Development of Swirling Flow in a Rod Bundle Subchannel

2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (3) ◽  
pp. 747-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather L. McClusky ◽  
Mary V. Holloway ◽  
Donald E. Beasley ◽  
Michael E. Conner

Experimental measurements of the axial development of swirling flow in a rod bundle subchannel are presented. Swirling flow was introduced in the subchannel from a split vane pair located on the downstream edge of the support grid. Particle image velocimetry using an optical borescope yielded full-field lateral velocity data. Lateral flow fields and axial vorticity fields at axial locations ranging from 4.2 to 25.5 hydraulic diameters downstream of the support grid were examined for a Reynolds number of 2.8×104. The lateral velocity fields show that the swirling flow was initially centered in the subchannel. As the flow developed in the axial direction, the swirling flow migrated away from the center of the subchannel. Radial distributions of azimuthal velocity and circulation are presented relative to the centroid of vorticity, and are compared to that of a Lamb-Oseen vortex. The angular momentum decreased as the flow developed in the axial direction. The spatial decay rate of the angular momentum is compared to that of decaying, swirling flow in a pipe.

Author(s):  
Mary V. Holloway ◽  
Heather L. McClusky ◽  
Donald E. Beasley

The present experimental study investigates the interaction and downstream development of two localized swirling flow structures created using a tangential injection method. A swirl generator is placed at the inlet of a 52.1 mm diameter pipe. The swirl generator consists of two swirl chambers with inner diameters of 23.8 mm. Each swirl chamber has a design swirl number of 7.14. Water is injected into each swirl chamber by two tangential injection ports. The injection ports are tangent to the swirl chamber and perpendicular to the axis of the pipe. The two co-rotating vortices created in the swirl generator interact freely within the pipe downstream of the swirl generator. The objective of the present study is to document the interaction between the two vortices and the downstream development of the flow. Lateral velocity fields are obtained using particle image velocimetry (PIV). Time-averaged lateral velocity fields and tangential velocity profiles are presented for several axial locations downstream of the swirl generator. Reynolds numbers of 11,000 and 17,000 are investigated. Results document the streamwise development and interaction between the two co-rotating vortices created by tangential injection. As the two swirling structures develop in the streamwise direction, three different types of flow patterns are identified. The first consists of two distinct swirling flow structures. Further downstream of the swirl chamber, the two swirling structures merge and form a single swirling flow structure with an elliptic core. In the third flow pattern, the center core of the swirling flow has a circular shape.


2011 ◽  
Vol 670 ◽  
pp. 214-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. J. van JAARSVELD ◽  
A. P. C. HOLTEN ◽  
A. ELSENAAR ◽  
R. R. TRIELING ◽  
G. J. F. van HEIJST

This study is concerned with the effect of external turbulence on the decay of vortices. Single vortices and vortex pairs were generated with wing(s) mounted in the sidewalls of a wind tunnel. The distance between the two vortices could be adjusted such that they just touched each other or overlapped. The intensity of the turbulence could be controlled with a turbulence grid. The development of the vortex was measured at a number of downstream stations with particle image velocimetry for a range of wing settings. The results indicate that the single vortex can be described by the ‘two length scales’ model of Jacquin, Fabre & Geffroy (AIAA, vol. 1038, 2001, p. 1). A vortex core, which decays like a Lamb–Oseen vortex, is embedded in a region with an almost constant radius and a much lower azimuthal velocity that obeys a ~r−β power law, with r being the radius measured from the vortex centre. For the turbulence levels and the test section length used in this study, the single-vortex behaviour is independent of the external turbulence and in contrast with the decay of the vortex pair that strongly depends on the external turbulence. In the initial stages of the vortex pair evolution, the vortices decay due to cancellation of vorticity at the symmetry plane. At a later stage, Crow oscillations are observed, followed by a breakdown of the vortices. This vortex breakdown might be due to direct turbulent action. The observed behaviour is in agreement with the theoretical model of Crow & Bate (J. Aircraft, vol. 13, 1976, p. 476).


2018 ◽  
Vol 856 ◽  
pp. 288-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gopalsamy Muthiah ◽  
Arnab Samanta

We investigate the existence of short-time, local transient growth in the helical modes of a rapidly swirling, high-speed jet that has transitioned into an axisymmetric bubble breakdown state. The time-averaged flow consisting of the bubble and its wake downstream constitute the base state, which we show to exhibit strong transient amplification owing to the non-modal behaviour of the continuous eigenspectrum. A pseudospectrum analysis mathematically identifies the so-called potential modes within this continuous spectrum and the resultant non-orthogonality between these modes and the existing discrete stable modes is shown to be the main contributor to such growth. As the swirling flow develops post the collapsed bubble, the potential spectrum moves further toward the unstable half-plane, which along with the concurrent weakening of exponential growth from the discrete unstable modes, increases the dynamic importance of transient growth inside the wake region. The transient amplifications calculated at several locations inside the bubble and wake confirm this, where strong growths inside the wake far outstrip the corresponding modal growths (if available) at shorter times, but especially at the higher helical orders and smaller streamwise wavenumbers. The corresponding optimal perturbations at initial times consist of streamwise streaks of azimuthal velocity, which if concentrated inside the core vortical region, unfold via the classical Orr mechanism to yield structures resembling core (or viscous) Kelvin waves of the corresponding Lamb–Oseen vortex. However, in contrast to that in Lamb–Oseen vortex flow, where critical-layer waves are associated with higher transient gains, here, such core Kelvin modes with the more compact spiral structure at the vortex core are seen to yield the maximum transient amplifications.


Author(s):  
Mary V. Holloway ◽  
Donald E. Beasley ◽  
Michael E. Conner

The fluid dynamics for turbulent flow through rod bundles representative of those used in pressurized water reactors is examined using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The rod bundles of the pressurized water reactor examined in this study consist of a square array of parallel rods that are held on a constant pitch by support grids spaced axially along the rod bundle. Split-vane pair support grids are often used to create swirling flow in the rod bundle in an effort to improve the heat transfer characteristics for the rod bundle during both normal operating conditions and in accident condition scenarios. Computational fluid dynamics simulations for a two subchannel portion of the rod bundle were used to model the flow downstream of a split-vane pair support grid. A high quality computational mesh was used to investigate the choice of turbulence model appropriate for the complex swirling flow in the rod bundle subchannels. Results document a central swirling flow structure in each of the subchannels downstream of the split-vane pairs. Strong lateral flows along the surface of the rods, as well as impingement regions of lateral flow on the rods are documented. In addition, regions of lateral flow separation and low axial velocity are documented next to the rods. Results of the CFD are compared to experimental particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements documenting the lateral flow structures downstream of the split-vane pairs. Good agreement is found between the computational simulation and experimental measurements for locations close to the support grid.


2021 ◽  
pp. 039139882110130
Author(s):  
Guang-Mao Liu ◽  
Fu-Qing Jiang ◽  
Xiao-Han Yang ◽  
Run-Jie Wei ◽  
Sheng-Shou Hu

Blood flow inside the left ventricle (LV) is a concern for blood pump use and contributes to ventricle suction and thromboembolic events. However, few studies have examined blood flow inside the LV after a blood pump was implanted. In this study, in vitro experiments were conducted to emulate the intraventricular blood flow, such as blood flow velocity, the distribution of streamlines, vorticity and the standard deviation of velocity inside the LV during axial blood pump support. A silicone LV reconstructed from computerized tomography (CT) data of a heart failure patient was incorporated into a mock circulatory loop (MCL) to simulate human systemic circulation. Then, the blood flow inside the ventricle was examined by particle image velocimetry (PIV) equipment. The results showed that the operating conditions of the axial blood pump influenced flow patterns within the LV and areas of potential blood stasis, and the intraventricular swirling flow was altered with blood pump support. The presence of vorticity in the LV from the thoracic aorta to the heart apex can provide thorough washing of the LV cavity. The gradually extending stasis region in the central LV with increasing blood pump support is necessary to reduce the thrombosis potential in the LV.


2019 ◽  
Vol 488 (4) ◽  
pp. 5713-5727
Author(s):  
Kuldeep Singh ◽  
Indranil Chattopadhyay

ABSTRACT We study relativistic magnetized outflows using relativistic equation of state having variable adiabatic index (Γ) and composition parameter (ξ). We study the outflow in special relativistic magnetohydrodynamic regime, from sub-Alfvénic to super-fast domain. We showed that, after the solution crosses the fast point, magnetic field collimates the flow and may form a collimation-shock due to magnetic field pinching/squeezing. Such fast, collimated outflows may be considered as astrophysical jets. Depending on parameters, the terminal Lorentz factors of an electron–proton outflow can comfortably exceed few tens. We showed that due to the transfer of angular momentum from the field to the matter, the azimuthal velocity of the outflow may flip sign. We also study the effect of composition (ξ) on such magnetized outflows. We showed that relativistic outflows are affected by the location of the Alfvén point, the polar angle at the Alfvén point and also the angle subtended by the field lines with the equatorial plane, but also on the composition of the flow. The pair dominated flow experiences impressive acceleration and is hotter than electron–proton flow.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-730
Author(s):  
H. Nilsson ◽  
L. Davidson

This work derives and applies a method for the investigation of numerical accuracy in computational fluid dynamics. The method is used to investigate discretization errors in computations of swirling flow in water turbines. The work focuses on the conservation of a subset of the angular momentum equations that is particularly important to swirling flow in water turbines. The method is based on the fact that the discretized angular momentum equations are not necessarily conserved when the discretized linear momentum equations are solved. However, the method can be used to investigate the effect of discretization on any equation that should be conserved in the correct solution, and the application is not limited to water turbines. Computations made for two Kaplan water turbine runners and a simplified geometry of one of the Kaplan runner ducts are investigated to highlight the general and simple applicability of the method.


2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed I. Hassan ◽  
A. Helali ◽  
Kozo Saito

Abstract Fire whirl is one of the most destructive phenomena in mass fires. To study thermal and fluid dynamic structures of a fire whirl in a laboratory, a fire whirl generator consisting of two vertically oriented split-cylinders were placed in an asymmetric position to form a compartment leaving two open slits in each end. A 5-cm diameter liquid pool fire was placed at the center of the compartment floor, the fire generated buoyancy flow moved upwardly, and fresh air entered to the compartment creating swirl motion. The visible flame height of the generated fire whirl was measured by a video camera, 2-D azimuthal velocity profiles at several different heights by particle image velocimetry (PIV), and the average heat flux input to the fuel surface by a Gardon gauge type heat flux meter.


Author(s):  
H. Ek ◽  
I. Chterev ◽  
N. Rock ◽  
B. Emerson ◽  
J. Seitzman ◽  
...  

This paper presents measurements of the simultaneous fuel distribution, flame position and flow velocity in a high pressure, liquid fueled combustor. Its objective is to develop methods to process, display and compare large quantities of instantaneous data with computations. However, time-averaged flow fields rarely represent the instantaneous, dynamical flow fields in combustion systems. It is therefore important to develop methods that can algorithmically extract dynamical flow features and be directly compared between measurements and computations. While a number of data-driven approaches have been previously presented in the literature, the purpose of this paper is to propose several approaches that are based on understanding of key physical features of the flow — for this reacting swirl flow, these include the annular jet, the swirling flow which may be precessing, the recirculating flow between the annular jets, and the helical flow structures in the shear layers. This paper demonstrates nonlinear averaging of axial and azimuthal velocity profiles, which provide insights into the structure of the recirculation zone and degree of flow precession. It also presents probability fields for the location of vortex cores that enables a convenient method for comparison of their trajectory and phasing with computations. Taken together, these methods illustrate the structure and relative locations of the annular fluid jet, recirculating flow zone, spray location, flame location, and trajectory of the helical vortices.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santosh J. Shanbhogue ◽  
Michael Seelhorst ◽  
Tim Lieuwen

This paper describes an experimental study of the effect of acoustic excitation on bluff body stabilized flames, specifically on the flow field characteristics. The Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability of the shear layer is excited due to the incident acoustics. In turn, the KH instability imposes a convecting, harmonic excitation on the flame, which leads to spatially periodic flame wrinkling and heat-release oscillations. Understanding the factors influencing these heat release oscillations requires an understanding of the generation, convection, and dissipation of these vortical disturbances. Phase locked particle image velocimetry was carried out over a range of conditions to characterize the vortical dynamics. It was found that the vortex core location exhibits “phase jitter”, manifested as cycle-to-cycle variation in flame and vorticity field at the same excitation phase. Phase jitter is shown to be a function of separation point dynamics, downstream convection time, and amplitude of acoustic excitation. It leads to fairly significant differences between instantaneous and ensemble averaged flow fields and, in particular, the decay rate of the vorticity in the axial direction.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document