A numerical study of fluid injection and mixing under near-critical conditions

Nitrogen injection under conditions close vicinity of the liquid-gas critical point is studied numerically. The fluid thermodynamic and transport properties vary drasti- cally and exhibit anomalies in the near-critical regime. These anomalies can cause distinctive effects on heat-transfer and fluid-flow characteristics. To focus on the influence of ther- modynamics on the flow field, a relatively low injection Reynolds number of 1 750 is adopted. For comparisons, a reference case with the same configuration and Reynolds number is simulated in the ideal gas regime. The model accommodates full conservation laws, real-fluid thermody- namic and transport phenomena. Results reveal that the flow features of the near-critical fluid jet are significantly differ- ent from their counterpart. The near-critical fluid jet spreads faster and mixes more efficiently with the ambient fluid along with a more rapidly development of the vortex pairing pro- cess. Detailed analysis at different streamwise locations in- cluding both the flat shear-layer region and fully developed vortex region reveals the important effect of volume dilata- tion and baroclinic torque in the near-critical fluid case. The former disturbs the shear layer and makes it more unstable. The volume dilatation and baroclinic effects strengthen the vorticity and stimulate the vortex rolling up and pairing pro- cess

Linear stability analysis of interactions between mixing layer and boundary layer flows

The linear instabilities of incompressible confluent mixing layer and boundary layer were analyzed.The mixing layers include wake,shear layer and their combination.The mean velocity profile of confluent flow is taken as a superposition of a hyperbolic and exponential function to model a mixing layer and the Blasius similarity solution for a flat plate boundary layer.The stability equation of confluent flow was solved by using the global numerical method.The unstable modes associated with both the mixing and boundary layers were identified.They are the boundary layer mode,mixing layer mode 1（nearly symmetrical mode）and mode 2（nearly anti-symmetrical mode）.The interactions between the mixing layer stability and the boundary layer stability were examined.As the mixing layer approaches the boundary layer,the neutral curves of the boundary layer mode move to the upper left,the resulting critical Reynolds number decreases,and the growth rate of the most unstable mode increases.The wall tends to stabilize the mixing layer modes at low frequency.In addition,the mode switching behavior of the relative level of the spatial growth rate between the mixing layer mode 1 and mode 2 with the velocity ratio is found to occur at low frequency.

Squeal noise in hydraulic poppet valves

The poppet valve is a fundamental component in fluid power systems. Under particular conditions, annoying ＂squeal＂ noises may be generated in hydraulic poppet valves. In the present study, the frequency spectrum of the squeal noise is obtained by analyzing the sampling data from the accelerometer mounted on the valve body. It is found that the flow velocity, pressure, and structural parameters have crucial effects on the properties of squeal noise, especially frequency. Larger valve chamber volume or lower backpressure leads to lower fundamental frequency of the squeal noise. An explanation for the squeal noise, as a result of Helmholtz resonance, is suggested and proved by experimental results.