Effect of Expansion Direction/Area Ratio on Loss Characteristics and Flow Rectification of Curve Diffuser

Curve diffuser is frequently used in applications such as HVAC, wind- tunnel, gas turbine cycle, aircraft engine etc. as an adapter to join the conduits of different cross-sectional areas or an ejector to decelerate the flow and raise the static pressure before discharging to the atmosphere. The performance of the curve diffuser is greatly affected by the abrupt expansion and inflection introduced, particularly when a sharp 90o curve diffuser is configured with a high area ratio (AR). Therefore, the paper aims to numerically investigate the effect of the expansion direction of AR=1.2 to 4.0 curve diffuser on loss characteristic and flow rectification. 90o curve diffuser operated at inflow Reynolds Number, Rein=5.934 × 104 to 1.783 × 105 was considered. Results show that pressure recovery improves when the area ratio increases from 1.2 to 2.16 for both 2D expansion (z- direction) and 3D expansion (x- and z- direction). On the other hand, the increase of inflow Reynolds number causes the flow uniformity to drop regardless of the expansion directions. 3D expansion (x- and z- direction) curve diffuser with AR=2.16, operated at Rein=8.163 × 104, is opted as the most optimum, producing the best pressure recovery up to 0.380. Meanwhile, 2D expansion (z-direction) curve diffuser of AR=2.16, , operated at Rein= 5.934 × 104, is chosen to provide the best flow uniformity of 2.330 m/s. 2D expansion (x- direction) should be as best avoided as it provides the worst overall performance of 90o curve diffuser.

Fluid Flow Analysis of Agitation Pipe in the Electroplated Diamond Wire Saw

Agitation pipe is the important part of the electroplated diamond wire saw in the suspension sanding process. The structure type and the sandblasting configuration in agitation pipe play a role on the flow uniformity. Fluid flow in the different structure forms of agitating pipe was studied and the influence of sandblasting angle and the diameter was also contrasted. Results found that the central water type of agitation pipe has the better performance, generating the flow field distribution in the middle part with high velocity and small velocity on both sides. The order of sandblasting in performance was 30°, 45° and 60°. The better flow uniformity occurred in the configuration of sandblasting with the diameter 7.5 mm, 7 mm and 7.5 mm.

The low acoustic noise and turbulence wind tunnel of the University of Sao Paulo

This paper introduces the Low Acoustic Noise and Turbulence (LANT) wind tunnel of the Sao Carlos School of Engineering, University of Sao Paulo (USP-EESC), Brazil. The closed-loop wind tunnel features several devices to improve flow uniformity, reduce swirl, and lower the background acoustic noise and turbulence, enabling stability and aeroacoustic experiments. The design criteria was based on the best practices reported, in particular for low turbulence wind tunnels. Yet, these criteria are conflicting and we discuss the decisions that had to be made and present flow quality results that were achieved. The 16-bladed axial fan with 13-blade stators is driven by a variable-speed electric motor. At the corners, 100 mm dense acoustic foam is installed on the vertical walls, floor and ceiling, and the turning vanes are filled with acoustic-absorbing material. The long settling chamber contains a 3.175 mm mesh hexagonal honeycomb and five fine mesh nylon screens, ending in a 7:1 area ratio short contraction. The 3-m long closed-working section has a $1\times 1\ {\rm m}^2$ cross-section area. At 15 m/s the working section wall boundary layer is less than 100 mm thick, providing an area of at least $800\times 800\ \mathrm{mm}^2$ where the streamwise flow uniformity was within 1%. In the 10–30 m/s flow speed range, the turbulence intensity ranged from 0.05% to 0.071% and the background acoustic noise level, obtained with an inflow microphone, ranged from 90 and 110 dB. A benchmark experiment on a flat plate boundary layer produced an almost perfect two-dimensional Blasius profile up to $Re_x \approx 2.5 \times 10^6$ . A beamforming benchmark experiment on aeroacoustics accurately identified the sound emitted by a cylinder immersed in the flow.

Experimental Analysis on the Use of Counterflow Jets as a System for the Stabilization of the Spatial Hydraulic Jump

This study presents an investigation on the use of submerged counterflow jets as a means for stabilizing the spatial hydraulic jump occurring in abruptly expanding channels. The characteristics of the flow downstream from the stilling basin and the main parameters influencing the effectiveness of the device in improving flow uniformity and reducing scouring potential are examined in laboratory tests, under several geometric configurations and hydraulic boundary conditions. The position within the stilling basin and the jet density (i.e., the number of orifices issuing the counterflow jets) were found to be important parameters influencing the performance of the device. Overall, the results indicate that this dissipation system has promising capabilities in forcing the transition from supercritical to subcritical flow, by significantly shortening the protection length needed to limit the phenomena of instability associated with spatial hydraulic jumps.

Experimental Validation of Flow Uniformity Improvement by a Perforated Plate in the Heat Exchanger of SFR Steam Generator

The steam generator in a nuclear power plant is a type of heat exchanger in which heat transfer occurs from the hot fluid in multiple channels to the cold fluid. Therefore, a uniform flow over multiple channels is necessary to improve heat exchanger efficiency. The study aims at experimentally investigating the improvement of flow uniformity by the perforated plate in the heat exchanger used for a sodium-cooled fast reactor stream generator. A 1/4-scale experimental model for one heat exchanger unit with 33 × 66 channels was manufactured. The working fluid was water. A perforated plate was systematically designed using numerical simulations to improve the flow uniformity over the 33 × 66 channels. As a result, the flow uniformity greatly improved at a slight cost of pressure drop. To validate the numerical results, planar particle image velocimetry measurements were performed on the selected planes in the inlet and outlet headers. The experimental velocity profiles near the exits of the channels were compared with numerical simulation data. The experimental profiles agreed with the numerical data well. Both the numerical simulation and the experimental results showed a slight increase in pressure drop, despite significant improvement in the flow uniformity.