one of the current demanding applications of CAA methods. One of the main features of this problem is the radiation of tones from main fan and turbine through the shear layers of core and bypass jets. This can approximately be described by a solution of the linearized perturbed Euler equations over a sheared turbulent averaged base flow field. However, these equations not only describe sound propagation, but also provide a stability analysis for the sheared base flow. Three techniques with the potential to calculate an acoustic solution and at the same time to suppress the instability are compared in this paper. The radiation of a source from a two-dimensional hot jet, chosen from a CAA workshop on benchmark problems, is considered first. Then, the techniques are adopted for the simulation of a single azimuthal mode radiating from the bypass duct of a turbofan engine, as an example for the realistic application. The first technique is based on filtering the mean flow field, over which the perturbation equations are solved. A low-order filter is applied. Subsequently, an adaption of this method, which considers a filtering of the mean flow derivatives in addition, is proved to be very beneficial. The result then reflects the analytical solution of the benchmark problem very well. The second technique filters the source terms in the governing equations. In a first attempt, all mean flow derivatives are neglected to suppress the instability. A more physical motivated variant of the approach neglects only source terms in the momentum equations. However, both provide unsatisfactory predictions of the acoustic field for the benchmark. Finally, a third technique is implemented, which considers the modification of the velocity derivatives in the momentum equations, as this method has demonstrated one of the best predictions for the benchmark problem. Nevertheless, the latter technique has no 3D extension and thus fails in suppressing the instability waves in the turbofan application.

Study of Plastic Deformation in Hexagonal Metals by Interrupted In‐Situ EBSD Measurement

AbstractThe present work was undertaken to provide information, lacking in the literature, on the lattice rotation, and the role of twinning during cold rolling of commercial purity titanium (T40). The proposed method consists of determining the individual rotation of the grains induced by low to intermediate deformation (up to 30% in thickness reduction) and following the rotation field using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) measurements in a high resolution FEG SEM at different steps of deformation (10 and 20%). We have especially studied the formation, the evolution, and the role of mechanical twins. According to the former research, during deformation at room temperature, three different types of twin systems were activated: ${\left\{ {10\overline {1} 2} \right\}}$ tensile twinning, ${\left\{ {11\overline {2} 2} \right\}}$ compression twinning, and – to a small extent – ${\left\{ {11\overline {2} 1} \right\}}$ tensile twinning depending on the grain orientation. Secondary twins (often ${\left\{ {10\overline {1} 2} \right\}}$ within ${\left\{ {11\overline {2} 2} \right\}}$ twins) were activated in the grains oriented favorably for this secondary twinning. This resulted in a heterogeneous microstructure in which grains were refined in some areas. It also induced reorientation of the c‐axes to stable orientations. No twins of higher order than the second order twins could be found. The rotation flow field was measured by following the rotation of 800 grains. It was possible to determine the individual grains rotations as well as the average flow field. For grains having twinned parts, the lattice rotation of the matrix is similar to that of the grains having a similar crystallographic orientation but without any twins. Twins form in grains having specific orientations with respect to the macroscopic stress field; they can grow in the grain with increasing strain and may consume almost the whole matrix.

Large Eddy Simulation of Stable Supersonic Jet Impinging on Flat Plate

This paper describes a numerical study based on large eddy simulation of the flow induced by a supersonic jet impinging on a flat plate in a stable regime. This flow involves very high velocities, shocks, and intense shear layers. Performing large eddy simulation on such flows remains a challenge because of the shock discontinuities. Here, large eddy simulation is performed with an explicit third-order compressible solver using a unstructured mesh, a centered scheme, and the Smagorinsky model. Three levels of mesh refinement (from 7 to 22 million cells) are compared in terms of instantaneous and averaged flowfields (shock and recirculation zone positions), averaged flow velocity and pressure fields, wall pressure, root mean square pressure fields, and spectral content using one and two-point analyses. The effects of numerical dissipation and turbulent viscosity are compared on the three grids and shown to be well controlled. The comparison of large eddy simulation with experimental data shows that the finest grid (a 22 million cell mesh) ensures grid-independent results not only for the mean and rms fields but also for higher statistics such as single and two-point correlation functions.

Steady and unsteady flow patterns in the supraglottal region of excised larynges.

2‐D‐particle image velocimetry was used to obtain time averaged and phase locked planar flow mapping of the near field supraglottis in the mid‐coronal plane for five excised canine larynges. Time averaged flow fields indicate that jet was either symmetric about the axis or was found to skew to one side. Further investigation using phase locked measurements indicate that the near field supraglottal jet was found to be mostly straight during the entire opening phase of the glottal cycle, whereas during the closing phase of the glottal cycle, two different behaviors were observed. The supraglottal jet was found either to skew to one side or flap like a flag. The direction of skew was found to be arbitrary. Either of these behaviors were found to be exhibited during one phonation trial in a larynx. The angle of skew was found to increase toward the end of closing as compared to early closing. Axial and tangential velocity profiles along with jet spreading rate and centerline axial velocity decay are also compared with synthetic vocal fold model data published by other investigators.

Uncertainties in global mapping of Argo drift data at the parking level

We used Argo float drift data to estimate average ocean currents at 1000 dbar depth from early 2000 to early 2010. Our estimates cover the global oceans, except for marginal seas and ice-covered regions, at a resolution of 1 degree in latitude and longitude. The estimated flow field satisfies the horizontal boundary condition of no flow through the topography, and is in geostrophic balance. We also estimated the uncertainty in the average flow field, which had a typical magnitude of 0.03 ms−1. The uncertainty is relatively large (>0.03 ms−1 in both the zonal and meridional directions) near the Equator and in the Southern Ocean. The array bias, which is the bias due to the horizontal gradient in the spatial density of the float data, is generally negligible, with an average magnitude outside the equatorial region of 0.007 ms−1, becoming relatively large (>0.01 ms−1) only near the coastal regions. The measurement uncertainty is assumed to be spatially uniform and includes errors due to the Argos positioning system, internal clock drift, unknown surface drift before submerging or after surfacing, and unknown drifts during ascent and descent between the surface and the parking depth. We found that the overall uncertainty was not sensitive to the assumed value of the measurement uncertainty (ɛm)1/2 when (ɛm)1/2 0.01 ms−1.

On Two-dimensional Predictions of Turbulent Cross-flow Induced Vibration: Forces on a Cylinder and Wake Interaction

In this paper a typical fluid-structure interaction scenario is investigated for a turbulent flow past a circular cylinder at a relatively low subcritical Reynolds number. Numerous experimental and numerical studies have been undertaken for a baseline Reynolds number of 4,000 involving a stationary cylinder to study in detail the near wake mean flow and turbulence characteristics. These studies conclusively show that the turbulent wake displays significant coherent periodic structures of large eddies that could be adequately and profitably resolved by “low order modelling” of turbulence. In this study, an unsteady numerical framework is employed for the simulations, incorporating an Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method for the associated grid deformation to simulate the coupled motion of the circular cylinder with a single degree of freedom in the initial zone in a typical cylinder-flow response map or what is called “initial regime”. Particular attention is paid towards resolving the large scales of the fluid motion and the inherent coupling of the cylinder’s motion towards the associated evolution of the time averaged flow field. The flow-induced vibration effects regarding the kinetic energy exchange between the mean flow and the coherent periodic scales are investigated further. The predictions discussed and analyzed in detail in the paper display reasonable agreement with the chosen benchmark tests of the stationary cylinder and suggest that the conclusions outlined regarding the coupled flow-cylinder system potentially provides a valuable contribution to the state of the art.

Three-dimensional vortex organization in a high-Reynolds-number supersonic turbulent boundary layer

Tomographic particle image velocimetry was used to quantitatively visualize the three-dimensional coherent structures in a supersonic (Mach 2) turbulent boundary layer in the region between y/δ = 0.15 and 0.89. The Reynolds number based on momentum thickness Reθ = 34000. The instantaneous velocity fields give evidence of hairpin vortices aligned in the streamwise direction forming very long zones of low-speed fluid, consistent with Tomkins & Adrian (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 490, 2003, p. 37). The observed hairpin structure is also a statistically relevant structure as is shown by the conditional average flow field associated to spanwise swirling motion. Spatial low-pass filtering of the velocity field reveals streamwise vortices and signatures of large-scale hairpins (height > 0.5δ), which are weaker than the smaller scale hairpins in the unfiltered velocity field. The large-scale hairpin structures in the instantaneous velocity fields are observed to be aligned in the streamwise direction and spanwise organized along diagonal lines. Additionally the autocorrelation function of the wall-normal swirling motion representing the large-scale hairpin structure returns positive correlation peaks in the streamwise direction (at 1.5δ distance from the DC peak) and along the 45° diagonals, which also suggest a periodic arrangement in those directions. This is evidence for the existence of a spanwise–streamwise organization of the coherent structures in a fully turbulent boundary layer.