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At least 145 records · Page 8

Interaction of Gortler vortices and Tollmien-Schlichting waves in curved channel flow

The flow in a two-dimensional curved channel driven by an azimuthal pressure gradient can become linearly unstable due to axisymmetric perturbations and/or nonaxisymmetric perturbations depending on the curvature of the channel and the Reynolds number. For a particular small value of curvature, the critical Reynolds number for both these perturbations becomes identical. In the neighborhood of this curvature value and critical Reynolds number, nonlinear interactions occur between these perturbations. The Stuart-Watson approach is used to derive two coupled Landau equations for the amplitudes of these perturbations. The stability of the various possible states of these perturbations is shown through bifurcation diagrams. Emphasis is given to those cases which have relevance to external flows.

Daudpota, Q. Isa↗

Study of convective magnetohydrodynamic channel flow

Study involves the effects of the interactions of electromagnetic, velocity, and temperature fields to aid in the design of a magnetohydrodynamic device. It concerns a theoretical analysis of the convective flow of an electrically conducting gas in a channel composed of conducting walls.

Singer, R. M.↗

On Fully Developed Channel Flows: Some Solutions and Limitations, and Effects of Compressibility, Variable Properties, and Body Forces

An examination of the effects of compressibility, variable properties, and body forces on fully developed laminar flow has indicated several limitations on such streams. In the absence of a pressure gradient, but presence of a body force (e.g., gravity), an exact fully developed gas flow results. For a liquid this follows also for the case of a constant streamwise pressure gradient. These motions are exact in the sense of a Couette flow. In the liquid case two solutions (not a new result) can occur for the same boundary conditions. An approximate analytic solution was found which agrees closely with machine calculations.In the case of approximately exact flows, it turns out that for large temperature variations across the channel the effects of convection (due to, say, a wall temperature gradient) and frictional heating must be negligible. In such a case the energy and momentum equations are separated, and the solutions are readily obtained. If the temperature variations are small, then both convection effects and frictional heating can consistently be considered. This case becomes the constant-property incompressible case (or quasi-incompressible case for free-convection flows) considered by many authors. Finally there is a brief discussion of cases wherein streamwise variations of all quantities are allowed but only a such form that independent variables are separable. For the case where the streamwise velocity varies inversely as the square root distance along the channel a solution is given.

Maslen, Stephen H.↗

Fluid undercutting in the successive channel flow of two gases.

A fluid piston technique wherein one gas displaces another gas from a horizontal channel was investigated experimentally in a laboratory simulation of the operating concept of a Mach number 9, true-energy wind tunnel. Tests were conducted over a Froude number range from 0.0015 to 0.543 at driver-to-driven gas density ratios from 0.637 to 11.0 to find the effect of fluid undercutting (or overcutting) on test duration. Other variables studied, either experimentally or analytically, include channel cross-sectional shape, channel inlet design, channel length-to-diameter ratio, Reynolds number, pretest pressurization, and channel inclination angle. Results from shadowgraph movies and pressure measurements provide a correlation of actual-to-ideal test durations for a wide range of Froude numbers and gas density ratios and indicate that the application of the fluid piston technique to the wind-tunnel concept is feasible. However, severe fluid undercutting (or overcutting) in horizontal channels occurs at lower Froude numbers and at density ratios significantly different from unity.

Guy, R. W.↗

Computational heat transfer analysis for oscillatory channel flows

An accurate finite-difference scheme has been utilized to investigate oscillatory, laminar and incompressible flow between two-parallel-plates and in circular tubes. The two-parallel-plates simulate the regenerator of a free-piston Stirling engine (foil type regenerator) and the channel wall was included in the analysis (conjugate heat transfer problem). The circular tubes simulate the cooler and heater of the engine with an isothermal wall. The study conducted covered a wide range for the maximum Reynolds number (from 75 to 60,000), Valensi number (from 2.5 to 700), and relative amplitude of fluid displacement (0.714 and 1.34). The computational results indicate a complex nature of the heat flux distribution with time and axial location in the channel. At the channel mid-plane we observed two thermal cycles (out of phase with the flow) per each flow cycle. At this axial location the wall heat flux mean value, amplitude and phase shift with the flow are dependent upon the maximum Reynolds number, Valensi number and relative amplitude of fluid displacement. At other axial locations, the wall heat flux distribution is more complex.

Ibrahim, Mounir↗

A Rotary Flow Channel for Shear Stress Sensor Calibration

A proposed shear sensor calibrator consists of a rotating wheel with the sensor mounted tangential to the rim and positioned in close proximity to the rim. The shear stress generated by the flow at the sensor position is simply tau(sub omega) = (mu)r(omega)/h, where mu is the viscosity of the ambient gas, r the wheel radius, omega the angular velocity of the wheel, and h the width of the gap between the wheel rim and the sensor. With numerical values of mu = 31 (mu)Pa s (neon at room temperature), r = 0.5 m, omega = 754 /s (7200 rpm), and h = 50.8 m, a shear stress of tau(sub omega) = 231 Pa can be generated. An analysis based on one-dimensional flow, with the flow velocity having only an angular component as a function of the axial and radial coordinates, yields corrections to the above simple formula for the curvature of the wheel, flatness of the sensor, and finite width of the wheel. It is assumed that the sensor mount contains a trough (sidewalls) to render a velocity release boundary condition at the edges of the rim. The Taylor number under maximum flow conditions is found to be 62.3, sufficiently low to obviate flow instability. The fact that the parameters entering into the evaluation of the shear stress can be measured to high accuracy with well-defined uncertainties makes the proposed calibrator suitable for a physical standard for shear stress calibration.

Zuckerwar, Allan J.↗

A model to investigate the influence of suspended sediment on the mass transport of a pollutant in open channel flow

An explicit two-dimensional finite difference model, designed to investigate the influence of suspended sediment on the pollutant transport process, is presented. Specific attention is directed toward examining the role of suspended sediment in: (1) the turbulent vertical transport mechanism in a stratified flow, and (2) pollutant uptake due to sorption. Results presented indicate that suspended sediment plays a major role in the pollutant transport process, and subsequently, any meaningful attempt to model the fate of a pollutant in an alluvial channel must account for the presence of a suspended sediment concentration profile. Similarly, the vertical and longitudinal pollutant concentration distributions provided by the model may be utilized to improve upon the predictive capacities of existing water quality models.

Chapman, R. S.↗

Raman scattering applied to gas mixing in the successive channel flow of two gases

The Raman scattering technique has been applied to investigate the effects of fluid undercutting in a simulation of the fluid-piston concept for wind-tunnel design. Measurements of the structure of the driver-driven gas interface and of the effect of undercutting on test duration were performed. Tests were conducted over a Froude number range of 0.0021 to 0.526 at driver-to-driven gas density ratios of 1.103 and 1.573. The effects of inlet design, test-channel inclination angle, and pretest pressurization were also examined. The results are compared with shadowgraph and pressure measurements to illustrate the characteristics of the Raman technique and to explain the discrepancy between the shadowgraph and pressure results.

Hillard, M. E., Jr.↗

Catastrophic-flood Features in Swedish Lapland as a Terrestrial Analog for Martian Channel Flows

Catastrophic flooding associated with deglaciation created unusual landscapes in several areas of northern Sweden. These areas in Swedish Lapland are distinguished by the large grain-size material that forms them. The presence of boulders at both Viking landing sites suggests the relevance of this analog. The Baldakatj area of Swedish Lapland offers terrestrial analogs for erosional remnants on Mars. Although the Baldakatj features are an order of magnitude or more smaller than the Martian forms, they created in boulder-rich till that may be a good approximation of the near-surface material on Mars. The Baldakatj area also includes other landforms that could reasonably be expected to occur with the Martian outflow channels, including boulder deltas, large transported blocks, and large-scale bedforms.

Rossbacher, L. A.↗

Channel flow analysis

The design of a proper blade profile requires calculation of the blade row flow field in order to determine the velocities on the blade surfaces. An analysis theory is presented for several methods used for this calculation and associated computer programs that were developed are discussed.

Theodore Katsanis↗

Large eddy simulation of turbulent channel flow: ILLIAC 5 calculation

The capabilities of large eddy simulation in the prediction and analyses of wall-bounded turbulent shear flows are demonstrated. The dynamical equations for large scale field motions are derived. The computational grid network is described and its relation to the observed physical length scales in the flow are discussed. Some aspects of the mechanics and structure of the flow are examined both in the vicinity of the wall and in regions away from the wall. An attempt is made to correlate numerical results with laboratory observations. Other significant observations and conclusions are presented.

Kim, J.↗

Subcritical transition to turbulence in plane channel flows

A linear three dimensional mechanism for the transition of plane Poiseuille flows to turbulence is presented which provides good agreement with experimental observations. The mechanism is based on the evolution of states within a band of quasi-equilibria which slowly approach the stable upper branch solutions for the evolution of flow energy but which are strongly unstable to infinitesimal three-dimensional disturbances. Numerical simulation has shown that if two-dimensional flow persists long enough for the three-dimensional perturbations to attain finite amplitude, the resulting three dimensional flow quickly develops a turbulent character with nonperiodic behavior, and thus transition can be predicted from knowledge of the initial two- and three-dimensional energies and time scales. The mechanism predicts transition to turbulence at Reynolds numbers greater than 1000, as observed in experiments, and implies higher threshold three-dimensional energies in plane Couette flow.

Orszag, S. A.↗

Interaction of oscillations of channel flow and flow separation at duct discontinuities

A two dimensional experiment was used to study the flow fluctuations in the separated region resulting from a wall slot step (convergent step). This geometry corresponds to the geometry present in a segmented solid rocket motor in the region of the ends of adjoining segments. A modulated tunnel flow of controlled oscillation frequency was used, and the effect on flow fluctuations in the separated region was examined by hot wire velocity measurements. The transfer function between free stream oscillations and separated flow fluctuations at the driven frequency was determined over a range of frequencies and main stream flow velocities. The transfer function exhibited a frequency dependence with maximum in the 10 - 25 Hz range, with the maximum occurring at higher frequency when the mean flow velocity was higher.

Price, E. W.↗