Specific Flow Patterns Research Articles

Influence of flow field on sedimentation efficiency in a circular settling tank with peripheral inflow and central effluent

The paper presents an experimental study of suspension flow patterns and velocity field inside a circular settling tank with continuous operation. Research was focused on the impact of a specific flow pattern on the sedimentation efficiency of the prototype settling tank. The latter differed from a common circular settling tank in that it was peripherally fed and had the central draw-off. Experiment was carried out on a settling tank section made of plexiglass and represented a radial slice of a prototype settling tank. The flow field and local suspension concentration was determined by computer-aided visualization. Sedimentation efficiency was assessed relatively by comparison of the amount of settled particles (sludge height measurements) between different types of flow in a certain time period of the settling tank operation. Results showed that there were two types of flow in the settling tank that were initiated by a horizontal or vertical inflow from the distribution ring. The type of inflow (horizontal or vertical) was a function of the suspension height in the settling tank. Significant differences in sedimentation efficiency were observed between both types of flow, particularly at lower inlet suspension concentrations. Horizontal inflow proved to be less efficient in terms of settling.

Insight into the patterns of cerebrospinal fluid flow in the human ventricular system using MR velocity mapping

The patterns of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow within the human ventricular system are still not fully understood in all their complexity. Knowledge is based on either the interpretation of CSF flow curves or computational simulations. Both approaches only provide an incomplete insight into the spatial and temporal dynamics of CSF flow. Time-resolved three-dimensional magnetic resonance velocity mapping has previously been used to investigate normal and pathologic blood flow patterns in the human vascular system. Here we used this technique to study the spatial and temporal dynamics of CSF flow in the ventricular system of 40 normal volunteers. Classification of the patterns of CSF flow based on calculation of three-dimensional particle path lines over the cardiac cycle revealed one uniform flow pattern for the lateral ventricles, three categories for the third and two categories for the fourth ventricle. We found no significant aging effects on either the presence of a specific CSF flow pattern or on CSF flow velocities. Our results provide the first detailed demonstration of the patterns of CSF flow within the human ventricular system.

Analysis of Heat Flow Around Bolted Joints and Variations of Axial Bolt Force

A bolted joint is widely used for the structures and machines subjected to thermal load, such as pressure vessels, internal combustion engines, brake disks, etc. In order to accurately evaluate the thermal stresses thus produced, the effect of thermal contact resistance at the interface and the heat flow through small gaps, which exist around the objective bolted joint, must be taken into account. In this paper, a numerical approach is proposed to solve the mechanical and thermal behaviors of bolted joints with high accuracy and computation efficiency, where empirical equations for thermal contact coefficient and apparent thermal contact coefficient are incorporated into commercial engineering software. By conducting systematic three-dimensional finite element analyses, it has been quantitatively elucidated how the supplied heat flows through each part of a bolted joint and how the axial bolt stress and bolt bending stress vary with time. It is concluded that bolted joints made of the materials with low thermal conductivity show specific heat flow patterns around the bolted joint and generate a large amount of variations in both axial bolt stress and bolt bending stress.

Self-Organization of Nanoparticle Chains Using Oriented Poly(tetrafluoroethylene) Substrate

We found a novel self-organization phenomenon leading to formation of oriented one-dimensional assemblies of nanoparticles, namely nanoparticle chains. A friction-transferred poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (FT-PTFE) substrate was prepared by sliding a PTFE rod on a glass slide at elevated temperature. The nanoparticle chains were spontaneously formed in a drying drop of colloidal solution on the FT-PTFE substrate. The resulting gold nanoparticle chains showed dichroism on far-field optical observation, which was attributable to the anisotropic near-field optical interactions. Real-time polarizing light microscopy observations during the formation of the nanoparticle chains revealed that the chains were formed in the liquid phase. A specific flow pattern that was induced by convection of the colloidal solution between the basal glass slide and the FT-PTFE film was supposed to be responsible for the formation of the nanoparticle chains along with the interparticle cohesive force.

Two-Phase Flow Patterns and Flow-Pattern Maps: Fundamentals and Applications

A comprehensive review of the studies of gas-liquid two-phase flow patterns and flow-pattern maps at adiabatic and diabatic conditions is presented in this paper. Especially, besides other situations, this review addresses the studies on microscale channels, which are of great interest in recent years. First, a fundamental knowledge of two-phase flow patterns and their application background is briefly introduced. The features of two-phase flow patterns and flow-pattern maps at adiabatic and diabatic conditions are reviewed, including recent studies for ammonia, new refrigerants, and CO2. Then, fundamental studies of gas-liquid flow patterns and flow-pattern maps are presented. In the experimental context, studies of flow patterns and flow-pattern maps in macro- and microscale channels, across tube bundles, at diabatic and adiabatic conditions, under microgravity and in complex channels are summarized. In addition, studies on highly viscous Newtonian fluids (non-Newtonian fluids are beyond the scope of this review) are also mentioned. In the theoretical context, modeling of flow-regime transitions, specific flow patterns, stability, and interfacial shear is reviewed. Next, flow-pattern-based heat transfer and pressure drop models and heat transfer models for specific flow patterns such as slug flow and annular flow are reviewed. Based on this review, recommendations for future research directions have been given.

Multiple quasi-steady states in a closed loop pulsating heat pipe

The novel fact that, keeping all the operating and boundary conditions fixed, a single loop pulsating heat pipe exhibits multiple operational quasi-steady states is reported in this paper. For a specified heat power input level and volumetric filling ratio, continuous online measurements of static pressure and temperature at crucial locations, along with flow visualization, have been carried out for more than twelve hours per experimental run of device operation. Four distinct quasi-steady states have been observed in these experimental runs. Each quasi-steady state is characterized by a unique specific two-phase flow pattern and corresponding effective device conductance, revealing the strong thermo-hydrodynamic coupling guiding the thermal performance. The quasi-steady state corresponding to best thermal performance consists of continuous unidirectional flow circulations, while the state corresponding to poor thermal performance is characterized by the intermittent bidirectional flow reversals. A temporal scaling analysis is presented to estimate the order of magnitude of the equilibrium frequency of phase change and ensuing oscillations. These order-of-magnitude estimates closely match with the experimentally observed frequencies. The spectral contents of each quasi-steady state are analyzed and it is found that dominant frequencies of flow oscillations are in the range of 0.1 to 3.0 Hz with each quasi-steady state exhibiting a characteristic power spectrum. This provides the necessary velocity scaling estimates, primary information needed for any progress in design of pulsating heat pipes.

Evidence of strong lateral inhomogeneous structure beneath SE Carpathians and specific mantle flow patterns

The Vrancea region, in the South-Eastern Carpathians (Romania), represents a unique case among the seismic areas in the world taking into account the extreme concentration and persistence of seismicity and tectonic stress field. Our goal is to show that the particular shape of attenuation and shear wave splitting properties can be interpreted in the light of the decoupling and slab retreat processes, which hypothetically induce a specific configuration of the upper mantle flow. Delamination and break-off processes combined with retrograde motion of the slab imply lateral asymmetry in flow geometry and geotectonic properties. Particularly relevant is the strike-parallel flow localized in front of the downgoing slab, in contrast with the steeply dip flow along the slab in the back side. The local upper mantle flows around the descending seismic active body explains the contrast of the seismic wave attenuation in the back-arc region against fore-arc region and the strong anisotropy anomaly observed in the South-East Carpathians (time delays of 1.5–2 s). Outside the epicentral area, the coherent pattern of the shear wave splitting follows the trends of the deformation field as outlined by the GPS measurements, in favour of a strong coupling between the surface and mantle processes.

Sludge Dewatering and Aggregate Formation Effects through Taylor Vortex Assisted Flocculation

For polymer induced flocculation processes, the effects of flow patterns in a gap of a conical stirrer on aggregate formation and subsequent sludge dewatering efficiency were analysed. Different flow regimes were identified by lab scale investigations with model substances and summarized in a Ta and Re number plane. An enhancement of sludge dewaterability for polymer induced flocculation processes was identified through post‐treatment of flocculated sludge aggregates by the specific flow pattern of stable and wavy Taylor vortices. Photo‐optical image analysis of flocculated aggregates shows a clear change of aggregate size distribution with less small particles during aggregate forming by Taylor vortices compared to classical flocculation procedure by stirrer. Results from technical scale dewatering analyses confirmed enhancement of sludge dewatering efficiency for six different dewatering machines using the identified wavy and stable Taylor vortex flow pattern regime.

Analysis of Heat Flow Around Bolted Joints and Variations of Axial Bolt Force

A bolted joint is frequently used for the structures and machines subjected to thermal load, such as internal combustion engines, pressure vessels, brake disks, etc. In order to accurately evaluate the thermal stresses thus produced, the effect of thermal contact resistance at the interface and the heat flow through small gaps, which exist around the objective bolted joint, must be taken into account. In this paper, a numerical approach with high accuracy and computation efficiency is proposed, where empirical equation for thermal contact coefficient and apparent thermal contact coefficient are incorporated into commercial engineering software. By conducting systematic three-dimensional FE analyses, it is quantitatively elucidated how the supplied heat flows through each part of a bolted joint and how the axial bolt stress and bolt bending stress vary with time. It is concluded that bolted joints made of the materials with low thermal conductivity show specific heat flow patterns around the bolted joint and generate a large amount of variations in axial bolt stress and bolt bending stress.

Rarefied gas flow in concentric annular tube: Estimation of the Poiseuille number and the exact hydraulic diameter

The fully developed flow of rarefied gases through circular ducts of concentric annular cross sections is solved via kinetic theory. The flow is due to an externally imposed pressure gradient in the longitudinal direction and it is simulated by the BGK kinetic equation, subject to Maxwell diffuse-specular boundary conditions. The approximate principal of the hydraulic diameter is investigated for first time in the field of rarefied gas dynamics. For the specific flow pattern, in addition to the flow rates, results are reported for the Poiseuille number and the exact hydraulic diameter. The corresponding parameters include the whole range of the Knudsen number and various values of the accommodation coefficient and the ratio of the inner over the outer radius. The accuracy of the results is validated in several ways, including the recovery of the analytical solutions at the hydrodynamic and free molecular limits.

The effect of distributor configuration on the hydrodynamics of the teetered bed separator

The teetered bed separator (TBS) is a gravity concentration device which operates on the principle of hindered settling. The hydrodynamics of the separator and fundamental particle interactions in the teeter bed were investigated for a two phase liquid–solid system with the coal particles of a wide size and density distribution considered as multiple solid phases. Seven distributor plates of varying aperture size and geometric arrangement were considered. The flow behaviour was predicted using the Multiphase Eulerian and Mixture Model in the commercial CFD package, Fluent 6.1. The simulations gave an indication of the dead zones, turbulent regions, wall effects and the specific flow pattern due to each plate. The model may be used to predict the most appropriate distributor configuration for the separation process based on the flow patterns and particle interactions in the unit. A laboratory scale TBS was constructed to investigate the separations achievable using the simulated designs. Coal particles sized between 2 and 0.038 mm with a specific gravity (SG) range of 1.2–2.0 were used as the material to separate. Partition curves were plotted for the separations carried out under modeled conditions and the Ecart probable ( E p) and cut point density ( D 50) obtained. The simulations and experimental testwork indicated that Plate 3 may be the most appropriate distributor configuration for the investigated conditions due to the even velocity profile with minimum flow disturbances experienced in the coal separation process.

Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography to confirm brain death: a meta-analysis

Barbiturate therapy or hypothermia precludes proper diagnosis of brain death either clinically or by EEG. Specific intracranial flow patterns indicating cerebral circulatory arrest (CCA) can be visualized by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD). The aim of this study was to assess the validity of TCD in confirming brain death. Meta-analysis of studies assessing the validity of TCD in confirming brain death. A systematic review of articles in English on the diagnosis brain death by TCD, published between 1980 and 2004, was performed. An oscillating or reverberating flow and systolic spikes were considered to be compatible with CCA. The quality of each study was assessed using standardized methodological criteria. The literature was searched for any article reporting a false-positive result. Two high-quality and eight low-quality studies were included. Meta-analysis of the two high-quality studies showed a sensitivity of 95% (95% CI 92-97%) and a specificity of 99% (95% CI 97-100%) to detect brain death. Meta-analysis of all ten studies showed a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 99%. In the literature we found two false-positive results; however, in both patients brain-stem function did show brain death shortly thereafter. CCA by TCD in the anterior and posterior circulation predicted fatal brain damage in all patients; therefore, TCD can be used to determine the appropriate moment for angiography. Further research is needed to demonstrate that CCA by TCD on repeated examination can also predict brain death in all patients.

Summertime aerosol chemical components in the marine boundary layer of the Arctic Ocean

Samples of aerosols from the marine boundary layer of the Arctic Ocean were collected aboard the R/V Xuelong during summer on the Second Chinese Arctic Research Expedition (July–September 2003). Synchrotron radiation X‐ray fluorescence (SR‐XRF) was used to determine chemical compositions of aerosol particles. Multivariate analysis of the SR‐XRF data resolved a number of components (factors), which, on the basis of their chemical compositions and from their affiliation with specific meteorological flow patterns, were assigned physical meanings. Five factors explaining 94.7% of the total variance were identified. Ship emissions accounted for 35.3% of the variance (factor 1 (F1)) and are loaded significantly with S, Fe, V, and Ni. The total Fe emitted from ships globally was estimated at 8.60 × 106 kg yr−1. Heavy‐metal‐rich factors included 34.0% of the variance (F2 and F3) and were interpreted to be pollution carried into the Arctic Ocean by long‐range transport. Anthropogenic contributions from industrial regions to the Arctic Ocean during the summer vary and depend on the source locations. Air mass backward trajectories indicate that the metals including Hg, Pb, Cu, and Zn come mainly from northern Russia. The third source controlling the chemical compositions of aerosols was sea salt (F4, 12.8%). The role of sea salt decreased from the open sea to areas near pack ice. On the basis of the factor scores of aerosol samples, we infer that chlorine volatilization from sea salt may occur, enhanced by nitrogen and sulfur contamination emitted from ships. Because the global inventories of nitrogen and sulfur for ship exhausts are large, and halogens could have important consequences in possible tropospheric ozone destruction, the role of ships in influencing halogen depression in sea salt should be further investigated. Finally, we also identified a crustal factor (F5, 12.6%) and suggest that crustal elements (e.g., Ca) contaminating sea ice may become reinjected into the atmosphere as windblown aerosols.

Shear and skin friction on particles in power-law fluids agitated by flat-blade and fluid foil impellers

The shear rates that exert angular deformation on spherical particles have been measured. The particles are mimiced by a spherical probe. The probe has been immersed in various impeller-agitated power law fluids. The fluids are aqueous dispersions of polymers, e.g. CMC, xanthan gum and starch. The probe has been positioned in various points of a stirred vessel and at various angles. Angle-averaged shear rate distributions were produced. The distributions obtained are characteristic for the specific impeller flow patterns. The flow patterns have been identified by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Two types of impellers representative for the flat and the fluid-foil blade design, i.e., a Rushton flat-blade turbine (RT) and a Narcissus impeller (NS) are studied. The effects of rheological properties and blade design on the ‘shear-rate-on-particles’ distribution are examined. The local shear field non-uniformity has been uncovered and compared in terms of the CFD-generated time-averaged velocity and deformation rate profiles. The ‘shear-rate-on-particles’ distribution apart from the impeller is found to follow qualitatively the time-averaged inner flow shear rate distribution. Referring to impeller speed 5–12.5Hz, the dimensionless wall shear rate varied between 200 and 1000. In power law fluids, the shear rate on particles decreased up to 50%. The fluid-foil NS-generated shear field was found comparable to the shear field induced by conventional flat-blade turbines and appeared in cases less sensitive to polymer presence. The shear rate produced by the fluid-foil impeller in the highly shear-thinning model solution (n∼0.4) exceeded the flat-blade RT-imposed shear rate. The analysis has been extended to skin friction drag on particles. It is shown that, while exerting an undoubtedly greater angular deformation in water-like fluids, in polymer presence the conventional flat-blade turbine introduces a flow geometry that imposes particle drag that is close or in some cases even less than the one generated by the fluid-foil impeller. The fact implies a weak shape effect of radial turbines on shear-sensitive particles or particle dispersions in power law liquids.

The impact of multihop wireless channel on TCP performance

This paper studies TCP performance in a stationary multihop wireless network using IEEE 802.11 for channel access control. We first show that, given a specific network topology and flow patterns, there exists an optimal window size W* at which TCP achieves the highest throughput via maximum spatial reuse of the shared wireless channel. However, TCP grows its window size much larger than W* leading to throughput reduction. We then explain the TCP throughput decrease using our observations and analysis of the packet loss in an overloaded multihop wireless network. We find out that the network overload is typically first signified by packet drops due to wireless link-layer contention, rather than buffer overflow-induced losses observed in the wired Internet. As the offered load increases, the probability of packet drops due to link contention also increases, and eventually saturates. Unfortunately the link-layer drop probability is insufficient to keep the TCP window size around W'*. We model and analyze the link contention behavior, based on which we propose link RED that fine-tunes the link-layer packet dropping probability to stabilize the TCP window size around W*. We further devise adaptive pacing to better coordinate channel access along the packet forwarding path. Our simulations demonstrate 5 to 30 percent improvement of TCP throughput using the proposed two techniques.

Open-surface MHD flow over a curved wall in the 3-D thin-shear-layer approximation

3-D thin-shear-layer equations for flows of conducting fluids in a magnetic field have been derived in orthogonal body-oriented coordinates and then applied to the analysis of MHD open-surface flows over a curved wall. Unlike the classic boundary-layer-type equations, present ones permit information to be propagated upstream through the induced magnetic field. Another departure from the classic theory is that the normal momentum equation keeps the balance between the pressure gradient term, and those related to gravity, centrifugal forces, and Lorentz force. Thus, the normal pressure variations are allowed. The model describes basic 3-D effects due to the wall curvature and spatial variations of the applied magnetic field. As a particular case, equations for flows with rotational symmetry have been derived. Numerical calculations were performed for open-surface flows over a body of revolution under conditions relevant to a fusion reactor (Hartmann number is 8500). Some specific flow patterns, such as flow thickening and spiral-type flows, have been observed and discussed. A special attention has been paid to the analysis of the magnetic propulsion as a tool for the active flow control by applying an electric current. It has been shown that depending on the applied current, the axial pressure gradient can act as an adverse pressure gradient or propulsion force.

Proposal for a quantitative description of blood spiral flow in medical devices.

The association between specific blood flow patterns and blood behaviour through medical devices suggests that a Lagrangian study may be a useful instrument for the evaluation of the thrombogenic and/or hemolytic potential of certain devices' geometries and biomaterials. In this study a description of blood particle trajectories in terms of their spiral contents is proposed; such a mathematical description for blood spiral flow, computed along several pathlines, is tested for a quantitative determination of the spiralled motion of blood flow into two three-dimensional numerical models, having different design characteristics, of venous cannula inserted in a vessel. As the influence of vortical flow conditions have been observed to have both beneficial and detrimental influence on blood behaviour in terms of blood-device interaction, of the degradation of its components, and of the efficiency of mass-exchange (in red cells oxygenation and plasma filtration, for example), the herein proposed method for the description of spiral laminar motion may be a helpful instrument to build up a tool to investigate, for example, the existence of correlations between level of spiral flow and geometry (as in the present investigated test case), rather than the effects of blood-surface contact. The results obtained in this test case investigation, confirm the effectiveness of the proposed function for a quantitative analysis of spiral flow in medical devices.

Using Motion to Visualize Flow Facilitates Monitoring in Process Control

In this experiment, we examined the use of motion in displays to illustrate power transactions in a large-scale electrical power network. Participants located and selected the selling and buying nodes for a single power transaction in each trial based on patterns in power flow between the nodes in the network, and they designated an arbitrary power flow path from the seller to the buyer in trials where they were not directly connected. Participants performed the tasks using interactive displays indicating power flow with stationary arrows, arrows moving at a uniform speed, and arrows moving at a speed proportional to power flow. The two motion displays supported faster selection times, fewer errors, and lower workload than the no-motion display. Selection times and error rates were slightly lower in the proportional-motion display than in the uniform-motion display, but the differences were not significant. These results indicate that motion used in displays to indicate flow among system components can significantly improve performance in tasks that require detection of specific flow patterns.

Contrast media-enhanced power Doppler sonography for evaluation of hemangiomas and malignant tumors in the liver.

To evaluate the characterization of liver hemangiomas and malignant tumors using power Doppler sonography before and after intravenous injection of a sonocontrast agent. Forty-five patients with 57 liver tumors (22 hemangiomas, 24 metastases, 10 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) and one cholangiocellular carcinoma) were examined prospectively. The distribution (peripheral, central, mosaic) and extent (none, minimal, moderate and strong) of intratumoral flow pattern in each sonographic examination was subjectively classified. The administration of the sonocontrast agent by bolus injection caused enhancement to gradually increase up to 2 min and lasted for 4-5 min. After injection of contrast agent, flow signals appeared or increased in 34 tumors. No signal enhancement was observed in 18 hemangiomas, four metastases and one HCC. The sensitivity and specificity of intratumoral vascularity for the detection of malignant liver tumors was 37.1 and 90.9% for unenhanced power Doppler sonography, and 85.7 and 81.8% for contrast-enhanced power Doppler sonography, respectively. Contrast-enhanced power Doppler sonography is superior to unenhanced power Doppler sonography in the demonstration of malignant tumor vascularity, and is helpful in differentiating between hemangiomas and malignant liver tumors. A specific flow pattern within the tumor is not established in primary and metastatic malignant tumors with contrast-enhanced power Doppler sonography.

Diagnosing Brain Death Using the Transcranial Doppler With a Transorbital Approach

Transcranial Doppler is a sensitive instrument for the diagnosis of brain death. The guidelines for the determination of brain death include the demonstration of specific blood flow patterns in the anterior and posterior circulation systems. A limitation of this method is the frequent false finding of no flow, especially when using the transtemporal approach in older women. To evaluate the efficacy of the transorbital approach in the diagnosis of brain death using transcranial Doppler. A prospective controlled, diagnostic test study was performed. Transorbital, transtemporal, and transforaminal approaches were used. Fifty-seven patients (29 men and 28 women; mean +/- SD age, 68.2 +/- 12.1 years) with clinically determined brain death were examined. In 45 patients, oscillatory flow or systolic spikes were found in all approaches. In 4 patients, no flow was detected. In 6 patients, oscillatory flow or systolic spikes were found in 2 approaches, including the transorbital one. In 2 patients, a positive finding was demonstrated only using the transorbital approach. Using the transorbital approach, the percentage of positive findings with definitive diagnoses of brain death rose from 79% to 88%. The transorbital approach is a useful addition for the diagnosis of brain death, using the transcranial Doppler technique.