Flow Behavior of Clay-Silt to Sand-Silt Water-Rich Suspensions at Low to High Shear Rates: Implications for Slurries, Transitional Flows, and Submarine Debris-Flows

Water-rich clay to sand suspensions show a shear rate dependent flow behavior and knowledge of the appropriate rheological model is relevant for sedimentological, industrial and hydraulic studies. We present experimental rheological measurements of water-rich(40 to 60 wt%) clay to silt(population A) and silt to sand(population B) suspensions mixed in different proportions. The data evidence a shear rate dependent shear thinning-shear thickening transition. At lower shear rates, the suspensions organize in chains of particles, whereas at higher shear rates, these chains disrupt so increasing the viscosity. The viscosity, consistency and yield stress decrease as the A+B fraction decreases as the content of B particles increases. This behavior reflects the competing effects of the lubrication and frictional processes as a function of particle size and water content. Transitional flows form by the incorporation of small amounts of the finer fraction while ‘oceanic floods’ form at the estuary of rivers and the submarine debris-flows increase their velocity by incorporating water. The critical Reynolds number of the studied suspensions is ～2000±100 suggesting that the grainsize plays a major role in the laminar to turbulent transition. Our results have implications for the modeling of sediment flows and the hazard related to floods.

Phase transition in evolution of traffic flow with scale-free property

This paper investigates the behaviour of traffic flow in traffic systems with a new model based on the NaSch model and cluster approximation of mean-field theory. The proposed model aims at constructing a mapping relationship between the microcosmic behaviour and the macroscopic property of traffic flow. Results demonstrate that scale-free phenomenon of the evolution network becomes obvious when the density value of traffic flow reaches at the critical point of phase transition from free flow to traffic congestion, and jamming is limited in this scale-free structure.

CFD study on double-to single-loop flow pattern transition and its influence on macro mixing efficiency in fully baffled tank stirred by a Rushton turbine

For a fully baffled tank stirred by a Rushton turbine (RT), the flow pattern will change from double- to single-loop as the off bottom clearance (C) of the RT decreases from one third of the tank diameter. Such a flow pattern transition as well as its influence on the macro mixing efficiency was investigated via CFD simulation. The transient sliding mesh approach coupled with the standard k-s turbulence model could correctly and efficiently reproduce the reported critical C range where the flow pattern changes. Simulation results indicated that such a critical C range varied hardly with the impeller rotation speed but decreased significantly with increasing impeller diameter. Small RTs are preferable to generating the single-loop flow pattern. A mechanism of the flow pattern transition was further proposed to explain these phe no mena. The discharge stream from the RT deviates down wards from the horizontal direction for small C values;if it meets the tank wall first, the double-loop will form;if it hits the tank bottom first, the single-loop will form. With the flow pattern transition, the mixing time decreased by about 35% at the same power input (P), indicating that the single-loop flow pattern was more efficient than the double-loop to enhance the macro mixing in the tank. A comparison was further made between the single-loop RT and pitched blade turbine (PBT, 45°) from macro mixing perspective. The single-loop RT was found to be less efficient than the PBT and usually required 60% more time to achieve the same level of macro mixing at the same P.

INVESTIGATION OF DOMINANT FREQUENCIES IN TRANSITION REYNOLDS NUMBER RANGE OF FLOW AROUND A CIRCULAR CYLINDER PARTⅡ: THEORETICAL DETERMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VORTEX SHEDDING AND TRANSITION FREQUENCIES AT DIFFERENT REYNOLDS NUMBERS

An attempt has been made to explore whether the power relation can be obtained from theoretical considerations. The classical laminar and turbulent boundary layer concepts have been employed to determine appropriate values of the scaling lengths associated with vortex shedding and shear layer frequencies to predict the power law relationship with Reynolds number. The predicted results are in good agreement with experimental results. The findings will provide a greater insight into the overall phenomenon involved.

Annular multiphase flow behavior during deep water drilling and the effect of hydrate phase transition

It is very important to understand the annular multiphase flow behavior and the effect of hydrate phase transition during deep water drilling. The basic hydrodynamic models, including mass, momentum, and energy conservation equations, were established for annular flow with gas hydrate phase transition during gas kick. The behavior of annular multiphase flow with hydrate phase transition was investigated by analyzing the hydrate-forming region, the gas fraction in the fluid flowing in the annulus, pit gain, bottom hole pressure, and shut-in casing pressure. The simulation shows that it is possible to move the hydrate-forming region away from sea floor by increasing the circulation rate. The decrease in gas volume fraction in the annulus due to hydrate formation reduces pit gain, which can delay the detection of well kick and increase the risk of hydrate plugging in lines. Caution is needed when a well is monitored for gas kick at a relatively low gas production rate, because the possibility of hydrate presence is much greater than that at a relatively high production rate. The shut-in casing pressure cannot reflect the gas kick due to hydrate formation, which increases with time.

Effect of acceleration threshold on the phase transition in a cellular automaton traffic flow model

In this paper, we incorporate new parameters into a cellular automaton traffic flow model proposed in our previous paper [Jin et al. 2010 J. Stat. Mech. 2010 P03018]. Through these parameters, we adjust the anticipated velocity and the acceleration threshold separately. It turns out that the flow rate of synchronized flow mainly changes with the anticipated velocity, and the F →S phase transition feature mainly changes with the acceleration threshold. Therefore, we conclude that the acceleration threshold is the major factor affecting the F → S phase transition.

Flow characteristics and regime transition of aqueous foams in porous media over a wide range of quality,velocity,and surfactant concentration

Aqueous foam is broadly applicable to enhanced oil recovery(EOR).The rheology of foam as a function of foam quality,gas and liquid velocities,and surfactant concentration constitute the foundation of its application.The great variations of the above factors can affect the effectiveness of N2 foam in EOR continuously in complex formations,which is rarely involved in previous relevant studies.This paper presents an experimental study of foam flow in porous media by injecting pre-generated N2 foam into a sand pack under the conditions of considering a wide range of gas and liquid velocities and surfactant concentrations.The results show that in a wide range of gas and liquid velocities,the pressure gradient contours are L-shaped near the coordinate axes,but V-shaped in other regions.And the surfactant concentration is a strong factor influencing the trend of pressure gradient contours.Foam flow resistance is very sensitive to the surfactant concentration in both the high-and low-foam quality regime,especially when the surfactant concentration is less than CMC.The foam quality is an important variable to the flow resistance obtained.There exists a transition point from low-to high-quality regime in a particular flow system,where has the maximum flow resistance,the corresponding foam quality is called transition foam quality,which increases as the surfactant concentration increases.The results can add to our knowledge base of foam rheology in porous media,and can provide a strong basis for the field application of foams.

Effect of anisotropic resistance characteristic on boundary-layer transitional flow

It is observed that the feather surface exhibits anisotropic resistances for the streamwise and spanwise flows.To obtain a qualitative understanding about the effect of this anisotropic resistance feature of surface on the boundary-layer transitional flow over a flat plate,a simple phenomenological model for the anisotropic resistance is established in this paper.By means of the large eddy simulation(LES)with high-order accurate finite difference method,the numerical investigations are conducted.The numerical results show that with the spanwise resistance hindering the formation of vortexes,the transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow can be delayed,and turbulence is weakened when the flow becomes fully turbulent,which leads to significant drag reduction for the plate.On the contrary,the streamwise resistance renders the flow less stable,which leads to the earlier transition and enhances turbulence in the turbulent region,causing a drag increase for the plate.Thus,it is indicated that a surface with large resistance for spanwise flow and small resistance for streamwise flow can achieve significant drag reduction.The present results highlight the anisotropic resistance characteristic near the feather surface for drag reduction,and shed a light on the study of bird’s efficient flight.

Critical transition Reynolds number for plane channel flow

The determination of the critical transition Reynolds number is of practical importance for some engineering problems. However, it is not available with the current theoretical method, and has to rely on experiments. For supersonic/hypersonic boundary layer flows, the experimental method for determination is not feasible either. Therefore, in this paper, a numerical method for the determination of the critical transition Reynolds number for an incompressible plane channel flow is proposed. It is basically aimed to test the feasibility of the method. The proposed method is extended to determine the critical Reynolds number of the supersonic/hypersonic boundary layer flow in the subsequent papers.

Universal threshold of the transition to localized turbulence in shear flows

Experimental and numerical studies have shown similarities between localized turbulence in channel and pipe flows.By scaling analysis of a disturbed-flow model,this paper proposes a local Reynolds number Re M to characterize the threshold of transition triggered by finite-amplitude disturbances.The Re M represents the maximum contribution of the basic flow to the momentum ratio between the nonlinear convection and the viscous diffusion.The lower critical Re M observed in experiments of plane Poiseuille flow,pipe Poiseuille flow and plane Couette flow are all close to 323,indicating the uniformity of mechanism governing the transition to localized turbulence.

Flow transitions in model Czochralski GaAs melt

The flow and heat transfer of molten GaAs during Czochralski growth are studied with a time-dependent and three- dimensional turbulent flow model. A transition from axisymmetric flow to nonoaxisymmetric flow and then back to axisymmetric flow again with increasing the crucible rotation rate is predicted. In the non-axisymmetric regime, the thermal wave induced by the combination of coriolis force, buoyancy and viscous force in the GaAs melt is predicted for the first time. The thermal wave is confirmed to be baroclinic thermal wave. The origin of the transition to non-axisymmetric flow is baroclinic instability. The critical parameters for the, transitions are presented, which are quantitatively in agreement with Fein and Preffer＇s experimental results, The calculated results can be taken as a reference for the growth of GaAs single-crystal of high quality,

Numerical and experimental study on the falling film flow characteristics with the effect of co-current gas flow in hydrogen liquefaction process

Liquid hydrogen storage and transportation is an effective method for large-scale transportation and utilization of hydrogen energy. Revealing the flow mechanism of cryogenic working fluid is the key to optimize heat exchanger structure and hydrogen liquefaction process(LH2). The methods of cryogenic visualization experiment, theoretical analysis and numerical simulation are conducted to study the falling film flow characteristics with the effect of co-current gas flow in LH2spiral wound heat exchanger.The results show that the flow rate of mixed refrigerant has a great influence on liquid film spreading process, falling film flow pattern and heat transfer performance. The liquid film of LH2mixed refrigerant with column flow pattern can not uniformly and completely cover the tube wall surface. As liquid flow rate increases, the falling film flow pattern evolves into sheet-column flow and sheet flow, and liquid film completely covers the surface of tube wall. With the increase of shear effect of gas-phase mixed refrigerant in the same direction, the liquid film gradually becomes unstable, and the flow pattern eventually evolves into a mist flow.

Phase transition model of water flow irradiated by high-energy laser in a chamber

In the absorption chamber of a high-energy laser energy meter, water is directly used as an absorbing medium and the interaction of the high-power laser and the water flow can produce a variety of physical phenomena such as phase transitions. The unit difference method is adopted to deduce the phase transition model for water flow irradiated by a high-energy laser. In addition, the model is simulated and verified through experiments. Among them, the experimental verification uses the photographic method, shooting the distribution and the form of the air mass of water flow in different operating conditions, which are compared with the simulation results. The research shows that it is achievable to reduce the intensity of the phase transition by increasing the water flow, reducing the power intensity of the beam, shortening the distance the beam covers, reducing the initial water temperature or adopting a shorter wavelength laser. The study＇s results will provide the reference for the design of a water-direct-absorption-type high-energy laser energy meter as well as an analysis of the interaction processes of other similar high-power lasers and water flow.

Calculation of terminal velocity in transitional flow for spherical particle

The terminal velocity has been widely used in extensive fields, but the complexity of drag coefficient expression leads to the calculation of terminal velocity in transitional flow （1 〈 Re ≤ 1000） with much more difficulty than those in laminar flow （Re ≤ 1） and turbulent flow （Re ≥ 1000）. This paper summarized and compared 24 drag coefficient correlations, and developed an expression for calculating the terminal velocity in transitional flow, and also analyzed the effects of particle density and size, fluid density and viscosity on terminal velocity. The results show that 19 of 24 previously published correlations for drag coefficient have good prediction performance and can be used for calculating the terminal velocity in the entire transitional flow with higher accuracy. Adapting two dimensionless parameters （w＊, d＊）, a proposed explicit correlation, w＊=-25.68654 × exp （-d＊/77.02069）＋ 24.89826, is attained in transitional flow with good performance, which is helpful in calculating the terminal velocity.

Mode transition and oscillation suppression in supersonic cavity flow

Supersonic flows past two-dimensional cavities with/without control are investigated by the direct numerical simulation （DNS）. For an uncontrolled cavity, as the thickness of the boundary layer declines, transition of the dominant mode from the steady mode to the Rossiter Ⅱ mode and then to the Rossiter III mode is observed due to the change of vortex-corner interactions. Meanwhile, a low frequency mode appears. However, the wake mode observed in a subsonic cavity flow is absent in the current simulation. The oscillation frequencies obtained from a global dynamic mode decomposition （DMD） approach are consistent with the local power spectral density （PSD） analysis. The dominant mode transition is clearly shown by the dynamic modes obtained from the DMD. A passive control technique of substituting the cavity trailing edge with a quarter-circle is studied. As the effective cavity length increases, the dominant mode transition from the Rossiter Ⅱ mode to the Rossiter Ⅲ mode occurs. With the control, the pressure oscillations are reduced significantly. The interaction of the shear layer and the recirculation zone is greatly weakened, combined with weaker shear layer instability, responsible for the suppression of pressure oscillations. Moreover, active control using steady subsonic mass injection upstream of a cavity leading edge can stabilize the flow.

Lattice Boltzmann Simulations in the Slip and Transition Flow Regime with the Peano Framework

We present simulation results of flows in the finite Knudsen range, that is in the slip and transition flow regime. Our implementations are based on the Lattice Boltzmann method and are accomplished within the Peano framework. We validate our code by solving two- and three-dimensional channel flow problems and compare our results with respective experiments from other research groups. We further apply our Lattice Boltzmann solver to the geometrical setup of a microreactor consisting of differently sized channels and a reactor chamber. Here, we apply static adaptive grids to further reduce computational costs. We further investigate the influence of using a simple BGK collision kernel in coarse grid regions which are further away from the slip boundaries. Our results are in good agreement with theory and non-adaptive simulations, demonstrating the validity and the capabilities of our adaptive simulation software for flow problems at finite Knudsen numbers.

INVESTIGATION OF DOMINANT FREQUENCIES IN TRANSITION REYNOLDS NUMBER RANGE OF FLOW AROUND A CIRCULAR CYLINDER PART I:EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE RELATION BETWEEN VORTEX SHEDDING AND TRANSITION FREQUENCIES

A comprehensive hot wire investigation of the flow around a circular cylinder is carried out in an 18＂ × 18＂ wind tunnel to look into the dominant frequencies at the stagnation, separation and separated shear layers in the transition Reynolds number range. The majority of the experiments are carried out at Reynolds number of 4.5×104, with additional transition frequency tests at Reynolds numbers of 2.9×104, 3.3×104 and 9.7×104 respectively. The results are analysed in terms of power spectral density. While the frequency associated with stagnation is found to be essentially due to vortex shedding, frequency doubling of vortex shedding is also evident in the separated shear layers. Two peaks associated with transition frequencies are detected and their possible implications are presented.

Numerical Investigation on Two-dimensional Boundary Layer Flow with Transition

As a basic problem in many engineering applications, transition from laminar to turbulence still remains a difficult problem in computational fluid dynamics （CFD）. A numerical study of one transitional flow in two-dimensional is conducted by Reynolds averaged numerical simulation （RANS） in this paper. Turbulence model plays a significant role in the complex flows＇ simulation, and four advanced turbulence models are evaluated. Numerical solution of frictional resistance coefficient is compared with the measured one in the transitional zone, which indicates that Wilcox （2006） k-ω model with correction is the best candidate. Comparisons of numerical and analytical solutions for dimensionless velocity show that averaged streamwise dimensionless velocity profiles correct the shape rapidly in transitional region. Furthermore, turbulence quantities such as turbulence kinetic energy, eddy viscosity, and Reynolds stress are also studied, which are helpful to learn the transition＇s behavior.

Direct and noisy transitions in a model shear flow

The transition to turbulence in flows where the laminar profile is linearly stable requires perturbations of finite amplitude. ＂Optimal＂ perturbations are distinguished as extrema of certain functionals, and different functionals give different optima. We here discuss the phase space structure of a 2D simplified model of the transition to turbulence and discuss optimal perturbations with respect to three criteria： energy of the initial condition, energy dissipation of the initial condition, and amplitude of noise in a stochastic transition. We find that the states triggering the transition are different in the three cases, but show the same scaling with Reynolds number.

The Research of Urban Rail Transit Sectional Passenger Flow Prediction Method

This paper studies the short-term prediction methods of sectional passenger flow, and selects BP neural network combined with the characteristics of sectional passenger flow itself. With a case study, we design three different schemes. We use Matlab to realize the prediction of the sectional passenger flow of the Beijing subway Line 2 and make comparative analysis. The empirical research shows that combining data characteristics of sectional passenger flow with the BP neural network have good prediction accuracy.