Coherent turbulence and entrainment in a supersonic, axisymmetric, separated/reattaching shear layer
PHYSICAL REVIEW FLUIDS
Authors: Kirchner, Branden M.; Elliott, Gregory S.; Dutton, J. Craig
Abstract
The influence of coherent turbulent structures on the entrainment characteristics of a separated shear layer in a Mach-2.49 longitudinal cylinder wake is investigated using stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV). Three thousand non-time-correlated velocity field measurements, acquired along a plane coincident with the central axis, were decomposed into modes using the snapshot proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method. The second and third POD modes identified high-energy velocity fluctuations aligned with consistent directions in the separated shear layers, near the boundaries of the recirculation region. Previous work by the authors has demonstrated, using tomographic PIV, that these directionally consistent velocity fluctuations identified by the POD modes are caused by three-dimensional (3D) coherent upright and inverted hairpin vortex structures in this flow. The SPIV velocity field snapshots were conditionally sorted based on the value of their corresponding POD amplitude coefficients, and conditional statistics from these subsets of snapshots were used to derive results in the current work. It is demonstrated that a higher statistical prevalence of upright hairpin vortices in the shear layer directly correlates with reduced shear layer growth rates, and a subsequent increase in the reattachment length. Conversely, a higher statistical prevalence of inverted hairpin vortices correlates with increased shear layer growth rates, and a subsequent reduction in the reattachment length. Comparisons of conditional statistics for the SPIV data are drawn with previous laser Doppler velocimetry measurements acquired in a 5 degrees boat-tailed cylinder configuration of this flow. These comparisons demonstrate clear similarities of important features between the two flows, such as an increase in the reattachment length when compared to the unconditional blunt-based cylinder flow, which is indicative of higher cylinder base pressures and subsequently reduced pressure drag.
CFD and PIV Investigation of a Liquid Flow Maldistribution across a Tube Bundle in the Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchanger with Segmental Baffles
ENERGIES
Authors: Ligus, Grzegorz; Wasilewski, Marek; Kolodziej, Szymon; Zajac, Daniel
Abstract
The paper presents the results of research on liquid flow maldistribution in the shell side of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger (STHE). This phenomenon constitutes the reason for the formation of the velocity reduction area and adversely affects heat transfer and pressure drop. In order to provide details of the liquid distribution in STHE, two visualization methods were utilized. First, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code coupled with the k-epsilon model and the laser-based particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique was applied. The tests were carried out for a bundle comprising 37 tubes in an in-line layout with a pitch d(z)/t = 1.5, placed in a shell with D-in = 0.1 m. The STHE liquid feed rates corresponded to Reynolds numbers Re-in equal to 16,662, 24,993, and 33,324. The analysis demonstrated that the flow maldistribution in the investigated geometry originates the result of three main streams in the cross-section of the shell side: central stream, oblique stream, and bypass stream. For central and oblique streams, the largest velocity reduction areas were formed in the wake of the tubes. On the basis of the flow visualization, it was also shown that the in-line layout of the tube bundle helps to boost the wake region between successive tubes in a row. Additionally, unfavorable vortex phenomena between the last row of tubes and the lower part of the exchanger shell were identified in the investigations. The conducted studies confirmed the feasibility of both methods in the identification and assessment of fluid flow irregularities in STHE. The maximum error of the CFD method in comparison to the experimental methods did not exceed 7% in terms of the pressure drops and 11% in the range of the maximum velocities.