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### Research Papers: Flows in Complex Systems

J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011101-011101-13. doi:10.1115/1.4040374.

Hydrodynamic cavitation downstream a range of micropillar geometries entrenched in a microchannel were studied experimentally. Pressurized helium gas at the inlet tank and vacuum pressure at the outlet propelled distilled water through the device and trigger cavitation. The entire process from cavitation inception to the development of elongated attached cavity was recorded. Three modes of cavitation inception were observed and key parameters of cavitation processes, such as cavity length and angle of attachment, were compared among various micropillar geometries. Cavitation downstream of a triangular micropillar was found to have a distinct inception mode with relatively high cavitation inception numbers. After reaching its full elongated form, it prevailed through a larger system pressures and possessed the longest attached cavity. Cavity angle of attachments was predominantly related to the shape of the micropillar. Micropillars with sharp vertex led to lower cavity attachment angles close to the flow separation point, while circular micropillars resulted in higher angles. Twin circular micropillars have a unique cavitation pattern that was affected by vortex shedding. Fast Fourier transformation (FFT) analysis of the cavity image intensity revealed transverse cavity shedding frequencies in various geometries and provided an estimation for vortex shedding frequencies.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011102-011102-13. doi:10.1115/1.4040389.

Flow over ducted shallow cavities can excite fluid resonant oscillations. A common industrial application is the flow in corrugated pipes that can be modeled as a series of consecutive shallow cavities. In the current study, the effect of the separation distance on the aeroacoustic source of multiple shallow cavities is investigated. The standing wave method (SWM) is used to measure the source, where multiple microphones reconstruct the acoustic standing wave upstream and downstream of the cavities. The effect of the ratio between the separation distance to cavity length is investigated for a practical range from 0.5 to 1.375 for two- and three-cavity configurations. At low and intermediate sound levels, constructive hydrodynamic interference, resulting in a strong source, is observed for the extremum spacing ratios of 0.5 and 1.375. However, at high excitation levels, 10% and higher, the source, slightly but consistently, decreases upon increasing the separation ratio. These trends persist for both the double- and triple-cavity configurations. On the other hand, the separation distance of destructive interference is found to depend on the number of cavities of the tested configuration. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the constructive interference cases show strong synchronized vorticity shedding in all cavities. Each cavity contribution to the total aeroacoustic source is then examined by means of Howe's analogy, and the percentage contribution of each cavity is found to depend on the excitation level.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011103-011103-16. doi:10.1115/1.4040302.

In the present work, a numerical study is carried out to compare the performance of seven turbulence models on a single pitching blade of cycloidal rotor operating in deep dynamic stall regime at moderate Reynolds number. The investigated turbulence models were: (i) kω-shear stress transport (SST), (ii) kω-SST with γ, (iii) transition SST (γ–Reθ), (iv) scale adaptive simulation (SAS), (v) SAS coupled with transition SST, (vi) SAS with γ, and (vii) detached eddy simulation (DES) coupled with transition kω-SST. The wake vortices evolution and shedding analysis are also carried out for the pitching blade. The performance of the investigated turbulence models is evaluated at various critical points on the hysterias loop of lift and drag coefficients. The predictions of the investigated turbulence models are in good agreement at lower angle of attack, i.e., αu ≤ 20 deg. The detailed quantitative analysis at critical points showed that the predictions of SAS and transition SST-SAS turbulence models are in better agreement with the experimental results as compared to the other investigated models. The wake vortices analysis and fast Fourier transport analysis showed that the wake vortex characteristics of a pitching blade are significantly different than those for the low amplitude oscillating blade at the higher reduced frequency.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011104-011104-10. doi:10.1115/1.4040503.

In this study, a qualitative assessment of transitional velocity engineering models for predicting non-Newtonian slurry flows in a horizontal pipe was performed using data from a wide range of pipe diameters (25–268 mm). In addition, the gamma theta transition model was used to compute selected flow conditions. These models were used to predict transitional velocities in large pipe diameters (up to 420 mm) for slurries. In general, it was observed that most of the current engineering models predict transitional velocities conservatively. Based on the gamma theta transition model results, for large Hedström numbers (He $≳$ 105), other methods should be used to predict transitional velocities if a change in the pipe diameter (scale-up) results in an order of magnitude increase in the He value. It was also found that the gamma theta transition model predicted a laminar flow condition in the fully developed region for flow conditions with a small plug region (low-yield stress-to-wall shear stress ratio), which is contrary to what has been observed in some experiments. This is attributed to the local fluid rheological parameters values, which might be different from those reported. However, the gamma theta transition model results are in good agreement with the experimental data for flow conditions that have a large plug region (high-yield stress-to-wall shear stress ratio).

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011105-011105-9. doi:10.1115/1.4040466.
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This paper describes an imbalanced torque force, called the Thomas/Alford force, of a partial-admission turbine for the rocket engine turbopump. The Thomas/Alford force is a destabilizing force imposed on the rotor that could cause rotor dynamic instability. This, in turn, may impair stable operation of the rocket engine and trigger mission failure. Such destabilizing force should be avoided as its characteristics have not been discussed in detail. In this study, Thomas/Alford forces for typical symmetric partially open/closed nozzle patterns with an open/closed ratio are analyzed. For such an open/closed ratio, it was determined that the Thomas/Alford force varied with the whirling angle, and whether the open/closed ratio may impair stable operation and reliability of the rocket engine turbopump is contingent on avoiding such fluctuation. The reason for such fluctuation was investigated by mathematical methodology, which was then extended to determine a general rule of patterns for rocket engine designers. This rule would, thus, prove useful in the future development of a partial-admission turbine for a rocket engine turbopump.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011106-011106-15. doi:10.1115/1.4040500.

The occurrence of self-excited noise felt as squealing noise is a critical issue for an electrohydraulic servovalve that is an essential part of the hydraulic servocontrol system. Aiming to highlight the root causes of the self-excited noise, the effect of oil viscosity on the noise production inside a two-stage servovalve is investigated in this paper. The pressure pulsations' characteristics and noise characteristics are studied at three different oil viscosities experimentally by focusing on the flapper-nozzle pilot stage of a two-stage servovalve. The cavitation-induced and vortex-induced pressure pulsations' characteristics at upstream and downstream of the turbulent jet flow path are extracted and analyzed numerically by comparing with the experimental measured pressure pulsations and noise characteristics. The numerical simulations of transient cavitation shedding phenomenon are also validated by the experimental cavitation observations at different oil viscosities. Both numerical simulations and experimental cavitation observations explain that cavitation shedding phenomenon is intensified with the decreasing of oil viscosity. The small-scale vortex propagation with the characteristic of generating, growing, moving, and merging is numerically simulated. Thus, this study reveals that the oil viscosity affects the transient distribution of cavitation and small-scale vortex, which, in turn, enhances the pressure pulsation and noise. The noise characteristics achieve a good agreement with pressure pulsation characteristics showing that the squealing noise appears accompanied by the flow field resonance in the flapper-nozzle. The flow-acoustic resonance and resulting squealing noise possibly occurs when the amplitude of the pressure pulsations near the flapper is large enough inside a two-stage servovalve.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011107-011107-15. doi:10.1115/1.4040833.

It is important to understand the operational aspects which affect the continuous fabrication of alginate gel fibers. These can be formed from a cross-linking reaction of an alginate precursor injected into a coaxial annular pipe flow with a calcium chloride solution. This is an example of an emerging solid interface that interacts with the flow in its neighborhood. We advance on earlier works by relaxing assumptions of a fixed spatial domain to explore and observe mechanisms controlling gel radius. We use two different models. The first one represents the gel layer as a capillary interface between two immiscible liquids and captures the effect of surface tension. A second model is introduced to treat the cross-linking chemical reaction and its effect on the viscosity as the alginate gel forms. Through numerical simulations and analytical approximations of the downstream behavior, we determine the shape of the fiber in the pipe flow and its impact on the flow velocity as well as on the total production of gel.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

### Research Papers: Fundamental Issues and Canonical Flows

J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011201-011201-16. doi:10.1115/1.4040446.

In this study, a theoretical analysis is performed to assess the interaction of freestream disturbances with a plane normal shock considering real gas effects. Such effects are important in a field with high velocities and high temperatures. To perform the theoretical analysis, the downstream disturbances field is expressed as a mathematical function of the upstream one by incorporating real gas effects in the formulation. Here, the linearized one-dimensional perturbed unsteady Euler equations are used for the classification of the downstream/upstream disturbances field and the linearized one-dimensional perturbed Rankine–Hugoniot equations are applied to provide a relationship between the disturbances field of two sides of the shock. To incorporate real gas effects in the formulation, real gas relations and equilibrium air curve-fits are used in the resulting system of equations. The general formulation presented here may be simplified to derive Morkovin's formulation by the perfect gas assumption. The magnitudes of downstream disturbances field resulting from different types of upstream disturbances field (entropy wave and fast/slow acoustic waves) with the shock are expressed by appropriate analytical relations. Results for different disturbance variables are presented for a wide range of upstream Mach number considering real gas effects and compared with those of the perfect gas and some conclusions are made. The effects of the presence of body are also studied theoretically and the analytical relations for the magnitude of the pressure disturbance at the body for different types of upstream disturbances field considering real gas effects are provided and their results are presented and discussed.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011202-011202-12. doi:10.1115/1.4040447.

Supersonic jets at design Mach number of 1.45 issuing from circular 30 deg and 60 deg double-beveled nozzles have been investigated experimentally and numerically in the present study, with a view to potentially improve mixing behavior. Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations of the double-beveled nozzles and a benchmark nonbeveled nozzle were performed at nozzle-pressure-ratios (NPR) between 2.8 and 5.0, and the results are observed to agree well with Schlieren visualizations obtained from a modified Z-type Schlieren system. Double-beveled nozzles are observed to produce shorter potential core lengths, modifications to the first shock cell lengths that are sensitive toward the NPR and jet half-widths that are typically wider and narrower along the trough-to-trough (TT) and peak-to-peak (PP) planes, respectively. Lastly, using double-beveled nozzles leads to significant mass flux ratios at NPR of 5.0, with a larger bevel-angle demonstrating higher entrainment levels.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011203-011203-9. doi:10.1115/1.4040441.

The physical mechanism for the evolution and decay of Lamb–Oseen vortex pair in ground proximity with an obstacle has been investigated in detail by adopting the large eddy simulation (LES). In the present research, we mainly focus on the vortex evolution and decay mechanism in ground proximity with obstacle, so we chose one fixed height of the obstacle case (h0 = 0.5b0) to investigate, and the obstacle is placed transversally to the axis of the primary wake to be analyzed. The trajectories of the primary wake-vortex cores and the circulation profiles, as well as the distribution of the tangential velocity on different axial positions, have been specifically captured and analyzed. The “strake,” “claw,” and “ivory” vortices have been newly found and defined at the initial evolution stage, and they subsequently begin to harshly wind and rotate with the primary vortex. A flow structure with double helix conical shapes of the primary vortex has been found in the obstacle case. The pressure waves along the vortex axis have also been analyzed in detail. The wake-vortex on each side would be pulled in opposite axial directions and eventually pinched off at the upper surface of obstacle. Moreover, it has also been newly found that the trajectories of the wake-vortex in longitudinal directions at different axial distances away from the obstacle will experience two kinds of motion: only descending and rebounding after descending. Results obtained in this study provide a better understanding of mechanisms for the interaction of wake-vortex and the obstacle.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011204-011204-11. doi:10.1115/1.4040098.

An inducer is used as the first stage of high suction performance pump. It pressurizes the fluid to delay the onset of cavitation, which can adversely affect performance in a centrifugal pump. In this paper, the performance of a water pump inducer has been explored with and without the implementation of a stability control device (SCD). This device is an inlet cover bleed system that removes high-energy fluid near the blade leading edge and reinjects it back upstream. The research was conducted by running multiphase, time-accurate computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations at the design flow coefficient and at low, off-design flow coefficients. The suction performance and stability for the same inducer with and without the implementation of the SCD has been explored. An improvement in stability and suction performance was observed when the SCD was implemented. Without the SCD, the inducer developed backflow at the blade tip, which led to rotating cavitation and larger rotordynamic forces. With the SCD, no significant cavitation instabilities developed, and the rotordynamic forces remained small. The lack of cavitation instabilities also allowed the inducer to operate at lower inlet pressures, increasing the suction performance of the inducer.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011205-011205-12. doi:10.1115/1.4040467.

This paper investigates the ability of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to accurately predict the turbulent flow separating from a three-dimensional (3D) axisymmetric hill using a recently developed four-equation eddy-viscosity model (EVM). The four-equation model, denoted as k–kL–ω–v2, was developed to demonstrate physically accurate responses to flow transition, streamline curvature, and system rotation effects. The model was previously tested on several two-dimensional cases with results showing improvement in predictions when compared to other popularly available EVMs. In this paper, we present a more complex 3D application of the model. The test case is turbulent boundary layer flow with thickness δ over a hill of height 2δ mounted in an enclosed channel. The flow Reynolds number based on the hill height (ReH) is 1.3 × 105. For validation purposes, CFD simulation results obtained using the k–kL–ω–v2 model are compared with two other Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) models (fully turbulent shear stress transport k–ω and transition-sensitive k–kL–ω) and with experimental data. Results obtained from the simulations in terms of mean flow statistics, pressure distribution, and turbulence characteristics are presented and discussed in detail. The results indicate that both the complex physics of flow transition and streamline curvature should be taken into account to significantly improve RANS-based CFD predictions for applications involving blunt or curved bodies in a low Re turbulent regime.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011206-011206-8. doi:10.1115/1.4040971.

Strong electric field applied between the two electrodes initiates a corona discharge, which results in ionization of gas molecules and induces ionic wind, also known as the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow. If an electric field is asymmetric, then a unidirectional gas flow can be formed causing so-called EHD gas pumping. In spite of many experiments with different electrode shapes and configurations such as needle-to-mesh, needle-to-ring, wire-to-rod, wire-to-non-parallel plates, etc., aimed at production of intensive gas pumping, the investigated EHD pumps were most often unsatisfactory. In our research, we proposed a new configuration of electrodes for the EHD pump, where all electrodes (excluding the first one and the last one) are simultaneously the discharge (on one side) and the collecting (on the other side) electrodes. Our electrodes configuration can be easily multiplied without additional space between consecutive electrodes. In such a case, a high ratio of pumping efficiency to pump size can be obtained. The Time-Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry technique was used to investigate the EHD flow generated by our EHD pump.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

### Research Papers: Multiphase Flows

J. Fluids Eng. 2018;141(1):011301-011301-7. doi:10.1115/1.4040373.

Trajectory and penetration of elliptical liquid jets emerged into a low-speed crossflow of air are studied. The jets are introduced to the crossflow at different momentum ratios ranging from 1 to 300. The images are analyzed to obtain the trajectories of the outer boundary of the jets for two different aspect ratios. An empirical correlation is proposed for the present injector geometries and for the range of momentum ratio, Weber, and Reynolds numbers used in this study. Finally, a theoretical model for the trajectory of the liquid column for an initially elliptical liquid emerging into a crossflow is presented, and the associated drag coefficients are obtained for a precise trajectory prediction.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster