Open this publication in new window or tab >>2012 (English)In: Journal of Visualization, ISSN 1343-8875, E-ISSN 1875-8975, Vol. 15, no 1, p. 37-38Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Flows in pipe bends have been studied extensively over the last decades due to their occurrence both in the human respiratory and blood systems as well as in many technical applications. When a fluid flows through a pipe bend an adverse pressure gradient is generated forcing high velocity fluid towards the outer wall which is then replaced by low velocity fluid moving along the wall towards the inner side of the bend. The physical effect is that the high velocity fluid is experiencing a large centrifugal force, resulting in an unstable ‘‘stratification’’ making the high velocity fluid in the centre deflect outwards along the pipe bend, thereby forming two counter-rotating roll cells, so-called Dean vortices. While their behavior in laminar flows has been nicely visualized, the picture of their unsteady behavior in turbulent flows still remains rather blurry, and in fact ‘‘the questions, for example, whether the Dean vortices stay symmetric with respect to the geometric plane of symmetry or whether the strength of the Dean vortices varies with time are hardly addressed’’ (Rütten et al 2005). In the present study, stereoscopic particle image velocimetry has been employed to seize the unsteady behavior of the Dean vortices at the exit of a 90 degree pipe bend at a Reynolds number and Dean number of 34,000 and 19,000, respectively. While the time-averaged flow field shows two symmetrical roll cells, that can be observed both in the streamwise and cross stream velocities, as well as in the streamwise vorticity, the instantaneous snapshots reveal an unsteady behavior where the roll cells are pushing one another alternatively towards the lower or upper half of the pipe, in what could be described as a ‘‘rocking’’ motion of the high speed ‘‘stem’’ in between the roll cells. Hence, the real question is not whether ‘‘to be, or not to be’’ in regards to the instantaneous existence of the Dean vortices in turbulent flows, but rather why, when and how they roll (as their time-averaged counterpart) or rock between the states caught in the presented snapshots.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer, 2012
National Category
Fluid Mechanics and Acoustics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-83164 (URN)10.1007/s12650-011-0108-8 (DOI)000302382600003 ()2-s2.0-84862658176 (Scopus ID)
Funder
StandUp
Note
QC 20120216
2012-02-122012-02-122017-12-07Bibliographically approved