pipe flow

It is important to control turbulence in industrial processes. Past experimental and numerical researches have shown that a turbulent puff in pipe flow can be removed or delayed by flattening the profile of the upstream velocity because a flattened velocity profile causes the point of inflection on it to collapse. The energy gradient theory has been developed to study turbulent transition, and the relevant studies have shown that turbulence arises due to the generation of singularities in the flow field. In pressure-driven flows like the pipe flow, the point of inflection on the velocity profile leads to the appearance of a singular point in the unsteady Navier–Stokes equation. In this study, the energy gradient theory is used to demonstrate why the point of inflection on the profile of velocity of pipe flow is the critical point for generating turbulence. Then, it is shown how flattening the velocity profile leads to the elimination of the point of inflection on the velocity profile of pipe flows to delay turbulent transition. It is also clarified why this technique is not effective at higher Reynolds number because the flattened velocity profile violates the criterion for flow stability relating to transition to turbulence.

Flow optimization and drag reduction are of great importance in industrial applications. However, most of the structural optimization and drag reduction in pipe flows are based on industrial experience or a large number of experiments, and there is a lack of general theoretical guidance. In the present work, a general approach for flow optimization and drag reduction in turbulent pipe flows is developed based on the irreversibility of flow process and the principle of minimum mechanical energy dissipation. Considering that the effective viscosity coefficient is related to the space coordinates, the field synergy equation of turbulent flow is derived. The reliability and performance of the field synergy principle of turbulent flow as well as the general approach are then evaluated and validated in a turbulent parallel flow conduit, and finally applied to industrial pipe flows. It demonstrates that the present approach is able to optimize flow field for different purposes by adding speed splitter or deflector as an interface at proper locations to alter the interactions between fluid and wall. It is robust and easy to implement, which provides general theoretical guidance for flow optimization and drag reduction in turbulent pipe flows.

In this study, Galerkin’s method of weighted residual is used to present simple approximate analytical solutions to flow and heat transfer characteristics in a pipe conveying Johnson-Segalman fluid. The developed approximate analytical solutions are verified with the results in literature. Thereafter, the solutions are used to investigate the effects of the pertinent parameters such as relaxation time parameter, viscosity parameter and Brinkman number on the fluid velocity and the temperature distributions of the pipe flow. From the results, it shows that the fluid velocity and temperature increase with the relaxation time parameter and Brinkman number. It is also established that relaxation time parameter increases with increase in the velocity of the fluid but decreases with increase in the fluid temperature. It is found that the relaxation parameter effect on the velocity distribution are not significant as the viscosity parameter approaches unity and when it is greater than unity. It is hope that the study will provide more physical insight into the flow phenomena.

Here, a steady, incompressible and isothermal flow in the inlet region of a circular pipe were numerically and experimentally studied to predict the entrance length. The region in the upstream of fully developed pipe flow is referred to as the developing flow region, the effects of which on flow parameters are referred to as entrance effects. Entrance length shows the length of the developing flow region. The analysis of entrance flow is difficult and complicated as there are many parameters such as different pipe inserts affecting it. Earlier empirical results on the entrance region are inconclusive and inconsistent. Initially, an experimental study was performed with pipes of different roughness to validate the numerical results. Reynolds numbers used in the experiment ranged from 3000 to 25000. The entrance flow was numerically simulated in parallel to experimental pipe flows. Numerical results obtained were compared with those of the experimental study and of previous ones. Numerical and empirical data showed good agreement. Based on the numerical results, a well-defined numerical correlation was developed and proposed for the prediction of entrance lengths.

It is well known that behind the orifice in a pipe, flow velocity increases and pressure decreases simultaneously. The generated sound appears that is caused by the pressure fluctuations that occur as the flow passes through the orifice. Then the flow velocity is averaged over a pipe cross-section and is considered as a constant, it can be seen that the amplitude of sound increases with increases in the expiratory velocity. An experimental study of the quantitative analysis of sound pressure level correlated with expiratory velocity in a pipe was conducted using an apparatus that includes an air pump in conjunction with a pipe, a microphone, and an orifice plate, among other instruments. The regression and analysis of the results shows that the pressure fluctuation of sound spectra can be correlated to the expiratory velocity of a pipe. The experiment is conducted under conditions where the air passing through the orifice has an averaged expiratory velocity ranging from 0.88 m/sec to 1.35 m/sec, an inlet temperature of 298.15 K, and where the outlet pressure is that of the atmosphere. In this experiment, the Mach number is very low, and the compressibility effects can be ignored. The obstacle orifice plate was placed in the center of the pipe, and a microphone was mounted flush downstream to acquire the sound pressure data on the pipe wall. The measured results show that the approach for measuring the expiratory velocity using a microphone can be justified, and there exists a good correlation between the Power Spectral Density (PSD) of sound pressure fluctuation and the peak expiratory velocity.

The transition from laminar to turbulent flow in porous media is studied with a pore doublet model consisting of pipes with different diameter. The pressure drop over all pipes is recorded by pressure transducers for different flow rates. Results show that the flow in the parallel pipes is redistributed when turbulent slugs pass through one of them and six different flow zones were identified by studying the difference between the Re in the parallel pipes. Each flow zone starts when the flow regime of one of the pipe changes. Transitional flow of each pipe increases the correlation between different pipes pressure drop fluctuations. Frequency analysis of the pressure drops show that the larger pipe makes the system to oscillate by the presence of turbulent patches in its flow. However, when the flow in the smaller pipe enters into the transitional zone the larger pipe starts to follow the fluctuations of the smaller pipe.