Focus on Fluids
Tension grips the flow
- M. M. Bandi
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- 03 May 2018, pp. 1-4
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Surface tension plays a dominant role in the formation and stability of soap films. It renders them both a quasi-two-dimensional fluid and an elastic membrane at the same time. The techniques for measuring the surface tension of the soap solution may very well apply to the static soap film, but how can the surface tension of a soap film be unintrusively measured, and what value would it assume? The answer, being at the intersection of physical chemistry, non-equilibrium physics and interfacial fluid dynamics, is not amenable to deduction via established methods. In a joint theoretical and experimental study, Sane et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 841, 2018, R2) exploit elasticity theory to glean the answer through a simple, yet elegant framework.
JFM Papers
Rayleigh–Bénard convection in a creeping solid with melting and freezing at either or both its horizontal boundaries
- Stéphane Labrosse, Adrien Morison, Renaud Deguen, Thierry Alboussière
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- 03 May 2018, pp. 5-36
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Solid-state convection can take place in the rocky or icy mantles of planetary objects, and these mantles can be surrounded above or below or both by molten layers of similar composition. A flow towards the interface can proceed through it by changing phase. This behaviour is modelled by a boundary condition taking into account the competition between viscous stress in the solid, which builds topography of the interface with a time scale $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}$ , and convective transfer of the latent heat in the liquid from places of the boundary where freezing occurs to places of melting, which acts to erase topography, with a time scale $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}}$ . The ratio $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F7}=\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}}/\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}$ controls whether the boundary condition is the classical non-penetrative one ( $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F7}\rightarrow \infty$ ) or allows for a finite flow through the boundary (small $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F7}$ ). We study Rayleigh–Bénard convection in a plane layer subject to this boundary condition at either or both its boundaries using linear and weakly nonlinear analyses. When both boundaries are phase-change interfaces with equal values of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F7}$ , a non-deforming translation mode is possible with a critical Rayleigh number equal to $24\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F7}$ . At small values of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F7}$ , this mode competes with a weakly deforming mode having a slightly lower critical Rayleigh number and a very long wavelength, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}_{c}\sim 8\sqrt{2}\unicode[STIX]{x03C0}/3\sqrt{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F7}}$ . Both modes lead to very efficient heat transfer, as expressed by the relationship between the Nusselt and Rayleigh numbers. When only one boundary is subject to a phase-change condition, the critical Rayleigh number is $\mathit{Ra}_{c}=153$ and the critical wavelength is $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}_{c}=5$ . The Nusselt number increases approximately two times faster with the Rayleigh number than in the classical case with non-penetrative conditions, and the average temperature diverges from $1/2$ when the Rayleigh number is increased, towards larger values when the bottom boundary is a phase-change interface.
Interaction of droplet dispersion and evaporation in a polydispersed spray
- S. Sahu, Y. Hardalupas, A. M. K. P. Taylor
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- 03 May 2018, pp. 37-81
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The interaction between droplet dispersion and evaporation in an acetone spray evaporating under ambient conditions is experimentally studied with an aim to understand the physics behind the spatial correlation between the local vapour mass fraction and droplets. The influence of gas-phase turbulence and droplet–gas slip velocity of such correlations is examined, while the focus is on the consequence of droplet clustering on collective evaporation of droplet clouds. Simultaneous and planar measurements of droplet size, velocity and number density, and vapour mass fraction around the droplets, were obtained by combining the interferometric laser imaging for droplet sizing and planar laser induced fluorescence techniques (Sahu et al., Exp. Fluids, vol. 55, 1673, 2014b, pp. 1–21). Comparison with droplet measurements in a non-evaporating water spray under the same flow conditions showed that droplet evaporation leads to higher fluctuations of droplet number density and velocity relative to the respective mean values. While the mean droplet–gas slip velocity was found to be negligibly small, the vaporization Damköhler number ( $Da_{v}$ ) was approximately ‘one’, which means the droplet evaporation time and the characteristic time scale of large eddies are of the same order. Thus, the influence of the convective effect on droplet evaporation is not expected to be significant in comparison to the instantaneous fluctuations of slip velocity, which refers to the direct effect of turbulence. An overall linearly increasing trend was observed in the scatter plot of the instantaneous values of droplet number density ( $N$ ) and vapour mass fraction ( $Y_{F}$ ). Accordingly, the correlation coefficient of fluctuations of vapour mass fraction and droplet number density ( $R_{n\ast y}$ ) was relatively high ( ${\approx}0.5$ ) implying moderately high correlation. However, considerable spread of the $N$ versus $Y_{F}$ scatter plot along both coordinates demonstrated the influence on droplet evaporation due to turbulent droplet dispersion, which leads to droplet clustering. The presence of droplet clustering was confirmed by the measurement of spatial correlation coefficient of the fluctuations of droplet number density for different size classes ( $R_{n\ast n}$ ) and the radial distribution function (RDF) of the droplets. Also, the tendency of the droplets to form clusters was higher for the acetone spray than the water spray, indicating that droplet evaporation promoted droplet grouping in the spray. The instantaneous group evaporation number ( $G$ ) was evaluated from the measured length scale of droplet clusters (by the RDF) and the average droplet size and spacing in instantaneous clusters. The mean value of $G$ suggests an internal group evaporation mode of the droplet clouds near the spray centre, while single droplet evaporation prevails near the spray boundary. However, the large fluctuations in the magnitude of instantaneous values of $G$ at all measurement locations implied temporal variations in the mode of droplet cloud evaporation.
Experimental study and modelling of unsteady aerodynamic forces and moment on flat plate in high amplitude pitch ramp motion
- Yuelong Yu, Xavier Amandolese, Chengwei Fan, Yingzheng Liu
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- 03 May 2018, pp. 82-120
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This paper examines the unsteady lift, drag and moment coefficients experienced by a thin airfoil in high-amplitude pitch ramp motion. Experiments have been carried out in a wind tunnel at moderate Reynolds number ( $Re\approx 1.45\times 10^{4}$ ), using a rigid flat-plate model. Forces and moments have been measured for reduced pitch rates ranging from 0.01 to 0.18, four maximum pitch angles ( $30^{\circ },45^{\circ },60^{\circ },90^{\circ }$ ) and different pivot axis locations between the leading and the trailing edge. Results confirm that for reduced pitch rates lower than 0.03, the unsteady aerodynamics is limited to a stall delay effect. For higher pitch rates, the unsteady response is dominated by a buildup of the circulation, which increases with the pitch rate and the absolute distance between the pivot axis and the $3/4$ -chord location. This circulatory effect induces an overshoot in the normal force and moment coefficients, which is slightly reduced for a flat plate with a finite aspect ratio close to 8 in comparison with the two-dimensional configuration. A new time-dependent model has been tested for both the normal force and moment coefficients. It is mainly based on the superposition of step responses, using the Wagner function and a time-varying input that accounts for the nonlinear variation of the steady aerodynamics, the pivot point location and an additional circulation which depends on the pitch rate. When compared with experiments, it gives satisfactory results for $0^{\circ }$ to $90^{\circ }$ pitch ramp motion and captures the main effect of reduced pitch rate and pivot point location.
Interaction of a pair of ferrofluid drops in a rotating magnetic field
- Mingfeng Qiu, Shahriar Afkhami, Ching-Yao Chen, James J. Feng
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- 03 May 2018, pp. 121-142
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We use two-dimensional numerical simulation to study the interaction between a pair of ferrofluid drops suspended in a rotating uniform magnetic field. Numerical results show four distinct regimes over the range of parameters tested: independent spin, planetary motion, drop locking and direct coalescence. These are in qualitative agreement with experiments, and the transition between them can be understood from the competition between magnetophoretic forces and viscous drag. We further analyse in detail the planetary motion, i.e. the revolution of the drops around each other while each spins in phase with the external magnetic field. For drops, as opposed to solid microspheres, the interaction is dominated by viscous sweeping, a form of hydrodynamic interaction. Magnetic dipole–dipole interaction via mutual induction only plays a secondary role. This insight helps us explain novel features of the planetary revolution of the ferrofluid drops that cannot be explained by a dipole model, including the increase of the angular velocity of planetary motion with the rotational rate of the external field, and the attainment of a limit separation between the drops that is independent of the initial separation.
Coalescence of diffusively growing gas bubbles
- Álvaro Moreno Soto, Tom Maddalena, Arjan Fraters, Devaraj van der Meer, Detlef Lohse
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- 03 May 2018, pp. 143-165
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Under slightly supersaturated conditions, bubbles need many minutes to grow due to the low gas diffusivity in liquids. When coalescence occurs, the fact that the bubbles have diffusively grown on top of a surface allows for control with precision of the location and the timing at which the coalescence takes place. Numerous coalescences of two $\text{CO}_{2}$ microbubbles in water are recorded at a frame rate of ${\sim}65\,000~\text{fps}$ . The evolution of the coalescing process is analysed in detail, differentiating among three phases: neck formation, wave propagation along the bubble surface and bubble detachment. First of all, the formation of the collapsing neck between both bubbles is compared to a capillary–inertial theoretical model. Afterwards, the propagating deformation along the surface is characterised measuring its evolution, velocity and dominant wavelength. Once bubbles coalesce, the perturbing waves and the final shape of the new bubble breaks the equilibrium between buoyancy and capillary forces. Consequently, the coalesced bubble detaches and rises due to buoyancy, oscillating with its natural Minnaert frequency. In addition to the experiments, a boundary integral code has been used to obtain numerical results of the coalescence under similar conditions, showing excellent agreement with the experimental data.
Three-dimensional free-surface flow over arbitrary bottom topography
- Nicholas R. Buttle, Ravindra Pethiyagoda, Timothy J. Moroney, Scott W. McCue
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- 03 May 2018, pp. 166-189
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We consider steady nonlinear free surface flow past an arbitrary bottom topography in three dimensions, concentrating on the shape of the wave pattern that forms on the surface of the fluid. Assuming ideal fluid flow, the problem is formulated using a boundary integral method and discretised to produce a nonlinear system of algebraic equations. The Jacobian of this system is dense due to integrals being evaluated over the entire free surface. To overcome the computational difficulty and large memory requirements, a Jacobian-free Newton–Krylov (JFNK) method is utilised. Using a block-banded approximation of the Jacobian from the linearised system as a preconditioner for the JFNK scheme, we find significant reductions in computational time and memory required for generating numerical solutions. These improvements also allow for a larger number of mesh points over the free surface and the bottom topography. We present a range of numerical solutions for both subcritical and supercritical regimes, and for a variety of bottom configurations. We discuss nonlinear features of the wave patterns as well as their relationship to ship wakes.
Far-wake meandering induced by atmospheric eddies in flow past a wind turbine
- X. Mao, J. N. Sørensen
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- 04 May 2018, pp. 190-209
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A novel algorithm is developed to calculate the nonlinear optimal boundary perturbations in three-dimensional incompressible flow. An optimal step length in the optimization loop is calculated without any additional calls to the Navier–Stokes equations. The algorithm is applied to compute the optimal inflow eddies for the flow around a wind turbine to clarify the mechanisms behind wake meandering, a phenomenon usually observed in wind farms. The turbine is modelled as an actuator disc using an immersed boundary method with the loading prescribed as a body force. At Reynolds number (based on free-stream velocity and turbine radius) $Re=1000$ , the most energetic inflow perturbation has a frequency $\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}=0.8$ –2, and is in the form of an azimuthal wave with wavenumber $m=1$ and the same radius as the actuator disc. The inflow perturbation is amplified by the strong shear downstream of the edge of the disc and then tilts the rolling-up vortex rings to induce wake meandering. This mechanism is verified by studying randomly perturbed flow at $Re\leqslant 8000$ . At five turbine diameters downstream of the disc, the axial velocity oscillates at a magnitude of more than 60 % of the free-stream velocity when the magnitude of the inflow perturbation is 6 % of the free-stream wind speed. The dominant Strouhal number of the wake oscillation is 0.16 at $Re=3000$ and keeps approximately constant at higher $Re$ . This Strouhal number agrees well with previous experimental findings. Overall the observations indicate that the well-observed stochastic wake meandering phenomenon appearing far downstream of wind turbines is induced by large-scale (the same order as the turbine rotor) and low-frequency free-stream eddies.
Non-premixed swirl-type tubular flames burning liquid fuels
- Vinicius M. Sauer, Fernando F. Fachini, Derek Dunn-Rankin
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- 04 May 2018, pp. 210-239
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Tubular flames represent a canonical combustion configuration that can simplify reacting flow analysis and also be employed in practical power generation systems. In this paper, a theoretical model for non-premixed tubular flames, with delivery of liquid fuel through porous walls into a swirling flow field, is presented. Perturbation theory is used to analyse this new tubular flame configuration, which is the non-premixed equivalent to a premixed swirl-type tubular burner – following the original classification of premixed tubular systems into swirl and counterflow types. The incompressible viscous flow field is modelled with an axisymmetric similarity solution. Axial decay of the initial swirl velocity and surface mass transfer from the porous walls are considered through the superposition of laminar swirling flow on a Berman flow with uniform mass injection in a straight pipe. The flame structure is obtained assuming infinitely fast conversion of reactants into products and unity Lewis numbers, allowing the application of the Shvab–Zel’dovich coupling function approach.
Analysis and modelling of unsteady shock train motions
- Bing Xiong, Xiao-qiang Fan, Zhen-guo Wang, Yuan Tao
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- 04 May 2018, pp. 240-262
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The characteristics and mechanism for unsteady shock train motions were experimentally studied in a constant-area rectangular duct. High-speed Schlieren techniques and high-frequency pressure measurements were utilized in this research. The results show that the shock train undergoes periodical motions in response to downstream periodical excitations. The mechanism for unsteady shock train motions is that the shock train keeps changing its moving speed to change the relative Mach number ahead of shock train to match the varying back-pressure condition. It can be found that the unsteady shock train motion can be predicted well with a theoretical model, which is based on this mechanism. A correlation between the amplitude of shock train motions and some flow parameters was illustrated using an analytical equation, which was confirmed by the experimental results.
Self-organized oscillations of Leidenfrost drops
- Xiaolei Ma, Justin C. Burton
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- 04 May 2018, pp. 263-291
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In the Leidenfrost effect, a thin layer of evaporated vapour forms between a liquid and a hot solid. The complex interactions between the solid, liquid and vapour phases can lead to rich dynamics even in a single Leidenfrost drop. Here we investigate the self-organized oscillations of Leidenfrost drops that are excited by a constant flow of evaporated vapour beneath the drop. We show that for small Leidenfrost drops, the frequency of a recently reported ‘breathing mode’ (Caswell, Phys. Rev. E, vol. 90, 2014, 013014) can be explained by a simple balance of gravitational and surface tension forces. For large Leidenfrost drops, azimuthal star-shaped oscillations are observed. Our previous work showed how the coupling between the rapid evaporated vapour flow and the vapour–liquid interface excites the star-shaped oscillations (Ma et al., Phys. Rev. Fluids, vol. 2, 2017, 031602). In our experiments, star-shaped oscillation modes of $n=2{-}13$ are observed in different liquids, and the number of observed modes depends sensitively on the viscosity of the liquid. Here we expand on this work by directly comparing the oscillations with theoretical predictions, as well as show how the oscillations are initiated by a parametric forcing mechanism through pressure oscillations in the vapour layer. The pressure oscillations are driven by the capillary waves of a characteristic wavelength beneath the drop. These capillary waves can be generated by a large shear stress at the liquid–vapour interface due to the rapid flow of evaporated vapour. We also explore potential effects of thermal convection in the liquid. Although the measured Rayleigh number is significantly larger than the critical Rayleigh number, the frequency (wavelength) of the oscillations depends only on the capillary length of the liquid, and is independent of the drop radius and substrate temperature. Thus convection seems to play a minor role in Leidenfrost drop oscillations, which are mostly hydrodynamic in origin.
Local transport of passive scalar released from a point source in a turbulent boundary layer
- K. M. Talluru, J. Philip, K. A. Chauhan
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- 04 May 2018, pp. 292-317
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Simultaneous measurements of streamwise velocity ( $\tilde{U}$ ) and concentration ( $\tilde{C}$ ) for a horizontal plume released at eight different vertical locations within a turbulent boundary layer are discussed in this paper. These are supplemented by limited simultaneous three-component velocity and concentration measurements. Results of the integral time scale ( $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{c}$ ) of concentration fluctuations across the width of the plume are presented here for the first time. It is found that $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{c}$ has two distinct peaks: one closer to the plume centreline and the other at a vertical distance of plume half-width above the centreline. The time-averaged streamwise concentration flux is found to be positive and negative, respectively, below and above the plume centreline. This behaviour is a resultant of wall-normal velocity fluctuations ( $w$ ) and Reynolds shear stress ( $\overline{uw}$ ). Confirmation of these observations is found in the results of joint probability density functions of $u$ (streamwise velocity fluctuations) and $\tilde{C}$ as well as that of $w$ and $\tilde{C}$ . Results of cross-correlation coefficient show that high- and low-momentum regions have a distinctive role in the transport of passive scalar. Above the plume centreline, low-speed structures have a lead over the meandering plume, while high-momentum regions are seen to lag behind the plume below its centreline. Further examination of the phase relationship between time-varying $u$ and $c$ (concentration fluctuations) via cross-spectrum analysis is consistent with this observation. Based on these observations, a phenomenological model is presented for the relative arrangement of a passive scalar plume with respect to large-scale velocity structures in the flow.
Geometrical structure analysis of a zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layer
- Weipeng Li, Lipo Wang
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- 04 May 2018, pp. 318-340
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The present work focuses on the geometrical features of a zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layer based on vectorline segment analysis. In a turbulent vector field, tracing from any non-singular point, along either the vector or the inverse direction, one will reach a local extremum of the vector magnitude. The vectorline between the two local extrema is defined as the vectorline segment corresponding to the given spatial point. Specifically the vectorline segment can be the streamline segment for the velocity vector case, or the vorticity line segment for the vorticity vector case. Such a quantitatively defined and space-filling vectorline segment structure reflects the natural vectorial topology. Because of inhomogeneity in the wall-normal direction, vectorline segments corresponding to the grid points at specified wall-normal distances are sampled for statistics. For streamline segments, the probability density function (p.d.f.) of the normalized segment length in different flow regions matches a model solution, and for vorticity line segments such a p.d.f. in the log-law region and beyond matches the same model solution, which indicates some universality of different flow regions and different vector field structures. Typically the joint p.d.f. of the characteristic parameters of streamline segments presents clear asymmetry, which is closely related to the skewness of the velocity derivative. Moreover, the orientation statistics of vectorline segments, characterized by the coordinate difference between the segment starting point and ending point, have been provided to quantify the flow anisotropy.
Wall shear stress from jetting cavitation bubbles
- Qingyun Zeng, Silvestre Roberto Gonzalez-Avila, Rory Dijkink, Phoevos Koukouvinis, Manolis Gavaises, Claus-Dieter Ohl
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- 04 May 2018, pp. 341-355
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The collapse of a cavitation bubble near a rigid boundary induces a high-speed transient jet accelerating liquid onto the boundary. The shear flow produced by this event has many applications, examples of which are surface cleaning, cell membrane poration and enhanced cooling. Yet the magnitude and spatio-temporal distribution of the wall shear stress are not well understood, neither experimentally nor by simulations. Here we solve the flow in the boundary layer using an axisymmetric compressible volume-of-fluid solver from the OpenFOAM framework and discuss the resulting wall shear stress generated for a non-dimensional distance, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}=1.0$ ( $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}=h/R_{max}$ , where $h$ is the distance of the initial bubble centre to the boundary, and $R_{max}$ is the maximum spherical equivalent radius of the bubble). The calculation of the wall shear stress is found to be reliable once the flow region with constant shear rate in the boundary layer is determined. Very high wall shear stresses of 100 kPa are found during the early spreading of the jet, followed by complex flows composed of annular stagnation rings and secondary vortices. Although the simulated bubble dynamics agrees very well with experiments, we obtain only qualitative agreement with experiments due to inherent experimental challenges.
Multiple bifurcations of the flow over stalled airfoils when changing the Reynolds number
- E. Rossi, A. Colagrossi, G. Oger, D. Le Touzé
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- 04 May 2018, pp. 356-391
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In the present study, the sudden changes of the flow field past stalled airfoils for small variations of the Reynolds number are investigated numerically. A vortex particle method has been used for the simulations in a two-dimensional framework. The most critical configurations found with this solver are verified through the comparison with the solution given by a mesh-based finite volume solver. The airfoils considered are the NACA0010 and a narrow ellipse with the same thickness. The angle of attack is fixed to $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=30^{\circ }$ for which complex dynamics of the flow can take place in the different viscous regimes inspected. The Reynolds number ranges between $Re=100$ and $Re=3000$ and, within this interval, numerous bifurcations of the solution are observed in terms of mean lift and drag coefficients, Strouhal number and downstream wake. An analysis of these bifurcations is provided and links are made between the wake structures observed. On this base the flow patterns can be classified in different modes similarly to the analysis by Kurtulus (Intl J. Micro Air Vehicles, vol. 7(3), 2015, pp. 301–326; vol. 8(2), 2016, pp. 109–139). A discussion of the vortical evolution of the flow in the vicinity of the suction side of the airfoil is also provided.
Shear lift forces on nanocylinders in the free molecule regime
- Shuang Luo, Jun Wang, Song Yu, Guodong Xia, Zhigang Li
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- 08 May 2018, pp. 392-410
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In the present paper, analytical formulae for the shear lift forces on nanocylinders moving in linear shear flows in the free molecule regime are derived on the basis of the gas kinetic theory. The model takes into account the intermolecular interactions between the nanocylinders and gas molecules, i.e., the non-rigid-body effect. It is shown that the resulting formulae are consistent with the previous theory in the limit of rigid-body collisions. The lift forces acting on carbon nanotubes and long-chain $n$ -alkanes are evaluated as examples. It is found that the non-rigid-body effect is of great importance for small nanocylinders at low temperatures.
Effect of the multiphase composition in a premixed fuel–air stream on wedge-induced oblique detonation stabilisation
- Zhaoxin Ren, Bing Wang, Gaoming Xiang, Longxi Zheng
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- 08 May 2018, pp. 411-427
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An oblique detonation wave in two-phase kerosene–air mixtures over a wedge is numerically studied for the first time. The features of initiation and stabilisation of the two-phase oblique detonation are emphasised, and they are different from those in previous studies on single-phase gaseous detonation. The gas–droplet reacting flow system is solved by means of a hybrid Eulerian–Lagrangian method. The two-way coupling for the interphase interactions is carefully considered using a particle-in-cell model. For discretisation of the governing equations of the gas phase, a WENO-CU6 scheme (Hu et al., J. Comput. Phys., vol. 229 (23), 2010, pp. 8952–8965) and a sixth-order compact scheme are employed for the convective terms and the diffusive terms, respectively. The inflow parameters are chosen properly from real flight conditions. The fuel vapour, droplets and their mixture are taken as the fuel in homogeneous streams with a stoichiometric ratio, respectively. The effects of evaporating droplets and initial droplet size on the initiation, transition from oblique shock to detonation and stabilisation are elucidated. The two-phase oblique detonation wave is stabilised from the oblique shock wave induced by the wedge. As the mass flow rate of droplets increases, a shift from a smooth transition with a curved shock to an abrupt one with a multi-wave point is found, and the initiation length of the oblique detonation increases, which is associated with the increase of the transition pressure. By increasing the initial droplet size, a smooth transition pattern is observed, even if the equivalence ratio remains constant, and the transition pressure decreases. The factor responsible is incomplete evaporation before the detonation fronts, which results in a complicated flame structure, including regimes of formation of oblique detonation, evaporative cooling of droplets and post-detonation reaction.
Subgrid-scale effects in compressible variable-density decaying turbulence
- Sidharth GS, Graham V. Candler
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- 08 May 2018, pp. 428-459
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Many turbulent flows are characterized by complex scale interactions and vorticity generation caused by compressibility and variable-density effects. In the large-eddy simulation of variable-density flows, these processes manifest themselves as subgrid-scale (SGS) terms that interact with the resolved-scale flow. This paper studies the effect of the variable-density SGS terms and quantifies their relative importance. We consider the SGS terms appearing in the density-weighted Favre-filtered equations and in the unweighted Reynolds-filtered equations. The conventional form of the Reynolds-filtered momentum equation is complicated by a temporal SGS term; therefore, we derive a new form of the Reynolds-filtered governing equations that does not contain this term and has only double-correlation SGS terms. The new form of the filtered equations has terms that represent the SGS mass flux, pressure-gradient acceleration and velocity-dilatation correlation. To evaluate the dynamical significance of the variable-density SGS effects, we carry out direct numerical simulations of compressible decaying turbulence at a turbulent Mach number of 0.3. Two different initial thermodynamic conditions are investigated: homentropic and a thermally inhomogeneous gas with regions of differing densities. The simulated flow fields are explicitly filtered to evaluate the SGS terms. The importance of the variable-density SGS terms is quantified relative to the SGS specific stress, which is the only SGS term active in incompressible constant-density turbulence. It is found that while the variable-density SGS terms in the homentropic case are negligible, they are dynamically significant in the thermally inhomogeneous flows. Investigation of the variable-density SGS terms is therefore important, not only to develop variable-density closures but also to improve the understanding of scale interactions in variable-density flows.
Transient gas flow in elastic microchannels
- Shai B. Elbaz, Hila Jacob, Amir D. Gat
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- 08 May 2018, pp. 460-481
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We study pressure-driven propagation of gas into a two-dimensional microchannel bounded by linearly elastic substrates. Relevant fields of application include lab-on-a-chip devices, soft robotics and respiratory flows. Applying the lubrication approximation, the flow field is governed by the interaction between elasticity and viscosity, as well as weak rarefaction and low-Mach-number compressibility effects, characteristic of gaseous microflows. A governing equation describing the evolution of channel height is derived for the problem. Several physical limits allow simplification of the governing equation and solution by self-similarity. These limits, representing different physical regimes and their corresponding time scales, include compressibility–elasticity–viscosity, compressibility–viscosity and elasticity–viscosity dominant balances. Transition of the flow field between these regimes and corresponding exact solutions is illustrated for the case of an impulsive mass insertion in which the order of magnitude of the deflection evolves in time. For an initial channel thickness which is similar to the elastic deformation generated by the background pressure, a symmetry between compressibility and elasticity allows us to obtain a self-similar solution which includes weak rarefaction effects. The presented results are validated by numerical solutions of the evolution equation.
Turbulent drag reduction in plane Couette flow with polymer additives: a direct numerical simulation study
- Hao Teng, Nansheng Liu, Xiyun Lu, Bamin Khomami
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- 08 May 2018, pp. 482-507
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Drag reduction (DR) in plane Couette flow (PCF) induced by the addition of flexible polymers has been studied via direct numerical simulation (DNS). The similarities and differences in the drag reduction features of PCF and plane Poiseuille flow (PPF) have been examined in detail, particularly in regard to the polymer-induced modification of large-scale structures (LSSs) in the near-wall turbulence. Specifically, it has been demonstrated that in the near-wall region, drag-reduced PCF has features similar to those of drag-reduced PPF; however, in the core region, intriguing differences are found between these two drag-reduced shear flows. Chief among these differences is the significant polymer stretch that arises from the enhanced exchanges between elastic potential energy and turbulent kinetic energy and the commensurate observation of peak values of the conformation tensor components $\unicode[STIX]{x1D60A}_{yy}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D60A}_{zz}$ in this region. This finding is in stark contrast to that of drag-reduced PPF where the polymer stretch and the exchanges between elastic potential energy and turbulent kinetic energy in the core region are insignificant; to this end, in drag-reduced PPF, peak values of the conformation tensor components appear in the near-wall region. Therefore, this study paves the way for understanding the underlying flow physics in drag-reduced PCF, particularly in the context of elastic theory. Moreover, the longitudinal large-scale streaks at the channel centre of drag-reduced PCF are greatly strengthened due to the increased production/dissipation ratio; the LSS imprint effects on the near-wall flow of drag-reduced PCF monotonically increase as the Weissenberg number is enhanced.