Laminar Couette Flow Research Articles

Heat transfer in laminar Couette flow laden with rigid spherical particles

We study heat transfer in plane Couette flow laden with rigid spherical particles by means of direct numerical simulations. In the simulations we use a direct-forcing immersed boundary method to account for the dispersed phase together with a volume-of-fluid approach to solve the temperature field inside and outside the particles. We focus on the variation of the heat transfer with the particle Reynolds number, total volume fraction (number of particles) and the ratio between the particle and fluid thermal diffusivity, quantified in terms of an effective suspension diffusivity. We show that, when inertia at the particle scale is negligible, the heat transfer increases with respect to the unladen case following an empirical correlation recently proposed in the literature. In addition, an average composite diffusivity can be used to approximate the effective diffusivity of the suspension in the inertialess regime when varying the molecular diffusion in the two phases. At finite particle inertia, however, the heat transfer increase is significantly larger, smoothly saturating at higher volume fractions. By phase-ensemble-averaging we identify the different mechanisms contributing to the total heat transfer and show that the increase of the effective conductivity observed at finite inertia is due to the increase of the transport associated with fluid and particle velocity. We also show that the contribution of the heat conduction in the solid phase to the total wall-normal heat flux reduces when increasing the particle Reynolds number, so that particles of low thermal diffusivity weakly alter the total heat flux in the suspension at finite particle Reynolds numbers. On the other hand, a higher particle thermal diffusivity significantly increases the total heat transfer.

Slit wall aspect ratio effect on the stability and heat transfer characteristics of Taylor-Couette flow

Abstract Taylor-Couette flow in the annulus was investigated by numerical simulation. The stability of Taylor-Couette flow and its heat transfer process of four different models were studied. By comparing the result in four different models, it is found that the Nusselt number of the model with slit aspect ratio of 0.75 is larger than the result of other models, with the further increasing of aspect ratio, the heat transfer performance of the fluid in the annular gap is not enhanced significantly. The Nusselt number of the model with aspect ratio of 0.75 increases as the Reynolds number increases. Additionally, the temperature gradient has the inhibition effect on the transition from laminar Couette flow to Taylor vortex flow, and as the temperature gradient increasing, this effect becomes more obvious. Finally, the fitting empirical formulas of the model with aspect ratio of 0.75 were obtained at different conditions.

Application of Quasi-Gas Dynamic Equations to Numerical Simulation of Near-Wall Turbulent Flows

We describe the possibilities of a numerical method based on quasi-gas dynamic (QGD) equations for the numerical simulation of a turbulent boundary layer. A subsonic Couette flow in nitrogen is used as an example, with dynamic Reynolds numbers of 153 and 198. The QGD system differs from the system of Navier---Stokes equations by additional nonlinear dissipative terms with a small parameter as a coefficient. In turbulent flow simulation, these terms describe small-scale effects that are not resolved on the grid. Comparison of our results (velocity profiles and mean-square velocity pulsations) with direct numerical simulation (DNS) results and benchmark experiments show that the QGD algorithm adequately describes the viscous and the logarithmic layers near the wall. Compared with high-accuracy DNS methods, the QGD algorithm permits using a relatively large spatial grid increment in the interior part of the viscous sublayer. Thus, the total number of grid points in the turbulent boundary layer may be relatively small. Unlike various versions of the large-eddy simulation (LES) method, the QGD algorithm does not require introduction of near-wall functions, because the additional terms vanish near the wall. For small Reynolds numbers, the QGD algorithm describes laminar Couette flow.

Nonlinear coupling of interfacial instabilities with resonant wave interactions in horizontal two-fluid plane Couette–Poiseuille flows: numerical and physical observations

We investigate mechanisms governing the initial growth and nonlinear evolution of interfacial waves in horizontal two-fluid plane Couette–Poiseuille flows. Nonlinear coupling of the Kelvin–Helmholtz interfacial instability with resonant wave interactions has been shown to be capable of rapidly generating long waves through the transfer of energy from linearly unstable short waves to stable long-wave components within the context of potential flow theory. The objective of this work is to determine whether that coupled mechanism persists in laminar and turbulent viscous flows. Utilizing both theoretical and computational methods, we analyse the initial Orr–Sommerfeld instability to quantify the frequencies and growth/decay rates of each wave mode for two-fluid laminar and turbulent channel flows. The obtained dispersion relation allows for the identification of resonant and/or near-resonant triads among (unstable and damped) wave components in an interfacial wave spectrum. We perform direct numerical simulations (DNS) of the two-phase Navier–Stokes equations with a fully nonlinear interface to formally establish the validity of our theoretical predictions for viscous flows. DNS results show the existence of a nonlinear energy cascade from unstable short- to damped long-wavelength waves due to resonant subharmonic and/or triadic interactions in both laminar Couette and turbulent Poiseuille flows. Spectral analysis of the interfacial evolution confirms that the combined instability–resonance mechanism persists in the presence of viscosity despite being derived under the assumption of potential flow theory. Finally, we perform a detailed examination of experimentally measured wave power spectra from Jurman et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 238, 1992, pp. 187–219) and carry out a numerical sensitivity study of the flow conditions to demonstrate and verify the existence of the coupled instability–resonance mechanism in physical systems. Our analysis accurately predicts the initial instability and the resulting nonlinear energy cascade through subharmonic and triadic interfacial wave resonances.

On the Onset of Taylor Vortices in Finite-Length Cavity Subject to a Radial Oscillation Motion

Taylor- Couette flow (TCF) is an important template for studying various mechanisms of the laminar-turbulent transition of rotating fluid in enclosed cavity. It is also relevant to engineering applications like bearings, fluid mixing and filtration. Furthermore, this flow system is of potential importance for development of bio-separators employing Taylor vortices for enhancement of mass transfer. The fluid flowing in the annular gap between two rotating cylinders has been used as paradigm for the hydrodynamic stability theory and the transition to turbulence. In this paper, the fluid in an annulus between short concentric cylinders is investigated numerically for a three dimensional viscous and incompressible flow. The inner cylinder rotates freely about a vertical axis through its centre while the outer cylinder is held stationary and oscillating radially. The main purpose is to examine the effect of a pulsatile motion of the outer cylinder on the onset of Taylor vortices in the vicinity of the threshold of transition, i.e., from the laminar Couette flow to the occurrence of Taylor vortex flow. The numerical results obtained here show significant topological changes on the Taylor vortices. In addition, the active control deeply affects the occurrence of the first instability. It is established that the appearance of the Taylor vortex flow is then substantially delayed with respect to the classical case; flow without control.

Characteristics of electrohydrodynamic roll structures in laminar planar Couette flow

The behaviour of an incompressible dielectric liquid subjected to a laminar planar Couette flow with unipolar charge injection is investigated numerically in two dimensions. The computations show new morphological characteristics of roll structures that arise in this forced electro-convection problem. The charge and velocity magnitude distributions between the two parallel electrodes are discussed as a function of the top wall velocity and the EHD Rayleigh number, T for the case of strong charge injection. A wide enough parametric space is investigated such that the observed EHD roll structures progress through three regimes. These regimes are defined by the presence of a single or double-roll free convective structure as observed elsewhere (Vazquez et al 2008 J. Phys. D 41 175303), a sheared or stretched roll structure, and finally by a regime where the perpendicular velocity gradient is sufficient to prevent the generation of a roll. These three regimes have been delineated as a function of the wall to ionic drift velocity , and the T number. In the stretched regime, an increase in can reduce charge and momentum fluctuations whilst in parallel de-stratify charge in the region between the two electrodes. The stretched roll regime is also characterised by a substantial influence of on the steady development time, however in the traditional non-stretched roll structure regime, no influence of on the development time is noted.

A note on the onset of recirculation in a 2D Couette flow over a wavy bottom

Laminar Couette flow over a fixed wavy surface was studied with direct numerical simulation in a 2D periodic numerical domain. The mesh was generated by a conformal transformation that sets horizontal flow at the top of the domain, where a constant velocity boundary condition is given. The bottom of the domain is a wavy sinusoidal surface of wave slope 2πa/λ. The combined effect of bottom shape, inertia, and viscosity was explored using different Reynolds numbers (Re) and two dimensionless parameters in terms of channel width h, wavelength λ, and the amplitude of the wavy bottom a. Even if the Reynolds number was large, the simulations were not perturbed so the regime was always laminar. However, a recirculation appeared at the vicinity of the trough. The horizontal location of the eddy center was reported as a function of 2πa/λ and Reλ/h. The conditions for the onset of this recirculation were studied and compared with results from the literature. Two regimes can be clearly identified from the numerical results; a viscous regime with a weak dependence between 2πa/λ and Reλ/h for small Reynolds numbers and an inertial regime with an exponential dependence between 2πa/λ and Reλ/h for large Reynolds numbers, which presents an approximate slope of −1/3. Almost all results collapse in one single curve that characterizes the phenomenon (with the exception of some points where the flow is confined due to a large λ/h ratio).

Hemolysis in a laminar flow-through Couette shearing device: an experimental study.

Reducing hemolysis has been one of the major goals of rotary blood pump development and in the investigational phase, the capability of hemolysis estimation for areas of elevated shear stresses is valuable. The degree of hemolysis is determined by the amplitude of shear stress and the exposure time, but to date, the exact hemolytic behavior at elevated shear stresses and potential thresholds for subcritical shear exposure remain vague. This study provides experimental hemolysis data for a set of shear stresses and exposure times to allow better estimations of hemolysis for blood exposed to elevated shearing. Heparinized porcine blood with a hematocrit of 40% was mechanically damaged in a flow-through laminar Couette shear flow at a temperature of 23°C. Four levels of shear stress, 24, 592, 702, and 842 Pa, were replicated at two exposure times, 54 and 873 ms. For the calculation of the shear stresses, an apparent viscosity of 5 mPas was used, which was verified in an additional measurement of the blood viscosity. The hemolysis measurements were repeated four times, whereby all conditions were measured once within the same day and with blood from the same source. Samples were taken at the inlet and outlet of the shear region and an increase in plasma-free hemoglobin was measured. An index of hemolysis (IH) was thereby calculated giving the ratio of free to total hemoglobin. The results are compared with data from previously published studies using a similar shearing device. Hemolysis was found to increase exponentially with shear stress, but high standard deviations existed at measurements with elevated IH. At short exposure times, the IH remained low at under 0.5% for all shear stress levels. For high exposure times, the IH increased from 0.84% at 592 Pa up to 3.57% at the highest shear stress level. Hemolysis was significant for shear stresses above ∼600 Pa at the high exposure time of 873 ms.

Zero absolute vorticity: insight from experiments in rotating laminar plane Couette flow.

For pressure-driven turbulent channel flows undergoing spanwise system rotation, it has been observed that the absolute vorticity, i.e., the sum of the averaged spanwise flow vorticity and system rotation, tends to zero in the central region of the channel. This observation has so far eluded a convincing theoretical explanation, despite experimental and numerical evidence reported in the literature. Here we show experimentally that three-dimensional laminar structures in plane Couette flow, which appear under anticyclonic system rotation, give the same effect, namely, that the absolute vorticity tends to zero if the rotation rate is high enough. It is shown that this is equivalent to a local Richardson number of approximately zero, which would indicate a stable condition. We also offer an explanation based on Kelvin's circulation theorem to demonstrate that the absolute vorticity should remain constant and approximately equal to zero in the central region of the channel when going from the nonrotating fully turbulent state to any state with sufficiently high rotation.

Novel features of a fully developed mixing-layer between co-flowing laminar and turbulent Couette flows

A new flow configuration has been proposed in which a bilateral mixing-layer exists in the junction between co-flowing laminar and turbulent plane Couette flows. Contrary to a classical plane mixing-layer, the present mixing-layer did neither grow in time nor in streamwise direction. However, the mixing zone varied with the distance from the stationary wall. A direct numerical simulation showed that very-large-scale flow structures were found in the turbulent part of the flow with Reynolds number 1300 based on half the velocity U1 of the fastest-moving wall and half of the distance 2h between the walls. The laminar-turbulent interface exhibited a large-scale meandering motion with frequency 0.014U1/h and wavelength about 25h. Large-scale Taylor-Görtler-like roll cells were observed in the nominally laminar flow region with Reynolds number 260. This tailor-made flow is particularly well suited for explorations of momentum transfer and intermittency in the vicinity of the laminar-turbulent interface.

Nusselt Numbers for Thermally Developing Couette Flow With Hydrodynamic and Thermal Slip

The effects of hydrodynamic and thermal slip on heat transfer in a thermally developing, steady, laminar Couette flow are investigated. Fluid temperature at the inlet to a parallel plate channel is prescribed, as various combinations of isothermal and adiabatic boundary conditions are along its surfaces. Analytical expressions incorporating arbitrary slip are developed for temperature profiles, and developing and fully developed for Nusselt numbers. The results are relevant to liquid and gas flows in the presence of apparent and molecular slip, respectively.

Lower branch equilibria in Couette flow: the emergence of canonical states for arbitrary shear flows

AbstractWe consider the development of nonlinear three-dimensional vortex–wave interaction equilibria of laminar plane Couette flow for a range of spanwise wavenumbers. The results are computed using a hybrid approach that captures the required asymptotic structure while at the same time providing a direct link with full numerical calculations of equilibrium states. Each equilibrium state consists of a streak flow, a roll flow and a wave propagating on the streak. Direct numerical simulations at finite Reynolds numbers using initial conditions constructed from these parts confirm that the scheme generates equilibrium solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations. Consideration of the form of the vortex–wave interaction equations in the high-spanwise-wavenumber limit predicts that for small wavelengths the equilibria take on a self-similar structure confined near the centre of the flow. These states feel no influence from the walls, and lead to a class of canonical states relevant to arbitrary shear flows. These predictions are supported by an analysis of computational results at increasing values of the spanwise wavenumber. For the wave part of these new canonical states, it is shown that the mass-specific kinetic energy density per unit wavenumber scales with the $- 5/ 3$ power of the wavenumber.

CFD simulation of Taylor–Couette flow in scraped surface heat exchanger

The flow between two concentric cylinders which is termed as Taylor–Couette flow has been studied in scraped surface heat exchanger with and without blades. Shear rate in annular flow with and without blades was measured by Dumont et al. (2000a) using electrochemical method and determined the onset of Taylor vortices at specific Taylor number in both cases for Newtonian flow. CFD simulations have been carried out to determine the transition zone from laminar Couette flow to Taylor vortex flow using the same geometry for which Dumont et al. (2000a) had carried out the experiments. The Reynolds stress model (RSM) and k–ɛ model are used for Taylor vortex flow (Ta>300) to characterize the flow pattern in annular flow and SSHE respectively. The aim of the present work is to analyze the effect of rotating scraper on the existing flow patterns in simple annular flow using CFD simulations.

Effect of fully characterized unsteady flow on population growth of the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum

Dinoflagellate population growth is inhibited by fluid motion, which is typically characterized by some average flow property, regardless if the flow is steady or unsteady. This study compares the effect of fully characterized steady and unsteady flow on net population growth of the red tide dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum. The unsteady flow fields were generated using oscillatory laminar Couette flow and characterized analytically to provide complete knowledge of the fluid shear exposure over space and time throughout the chamber. Experimental conditions were selected so all cells experienced a similar shear exposure regardless of their position within the chamber. Unsteady flow with maximum shears of 6.4 s−1 and 6.7 s−1 and an average absolute shear of 4 s−1, comparable with levels found at the ocean surface on a windy day, resulted in higher levels of growth inhibition than for steady Couette flow with shears of 4 and 8 s−1. Over the parameter space studied, growth inhibition increased with increasing treatment duration (5–120 min) but was insensitive to oscillation period (60–600 s) or whether the unsteady flow changed in direction. These results indicate that over the parameter space studied, unsteady flow is more inhibitory to net growth than steady flow, for the same average flow conditions, and demonstrate that flow characterization on the basis only of average flow properties is inadequate for comparing population growth in unsteady and steady flows.

Nonequilibrium velocity fluctuations and energy amplification in planar Couette flow

In this paper we investigate intrinsic thermally excited nonequilibrium velocity fluctuations in laminar planar Couette flow. For this purpose we have complemented the solution of the stochastic Orr-Sommerfeld equation for the intensity of the fluctuations of the wall-normal velocity, presented in a previous publication, with a solution of the stochastic Squire equation for the intensity of the fluctuations of the wall-normal vorticity. We have obtained exact solutions of these equations without boundary conditions and solutions in a Galerkin approximation when appropriate boundary conditions are included. These results enable us to make a quantitative assessment of the intensity of these nonequilibrium fluctuations, as well as of the related energy amplification, which are always present, even in the absence of any externally imposed noise.

DNS of stochastically forced laminar plane Couette flow

AbstractBackground of three dimensional hydrodynamic/vortical fluctuations in a stochastically forced, laminar, incompressible, plane Couette flow is simulated by direct numerical simulations (DNS). It was found that the fluctuating field has well pronounced peculiarities: (i) The hydrodynamic fluctuations exhibits non–exponential, transient growth; (ii) Streamwise non–constant fluctuations with the characteristic length scale of the order of the channel width are predominant in the fluctuating spectrum; (iii) Existence of coherent structures in the fluctuating background; (iv) Stochastic forcing breaks the spanwise reflection symmetry (inherent to the linear and full Navier–stokes equations in a case of the Couette flow) and inputs an asymmetry on dynamical processes. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Semi‐coupled air/water immersed boundary approach for curvilinear dynamic overset grids with application to ship hydrodynamics

AbstractFor many problems in ship hydrodynamics, the effects of air flow on the water flow are negligible (the frequently called free surface conditions), but the air flow around the ship is still of interest. A method is presented where the water flow is decoupled from the air solution, but the air flow uses the unsteady water flow as a boundary condition. The authors call this a semi‐coupled air/water flow approach. The method can be divided into two steps. At each time step the free surface water flow is computed first with a single‐phase method assuming constant pressure and zero stress on the interface. The second step is to compute the air flow assuming the free surface as a moving immersed boundary (IB). The IB method developed for Cartesian grids (Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 2005; 37:239–261) is extended to curvilinear grids, where no‐slip and continuity conditions are used to enforce velocity and pressure boundary conditions for the air flow. The forcing points close to the IB can be computed and corrected under a sharp interface condition, which makes the computation very stable. The overset implementation is similar to that of the single‐phase solver (Comput. Fluids 2007; 36:1415–1433), with the difference that points in water are set as IB points even if they are fringe points. Pressure–velocity coupling through pressure implicit with splitting of operators or projection methods is used for water computations, and a projection method is used for the air. The method on each fluid is a single‐phase method, thus avoiding ill‐conditioned numerical systems caused by large differences of fluid properties between air and water. The computation is only slightly slower than the single‐phase version, with complete absence of spurious velocity oscillations near the free surface, frequently present in fully coupled approaches. Validations are performed for laminar Couette flow over a wavy boundary by comparing with the analytical solution, and for the surface combatant model David Taylor Model Basin (DTMB) 5512 by comparing with Experimental Fluid Dynamics (EFD) and the results of two‐phase level set computations. Complex flow computations are demonstrated for the ONR Tumblehome DTMB 5613 with superstructure subject to waves and wind, including 6DOF motions and broaching in SS7 irregular waves and wind. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Large-scale instability in a sheared nonhelical turbulence: Formation of vortical structures

We study a large-scale instability in a sheared nonhelical turbulence that causes generation of large-scale vorticity. Three types of the background large-scale flows are considered, i.e., the Couette and Poiseuille flows in a small-scale homogeneous turbulence, and the "log-linear" velocity shear in an inhomogeneous turbulence. It is known that laminar plane Couette flow and antisymmetric mode of laminar plane Poiseuille flow are stable with respect to small perturbations for any Reynolds numbers. We demonstrate that in a small-scale turbulence under certain conditions the large-scale Couette and Poiseuille flows are unstable due to the large-scale instability. This instability causes formation of large-scale vortical structures stretched along the mean sheared velocity. The growth rate of the large-scale instability for the "log-linear" velocity shear is much larger than that for the Couette and Poiseuille background flows. We have found a turbulent analogue of the Tollmien-Schlichting waves in a small-scale sheared turbulence. A mechanism of excitation of turbulent Tollmien-Schlichting waves is associated with a combined effect of the turbulent Reynolds stress-induced generation of perturbations of the mean vorticity and the background sheared motions. These waves can be excited even in a plane Couette flow imposed on a small-scale turbulence when perturbations of mean velocity depend on three spatial coordinates. The energy of these waves is supplied by the small-scale sheared turbulence.

Near-wall effects in micro scale Couette flow and heat transfer in the Maxwell-slip regimes

The effects of modified transport characteristics within an extremely thin layer adjacent to the fluid–solid interfaces are investigated for fully developed laminar micro-scale Couette flows with slip boundary conditions. The wall-adjacent layer effects are incorporated into the continuum-based mathematical model by imposing variable viscosity and thermal conductivity values close to the channel walls, for solving the momentum and energy conservation equations. Analytical expressions for the velocity profiles are derived and are subsequently utilized to obtain the temperature variations within the parallel plate channel, as a function of the significant system parameters. It is revealed that the variations in effective viscosity and thermal conductivity values within the wall-adjacent layer have profound influences on the fluid flow and the heat transfer characteristics within the channel, with an interesting interplay with the wall slip boundary conditions. These effects cannot otherwise be accurately captured by employing classical continuum based models for microscale Couette flows that do not take into account the alterations in effective transport properties within the wall adjacent layers.

Flow Beneath a Ship at Small Underkeel Clearance

This article looks at the case of a large, flat-bottomed ship, such as a bulk carrier, moving in close proximity to a flat sea floor. It is shown that the flow beneath the ship can be modeled as a shear flow between two parallel plates, one of which is moving. The resulting flow can be represented using laminar Couette flow at low Reynolds numbers (possible at model scale) or the very different turbulent Couette flow at high Reynolds numbers (full scale). Implications of these flow models on squat and viscous resistance are discussed.