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.

In the present work, the turbulent flow downstream a 90 degrees pipe bend is investigated by means of stereoscopic particle image velocimetry. In particular, the three dimensional flow field at the exit of the curved pipe is documented for non-swirling and swirling flow conditions, with the latter being generated through a unique axially rotating pipe flow facility. The non-swirling flow was examined through snapshot proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) with the aim to reveal the unsteady behaviour of the Dean vortices under turbulent flow conditions, the so-called "swirl-switching" phenomenon. In respect to the swirling turbulent pipe flow, covering a wide range of swirl strengths, POD has been employed to study the effect of varying strength of swirl on the Dean vortices as well as the interplay of swirling motion and Dean cells. Furthermore, the visualised large scale structures in turbulent swirling flows through the bend are found to incline and tear up with increasing swirl intensity. The present time-resolved, three component, experimental velocity field data will provide a unique and useful database for future studies; in particular for the CFD community.

The present experimental work focuses on highly pulsatile, i.e. inertia dominated, turbulent flow downstream a curved pipe and aims at investigating the vortical characteristics of such a flow. The flow parameters (Dean and Womersley number) investigated are of the same order as those met in the internal combustion engine environment. The technique employed is time-resolved stereoscopic particle image velocimetry at different cross-sections downstream the pipe bend. These measurements allow the large-scale structures that are formed to be analyzed by means of proper orthogonal decomposition. The flow field changes drastically during a pulsatile cycle, varying from a uniform flow direction across the pipe section from the inside to the outside of the bend to vortical patterns consisting of two counter-rotating cells. This study characterizes and describes pulsatile curved pipe flow at Womersley numbers much higher than previously reported in the literature. Furthermore, the oscillatory behaviour of the Dean cells for the steady flow - the so-called 'swirl switching' - is investigated for different downstream stations from the bend exit and it is shown that this motion does not appear in the immediate vicinity of the bend, but only further downstream.