Abstract
This paper reports laser-Doppler measurements of the mean flow and turbulence stresses in a swirling pipe flow. Experiments were carried out under well-controlled laboratory conditions in a refractive index-matched pipe flow facility. The results show pronounced asymmetry in mean and fluctuating quantities during the downstream decay of the swirl. Experimental data reveal that the swirl significantly modifies the anisotropy of turbulence and that it can induce explosive growth of the turbulent kinetic energy during its decay. Anisotropy invariant mapping of the turbulent stresses shows that the additional flow deformation imposed by initially strong swirling motion forces turbulence in the core region to tend towards the isotropic two-component state. When turbulence reaches this limiting state it induces rapid production of turbulent kinetic energy during the swirl decay.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The mean rate of deformation tensor \(\partial\overline{U}_i/\partial x_j\) may be written as
$$ {{\partial\overline{U}_i}\over {\partial x_j}}= \underbrace{ {{1}\over {2}}\left({{\partial \overline{U}_i}\over {\partial x_j}}+ {{\partial \overline{U}_j}\over {\partial x_i}}\right)}_ {\rm strain\;\;part} + \underbrace{ {{1}\over {2}}\left({{\partial \overline{U}_i}\over {\partial x_j}}- {{\partial \overline{U}_j}\over {\partial x_i}}\right)}_ {\rm rotation\;\;part}.$$
References
Algifri AH, Bhardwaj RK, Rao YV (1987) Prediction of the decay process in turbulent swirl flow. Proc Instn Eng 201:279–283
Baker DW (1967) Decay of swirling, turbulent flow of incompressible fluids in long pipes. PhD Thesis, University of Maryland
Cassidy JJ, Falvey T (1970) Observations of unsteady flow arising after vortex breakdown. J Fluid Mech 41:727–736
Durst F, Jovanović J, Sender J (1995) LDA measurements in the near-wall region of a turbulent pipe flow. J Fluid Mech 295:305–335
Durst F, Fischer M, Jovanović J, Kikura H (1998) Methods to set up and investigate low Reynolds number, fully developed turbulent plane channel flows. J Fluids Eng 120:496–503
Eggels JGM, Boersma BJ, Nieuwstadt FTM (1994) Direct and large-eddy simulations of turbulent flow in an axially rotating pipe. J Fluid Mech (submitted)
Fejer A, Lavan Z, Wolf L (1968) Study of swirling fluid flows. ARL 68-0173, Aeroscale Research Laboratories
Hirai S, Takagi T, Matsumoto M (1988) Predictions of the laminarization phenomena in an axially rotating pipe flow. J Fluids Eng 110:424–430
Hopfinger EJ, Browand FK, Gagne Y (1982) Turbulence and waves in a rotating tank. J Fluid Mech 125:505–534
Ibbetson A, Tritton DJ (1975) Experiments in a rotating fluid. J Fluid Mech 68:639–672
Jacquin L, Leuchter O, Cambon C, Mathieu J (1990) Homogeneous turbulence in the presence of rotation. J Fluid Mech 220:1–52
Jakirić S (1997) Reynolds-Spannungs-Modellierung komplexer turbulenter Strömungen. Dissertation, Universitatät Erlangen-Nürnberg
Jovanović J (2004) The statistical dynamics of turbulence. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Jovanović J, Otić I (2000) On the constitutive relation for the Reynolds stresses and the Prandtl–Kolmogorov hypothesis of effective viscosity in axisymmetric strained turbulence. J Fluids Eng 122:48–50
Kikuyama K, Murakami M, Nishibori K, Madea K (1983) Flow in an axially rotating pipe. Bull JSME 26:506–513
Kikuyama K, Murakami M, Nishibori K (1983) Development of three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer in axially rotating pipe. J Fluid Eng 105:154–160
Kitoh O (1991) Experimental study of turbulent swirling flow in a straight pipe. J Fluid Mech 225:445–479
Laufer J (1954) The structure of turbulence in fully developed pipe flow. NACA TN 1174
Launder BE, Morse A (1979) Numerical prediction of axisymmetric free shear flows with a Reynolds stress closure. In: Durst F et al (eds) Turbulent shear flows I. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 279–294
Li H, Tomita Y (1994) Characteristics of swirling flow in a circular pipe. J Fluids Eng 116:370–373
Lumley JL (1978) Computational modeling of turbulent flows. Adv Appl Mech 18:123–176
Lumley JL, Newman GR (1977) The return to isotropy of homogeneous turbulence. J Fluid Mech 82:161–178
Moser RD, Kim J, Mansour NN (1999) DNS of turbulent channel flow up to Re τ=590. Phys Fluids 11:943–945
Murakami M, Kito O, Katayama Y, Iida Y (1976) An experimental study of swirling flow in pipes. Bull JSME 19:118–126
Nishibori K, Kikuyama K, Murakami M (1987) Laminarisation of turbulent flow in the inlet region of an axially rotating pipe. Int J JSME 30:255–262
Nishibori K, Kikuyama K, Kimura T (1988) Effect of inlet swirl on the turbulent flow in an axially rotating pipe. In: Proceedings of 2nd international symposium on transport phenomena, Honolulu, pp 235–250
Orlandi P, Fatica M (1997) Direct simulations of a turbulent pipe rotating along the axis. J Fluid Mech 343:43–72
Reich G (1988) Strömung und Wärmeübertragung in einem axial rotierenden Rohr. PhD Thesis, Technische Hochschule Darmstadt
Reich G, Beer H (1989) Fluid flow and heat transfer in an axially rotating pipe: effect of rotation on turbulent pipe flow. Int J Heat Mass Transf 31:551–562
Senoo Y, Nagata T (1972) Swirl flow in long pipes with different roughness. Bull JSME 15:1514–1521
Speziale CG (1998) A review of material frame-indifference in mechanics. Appl Mech Rev 51:489–504
Steenbergen W (1995) Turbulent pipe flow with swirl. PhD Thesis, University of Eindhoven
Traugott SC (1958) Influence of solid body rotation on screen produced turbulence. NACA TN 4135
Veeravalli SV (1990) An experimental study of the effects of rapid rotation on turbulence. Annual Research Briefs, Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University, pp 203–220
Wigeland RA, Nagib HM (1978) Grid generated turbulence with and without rotation about the streamwise direction. IIT Fluid and Heat Transfer Report R78-1
Wolf L, Lavan Z, Fejer A (1969) Measurements of the decay of swirl in turbulent flow. AIAA J 7:971–973
Acknowledgments
This research received financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Grant Jo 240/3-2). We gratefully acknowledge this support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pashtrapanska, M., Jovanović, J., Lienhart, H. et al. Turbulence measurements in a swirling pipe flow. Exp Fluids 41, 813–827 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-006-0206-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-006-0206-x