Rotor Flow Field Research Articles

Movement Characteristics of Droplet Deposition in Flat Spray Nozzle for Agricultural UAVs

At present, research on aerial spraying operations with UAVs mainly focuses on the deposition outcomes of droplets, with insufficient depth in the exploration of the movement process of droplet deposition. The movement characteristics of droplet deposition as the most fundamental factors affecting the effectiveness of pesticide application by UAVs are of great significance for improving droplet deposition. This study takes flat spray nozzles as the research object, uses the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique to obtain movement data of water droplet deposition under the influence of rotor flow fields, and investigates the variation characteristics of droplet deposition speed under different influencing factors. The results show that the deposition speed and the distribution area of high-speed (>12 m/s) particles increase with the increase of rotor speed, spraying pressure, and nozzle size. When the rotor speed increases from 0 r/min to 1800 r/min, the average increase in maximum droplet deposition speed for nozzle models LU120-02, LU120-03 and LU120-04 is 33.26%, 19.02%, and 7.62%, respectively. The rotor flow field significantly increases the number of high-speed droplets, making the dispersed droplet velocity distribution more concentrated. When the rotor speed is 0, 1000, 1500, and 1800 r/min, the average decay rates of droplet deposition speed are 36.72%, 20.00%, 15.47%, and 13.21%, respectively, indicating that the rotor flow field helps to reduce the decrease in droplet deposition speed, enabling droplets to deposit on the target area at a higher speed, reducing drift risk and evaporation loss. This study’s results are beneficial for revealing the mechanism of droplet deposition movement in aerial spraying by plant protection UAVs, improving the understanding of droplet movement, and providing data support and guidance for precise spraying operations.

Rotational flow field of a particle-laden fluid on a co-rotating disk

The particle-modified velocity field of a rotating particulate fluid on a co-rotating disk is studied. Unlike a clear fluid, which admits pure rigid-body rotation with a zero radial velocity component, it is shown here that an unbounded particle-laden fluid does not admit pure rigid-body rotation. An exact solution is given for an unbounded rotating particle-laden fluid, which contains a non-zero radial velocity component and cannot meet the no-slip boundary conditions on a disk co-rotating at the same angular velocity. Explicit leading-order solutions are derived for the particle-modified velocity field of a rotating particulate fluid on a co-rotating disk. It is shown that the disturbed radial and azimuthal velocities due to the co-rotating disk are oscillatory and decay exponentially with the distance from the disk, while the disturbed axial velocity approaches a constant at infinity. The derived formula is used to discuss the radial, azimuthal, and axial velocities of dispersed particles and their effects on the rotational flow of the rotating particle-laden fluid.

Recent Patents on Long Distance Pneumatic Conveying Technology

Background: Pneumatic conveying is the use of air flow energy to transport granular materials in the direction of airflow in a closed pipeline, which involves the disadvantages of low conveying efficiency and easy deposition of particles. Objective: It is necessary to develop pneumatic conveying devices to reduce particle deposition, promote particles to enter the flow field again to accelerate, and achieve the effect of extending the pneumatic conveying distance. Method: The anti-settling device re-accelerates the particles so that the particles return to the flow field, which effectively reduces the probability of settlement blockage of material particles during transportation. The pneumatic conveying pressurized separator uses a pot-shaped housing to generate an internal rotating flow field to screen particles, and the light dust adheres to the filter, reducing the possibility of pipeline dust explosion. Results: The anti-settling device can quickly replace the anti-settlement block according to the parameters of the conveying pipeline, which can effectively reduce the probability of settlement blockage of material particles during transportation. The pressurized separator can use the air compressor to cooperate with the return air pipe to effectively remove the dust in the pneumatic conveying pipe and carry out secondary pressurized transportation of the materials in the pneumatic conveying pipe, which improves the safety of pneumatic conveying. Conclusion: The above technology improves the efficiency of pneumatic conveying and gas utilization, enhances the speed of particle conveying, reduces particle settlement and collision, extends the distance of pneumatic conveying, and ensures the safety of pneumatic conveying and the feasibility of industrial applications.

Understanding of the asymmetric twin-stroll radial turbine under steady and pulsating inlet conditions

Utilize asymmetrical twin-scroll turbines (ATSTs) to achieve high-pressure exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) with a single scroll while optimizing the other scroll’s design for engine scavenging optimization. ATST performance prediction relies heavily on understanding the turbine flow mechanism, which always faces the challenge posed by time-dependent non-uniform intake. This paper studied its performance and flow field under steady and unsteady intake conditions for a production ATST. Firstly, the steady performance of the ATST with different asymmetries (ASYs) under different scroll pressure ratios (SPRs) is investigated via the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Results demonstrate that the distribution relationship between SPR and turbine flow parameter (MFP) has a certain symmetry based on SPR = 1. For efficiency, the imbalance of inlet conditions will lead to the reduction of turbine efficiency. Moreover, the ASY has little effect on the turbine’s efficiency under the condition of SPR = 1. Also, the unsteady CFD simulations are conducted under pulsating inlet conditions with different scroll averaged pressure ratios (SAPRs). The results show that the highest efficiency was achieved at an ASY of 0.5 under a SAPR of 1.2 conditions, and the maximum, minimum, and average efficiencies were 1.9%, 1.5%, and 0.9% higher than those at an ASY of 0.83. The turbine’s flow field at the optimal incidence angle point is analyzed. The secondary flow vortex in the volute of an ASY of 0.5 is more robust, and the volute outlet ‘s total pressure loss is more significant. However, a relatively good incidence angle is obtained at the rotor inlet, and the loss in the rotor flow field is more minor. Therefore, the turbine efficiency with an ASY of 0.5 is higher.

Study on the Influence of Different Slot Sizes on the Flow Field of Transonic Compressor Rotors

Blade slotting technology is an effective measure to improve the flow structure on the suction surface of a blade and enhance the performance of turbomachinery. To investigate the impact of various slot sizes on the flow field of a single-stage transonic compressor rotor, seven kinds of slot schemes were designed and calculated by numerical simulations. The results show that the above slotting schemes significantly enhance the stability margin of the compressor. In particular, the slotting scheme H9W3 increases the surge margin by 60.9% and slightly reduces peak efficiency by 0.3%, with an almost identical maximum pressure ratio. Slotting promotes high-energy fluid to generate jets from the slot located at the exit of the suction side, effectively controlling blade surface flow separation and reducing channel blockage. Square slots are more effective than elongated slots for controlling separation when using differently shaped slots with equal areas. Increasing slot area gradually decreases outlet total pressure at a constant aspect ratio. A slight increase in the overall blade load causes a backward shift in the front portion load.

Deep deoxidation of water in a miniaturized annular rotating device: Experimental investigation and machine learning modeling

Conventional gas–liquid devices exhibit limitations, including inadequate dispersion efficiency and significant backmixing, leading to low conversion and large equipment volume. Thus, a miniaturized annular rotating device (m-ARD) was proposed based on microscale effects and rotating flow field to achieve efficient gas–liquid mass transfer and high conversion. Nitrogen-oxygenated water was selected as the experimental system to evaluate the performance of the m-ARD. The gas–liquid flow characteristics were investigated. The analysis focused on examining the impact of different factors on deoxygenation efficiency. The deoxygenation performance was optimized and compared with different devices. The study found that the m-ARD enables a continuous counter-current gas–liquid flow mode, with superior mixing performance and a narrow residence time distribution. The deoxygenated water with an oxygen concentration as low as 0.14 ppm can be produced, with a volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLa) of 0.26 s−1, a theoretical stage value of 4.22, and a handling capacity of 30 mL/min under optimized experimental conditions. In addition, kLa was predicted using an artificial neural network model and showed good agreement with the simulated values. This work provides a promising reactor for chemical reactions that require high conversions.

Numerical investigation on the blade vortex interaction noise reduction using higher harmonic control

Accurately predicting the formation, evolution, and breakdown of helicopter blade tip vortex is crucial for simulating the Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) phenomenon. Firstly, the high-order Perturbed polynomial reconstructed Targeted Essentially Non-Oscillatory (TENO-P) scheme proposed by our research group is employed to improve the resolution of the helicopter rotor flowfield solver. The TENO-P scheme, building on the fifth-order TENO5 scheme, achieves one-order of accuracy improvement by adaptively adjusting the values of the free-parameter introduced by perturbed polynomial reconstruction. Subsequently, the AH-1 helicopter model rotor undergoing blade-vortex interaction is analyzed using the improved rotor flowfield solver and the Farassat-1A formula. The implementation of the TENO-P scheme notably enhances the resolution of the rotor flowfield solver in resolving the blade tip vortex structures, and the predicted noise results are in good agreement with the experimental data. Finally, the alteration of the BVI noise and its reduction mechanism of the AH-1 model rotor under different Higher Harmonic Controls (HHC) are analyzed. The findings show that the phase modulation margin increases with a decrease in harmonic order, and the noise reduction effect significantly improves as well. The negative component of the higher harmonic control is beneficial for reducing BVI noise while the positive component of the higher harmonic control exacerbates the BVI noise. The HHC reduces the collective pitch angle in the region where the tip vortex is about to be disturbed, decreasing the strength of the blade tip vortex in this region. This reduction weakens the strength of the parallel and near-parallel interaction on the advancing side, leads to the reduction of the positive peak impulsive of the BVI noise, and consequently lowers the intensity of the BVI noise.

Emphasizing on the envelope spectra of hydraulic turbomachinery vibration response towards cavitation diagnosis

Cavitation attracts the interest of engineers who target the better understanding of its complex physics and the development of efficient detection tools. This research explores the effectiveness of vibration-based indicators in the prompt and effective diagnosis of cavitation initiating in the rotating flow fields of turbomachinery. The indicators are derived from the envelope spectra estimated with the use of Hilbert Transform, Spectral Kurtosis and Cyclic Spectral Correlation algorithms and data acquired from two semi-open impellers. By utilizing a transparent casing, the onset of cavitation can be observed, enabling the establishment of reliable criteria for evaluating the new indicators. Also, their applicability is assessed across a wide range of flow-rate and suction pressure conditions and in two different geometries. The results demonstrate the consistent ability of the indicators to exploit the high frequency carrier information related with the resonances excited from bubble implosions, to promptly and efficiently detect the phenomenon.

Optimization and knowledge discovery of profiled end walls in a turbine stage at a low Reynolds number

To comprehensively explore flow control method of profiled end wall for turbine stage at low Reynolds numbers, a surrogate model optimization platform including non-uniform rational B-spline surface parameterization method, support vector regression, and improved chaos particle swarm optimization algorithm is integrated. Optimization designs have been carried out for stator profiled end walls, rotor profiled end wall, and combined end walls, respectively. The results indicate that under the constraint of the output power, the application of various profiled end wall design cases all can effectively improve the aerodynamic performance of the turbine stage. By organizing the flow field of downstream rotor, the profiled end wall of stator can significantly affect the stage efficiency. The flow control benefits of the profiled end wall of the rotor is from the obstruction of the cross migration of the pressure side leg of the horseshoe vortex. The application of profiled end wall on stator has the most practical engineering value. Self-organizing maps and Shapley methods are used to explore potential correlation information of aerodynamic parameters and summarize design experience. The sensitive design variables of profiled end walls are extracted. Based on the local controllability of NURBS surfaces, the regions that affect the stage efficiency are mainly concentrated in the middle of the stator passage, near the stator trailing edge and near the rotor leading edge. The regions with a significant impact on the output power of the turbine stage are near the trailing edge of the rotor and stator. The corresponding design rules of end walls modeling are summarized.

Influence of tunnel cone angle and lip deflection on the performance of coaxial twin propeller

Abstract To investigate the influence of the culvert cone angle and the angle of the mouth on the aerodynamic performance of the culvert coaxial twin rotor and its mechanism, the quasi-steady numerical simulation of the flow field of the culvert coaxial twin rotor under a hovering state was carried out based on the Reynolds mean Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation and the multiple reference coordinate system method (MRF). The influence of cone angle from -6° to 9° and lip deflection angle from -20° to 30° on the aerodynamic performance of coaxial double-rotors with ducted passages is analyzed. The results show that the contractile culvert can generate a large gain lift force, which is conducive to improving the aerodynamic efficiency of the system. The inward deflection of the lip obstructs the flow of air into the culvert, which will worsen the local aerodynamic environment and lead to serious air separation, increasing the power consumption of the system. However, the structure of the outward deflection of the lip (open culvert) better complies with the flow trend of air, helps to reduce aerodynamic interference, and improves the additional lift of the culvert, which is beneficial to improving the aerodynamic performance of the system.

Flow field and acoustic assessment of twin rotors in hover conditions

Flow field and acoustic assessment of twin rotors in hover conditions

Aerodynamic analysis of vertical axis wind turbines at various turbulent levels: Insights from 3D LES simulations

This study provides novel insights into the aerodynamic performance of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) in diverse turbulent environments using 3D large eddy simulations (LES). The research aims to understand how turbulence affects VAWT aerodynamics across different operational conditions, including varying wind speeds, tip speed ratios (TSRs), and turbulence intensities. Validation against wind tunnel test data from literature enhances the reliability of the findings. The study utilizes the consistent discrete random flow generation (CDRFG) technique to create homogeneous turbulence in the approaching flow. Through a detailed examination of the rotor aerodynamics and flow fields, critical insights are gained into the impact of turbulence on VAWT performance. The results highlight that local wind speed fluctuations influence the onset of dynamic stall, with turbulence significantly affecting lift forces, while having negligible effects on drag. Notably, fluctuations in the one-cycle power coefficient CP,sgl are primarily attributed to variations in lift. Furthermore, under turbulent conditions, substantial improvements in power performance are observed as wind speed increases from 5 m/s to 10 m/s, with minimal further enhancements at higher wind speeds. These findings contribute valuable insights for optimizing turbine design and operation, particularly in regions characterized by varying wind speeds and turbulence.

Coherent structures decomposition of internal flow in the double-suction centrifugal pump impeller

Abstract In order to understand the unsteady flow phenomenon of the centrifugal pump, the dynamic mode decomposition method (DMD) is introduced to extract the three-dimensional coherent structure of the rotating flow field in the impeller passage under three different working conditions of the double-suction centrifugal pump. The time series collection of flow field is constructed by CFD numerical simulation, and the approximate matrix characteristic parameters and different modal data are solved. The analysis results show that the position, form and spatial-temporal evolution of the coherent structure can be accurately captured by DMD method corresponding to a single frequency in the double suction pump. For the temporal evolution, the coherent structure corresponding to low frequency is the most stable and dominate the unsteady flow. For the spatial evolution, the coherent structure corresponding to even-fold rotational frequency mostly occurs near the pressure side of the blade at the outlet of the impeller, and the coherent structure corresponding to odd-fold rotational frequency is mostly located in the flow field inside the impeller or near the blade surface.

Continuous synthesis of calcium hydrogen phosphate dihydrate (DCPD) in an annular rotating flow loop reactor

The synthesis of calcium hydrogen phosphate dihydrate (DCPD) involves a gas–liquid-solid three-phase slurry system that poses challenges for precise control using traditional batch reactors to produce crystals with controlled morphologies and particle sizes. In this study, an annular rotating flow loop reactor (ARLR) was developed to continuously synthesize DCPD. The unique internal loop and annular rotating flow field of the reactor delivered exceptional plug-flow characteristics, ensuring that the obtained DCPD exhibited a controlled morphology and particle size. The morphology of DCPD was adjusted to be bowknot-shaped (BS) agglomerate crystals, reaching a length of 120 μm and a D50 size of 70 μm. The ARLR can achieve long-term stable operation with high-solid holdup slurries, outputting up to 125 g/h by maintaining precise and controllable flow and mixing conditions. Notably, ARLR marked a significant advancement in processing high-solid-holdup slurries, offering the adaptability to adjust the geometric design for various slurry systems and forecasting promising prospects.

Bubble Growth on Hydrophobic Rough Surfaces in the Shear Flow.

It is well known that bubbles will form on a hydrophobic rough surface immersed in water, which can create a surface covered with bubbles and leads to drag reduction. However, it is still not clear how bubbles grow on the surface under flow conditions. In this work, a rotating flow field is created using a parallel-plate setup of a rotational rheometer, and sample surfaces with different roughnesses and wettabilities are examined with different shear rates. The growth of bubbles is exclusively observed on the hydrophobic rough surface, and subsequent drag reduction is also detected simultaneously. The growth of bubbles is attributed to heterogeneous nucleation in the crevices under a local pressure reduction generated by the shear flow. A geometric model is established to describe the profile evolution of the trapped bubble in the crevice based on the contact angle and the pressure balance across the gas-liquid interface, which involves the variations of the Laplace pressure resulting from changes in the local liquid pressure. The growth of bubbles on the hydrophobic rough surface does not need a large decrease of the surrounding pressure or a high moving speed, which will have potential applications in drag reduction under the condition of a moderate shear rate.

Applicability analysis of burners arrangement for an improved entrained-flow fine slag gasifier

Fine slag with high carbon content is unsuitable for brick-making or road paving and is usually deposited in piles or landfills. The atmospheric entrained-flow gasification technology can make use of the unburned carbon in fine slag, thereby resolving the problem of wasted resources and environmental pollution caused by waste fine slag. The arrangement of burners has an impact on the flow field within the gasifier, which subsequently affects the gasification performance. It is important to find a suitable burner arrangement for different gasification raw materials. This study investigates the gas–solid flow characteristics in 10,000 Nm3/h fine slag entrained-flow gasifiers using a combination of two-phase experiments and numerical simulations. The flow fields were compared in detail for three different burner arrangements. The results indicate a clear central tangent circle under the co-biased burner arrangement, which leads to the highest particle concentration and swirl intensity near the membrane wall. This condition is most conducive to slag formation. No rotating flow field is generated in the gasifier under the opposed and counter-biased burner arrangements. The high-temperature region is located near the top of the chamber. Additionally, the residence time of fine slag is short. These factors make it unsuitable for powder gasification. The results will be helpful to the design and operation of entrained-flow powder-feedstock gasifiers with multiple burners.

Large eddy simulation of end effects on a cylinder rotor

Due to the limited length of cylinders, their use in practical engineering inevitably involves end effects, which results in three-dimensional flows at the ends of cylinders. These flow fields are the main factor influencing the aerodynamic and flow field characteristics of cylinders. Regarding a finite-length cylinder rotor, a specific pattern of tip vortices will form under the action of rotation, resulting in notable differences in the aerodynamic characteristics between an ideal two-dimensional cylinder and a finite-length cylindrical rotor. In the present study, the large eddy simulation method is used to systematically investigate cylinder rotors with various aspect ratios. By analyzing the sectional aerodynamic and flow field characteristics, the variation laws of the aerodynamic force, wind pressure, and flow field characteristics of cylinder rotors under the influence of end effects were summarized. The results show that the influence range and intensity of the tip vortices on the rotor flow field and sectional aerodynamic characteristics are dominated by the dimensionless rotating speed, which in turn affects the range of the end effects. The development trend of the tip vortices is analyzed and discussed from multiple aspects, including sectional aerodynamics, the pressure coefficient, and the flow correlation, and an attempt is made to explain changes in the phenomenon.

Vortex flow induced self-assembly in CsPbI3 rods leads to an improved electrical response towards external analytes.

We present a facile and versatile strategy for enabling CsPbI3 rods to self-assemble at an air-water interface. The CsPbI3 rods, which float at the air-water interface, align under the influence of the rotational flow field due to the vortex motion of a water subphase. The aligned CsPbI3 rods could be transferred onto various substrates without involving any sophisticated instrumentation. The temperature of the subphase, the concentration of the CsPbI3 aliquot, the rotational speed inducing vortex motion, and the lift-off position and angle of the substrate were optimized to achieve high coverage of the self-assembled rods of CsPbI3 on glass. The Rietveld refinement of the XRD profile confirms that the aligned CsPbI3 is in the pure orthorhombic phase ascribed to the Pnma space group. The hydrophilic carboxylic group of the oleic acid attaches to the Pb atoms of the halide perovskite rods, while their hydrophobic tails encapsulate the rods within their shell, creating a shielding barrier between the water and the perovskite surface like a reverse micelle. The aligned CsPbI3 rods exhibit a nearly 47-fold increment in current upon exposure to ammonia gas (amounting to 5.6 times higher sensitivity in ammonia sensing) compared to the non-aligned CsPbI3 rods.

Radiated waves and rotational flows generated by cylindrical Oscillating Water Columns

This paper is concerned with the radiated wave and the rotational flow fields generated by the forced oscillations of the water columns within surface-piercing hollow cylinders. The present study utilised Open Foam as the viscous flow solver to numerically model the forced oscillations. An investigation of the radiated waves in the fields near the water columns confirms two distinct nonlinear characteristics. These are progressively reduced amplitude and progressively reduced phase difference. An evaluation of the rotational flow fields around the mouths of the water columns helps explain their origins. This study confirms that the nonlinear characteristics in the near-field are physically caused by the formation and motion of vortex ring at the bottom edge of the cylinder. Interestingly, the progressively reduced amplitude is not evident in the far-field. All these new findings support the confirmation regarding the appropriateness of linear radiation theory and the implication of the vortex motion on the effective draft of a fixed cylindrical Oscillating Water Column (OWC).

Simulation Study on the Influence of Different Molten Steel Temperatures on Inclusion Distribution under Dual-Channel Induction-Heating Conditions.

Impurity elimination in tundishes is an essential metallurgical function in continuous casting. If inclusions in a tundish cannot be effectively removed, their presence will have a serious impact on the quality of the bloom. As a result, this research investigates the locations of inclusion particles in a six-strand induction-heating tundish in depth, combining the flow, temperature, and inclusion trajectories of molten steel under electromagnetic fields. The results show that a pinch effect occurred in the induction-heating tundish, and a rotating magnetic field formed in the channel, with a maximum value of 0.158 T. The electromagnetic force was directed toward the center of the axis, and its numerical distribution corresponds to the magnetic flux density distribution, with a maximum value of 2.11 × 105 N/m3. The inclusion particles' movement speed accelerated as the molten steel's temperature rose, and their distribution in the channel was identical to the rotating flow field distribution. When the steel's temperature rose from 1750 K to 1850 K, the removal percentage of inclusion particles in the discharge chamber rose by 9.20%, the removal rate at the outlet decreased from 8.00% to 3.00%, and the adhesion percentage of inclusion particles in the channel decreased from 48.40% to 44.40%.