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Numerical Simulation of Turbulent Pipe Flow Through an Abrupt Axisymmetric Constriction

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Abstract

Turbulent flow through an abrupt axisymmetric contraction has been investigated in a computational study. The full three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations have been solved in cylindrical coordinates. The ring-like obstruction was accounted for by an immersed boundary method implemented in an open source code. The results were compared with data from an experimental study and a surprisingly good agreement was found in the separated-flow region downstream of the obstruction. A distinctly higher turbulence level was predicted upstream of the obstruction as compared with the measured data. Due to the imposed streamwise periodicity the simulated configuration mimicked a sequence of equally spaced obstructions and this periodicity gives rise to substantially higher turbulence levels than in a single-ring configuration. Particular attention was paid to the possible occurrence of mean-flow asymmetries, as frequently reported in planar-symmetric configuration. No sign of the Coanda effect was observed in the present study, for which a physical explanation was provided.

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  1. Fluids Engineering Division, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    F. Nygård & H. I. Andersson

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  1. F. Nygård
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  2. H. I. Andersson
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Correspondence to F. Nygård.

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Nygård, F., Andersson, H.I. Numerical Simulation of Turbulent Pipe Flow Through an Abrupt Axisymmetric Constriction. Flow Turbulence Combust 91, 1–18 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10494-013-9447-y

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