Numerical Study on the Effect of Vortex Generators on the Aerodynamic Drag of a High-Speed Train

A relatively high aerodynamic drag is an important factor that hinders the further acceleration of high-speed trains.Using the shear stress transport(SST)k-ωturbulence model,the effect of various vortex generator types on the aerodynamic characteristics of an ICE2(Inter-city Electricity)train has been investigated.The results indi-cate that the vortex generators with wider triangle,trapezoid,and micro-ramp arranged on the surface of the tail car can significantly change the distribution of surface pressure and affect the vorticity intensity in the wake.This alteration effectively reduces the resistance of the tail car.Meanwhile,the micro-ramp vortex generator with its convergent structure at the rear exhibits enhancedflow-guiding capabilities,resulting in a 15.4%reduction in the drag of the tail car.

Serpentine Inlet Performance Enhancement Using Vortex Generator Based Flow Control

In order to provide the line-of-sight blockage of the engine face for an advanced Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicle（UCAV）, a highly curved serpentine inlet is proposed and experimentally studied. Based on the static pressure distribution measurement along the wall, the flow separation is found at the top wall of the second S duct for the baseline inlet design, which yields a high flow distortion at the exit plane. To improve the flow uniformity, a single array of vortex generators （VGs） is employed within the inlet. In this experimental study, the effects of mass flow ratio, free stream Mach number, angle of attack and yaw on the performance of a serpentine inlet instrumented with VGs are obtained. Results indicate： （1） Compared with the baseline serpentine design without flow control, the application of the VGs promotes the mixing of core flow and the low momentum flow in the boundary layer and thus prevents the flow separation. Under the design condition, the exit flow distortion （-↑△σ0） decreases from 11.7% to 2.3% by using the VGs. （2） With the descent of the free stream Mach number the total pressure loss decreases. However, the circular total pressure distortion increases. When the angle of attack rises from - 4° to 8°, the total pressure recovery and the circular total pressure distortion both go down. In addition, with the increase of yaw the total pressure recovery is fairly constant, while the circular total pressure distortion ascends gradually. （3） When Mao = 0.6-0.8, a = -4°-8° and β = 0°-6°, the total pressure recovery varies between 0.936 and 0. 961, the circular total pressure distortion coefficient varies between 1.4 % and 5.4 % and the synthesis distortion coefficient has a ranges from 3.8 % to 7.0 %. The experimental results confirm the excellent performance of the newly designed serpentine inlet incorporating VGs.

CFD-Based Simulation and Analysis of Hydrothermal Aspects in Solar Channel Heat Exchangers with Various Designed Vortex Generators

The hydrothermal behavior of air inside a solar channel heat exchanger equipped with various shaped ribs is analyzed numerically.The bottom wall of the exchanger is kept adiabatic,while a constant value of the temperature is set at the upper wall.The duct is equipped with a flat rectangular fin on the upper wall and an upstream V-shaped baffle on the lower wall.Furthermore,five hot wall-attached rib shapes are considered:trapezoidal,square,triangular pointing upstream(type Ⅰ),triangular pointing downstream(type Ⅱ),and equilateral-triangular(type Ⅲ)cross sections.Effects of the flow rates are also inspected for various Reynolds numbers in the turbulent regime(1.2×10^(4)-3.2×10^(4)).The highest performance(η)value is given for the Ⅱ-triangular rib case in all Re values,while the square-shaped ribs show a significant decrease in the η along the achieved Re range.The η value at Remax is 2.567 for the Ⅱ-triangular roughness case.Compared with the other simulated cases,this performance is decreased by about 3.768%in the case of Ⅰ-triangular ribs,15.249% in the case of Ⅲ-triangular ribs,20.802% in the case of trapezoidal ribs,while 27.541% in the case of square ribs,at the same Remax.Also,a comparison ismade with air-heat exchangers that have non-rough walls and contain cross-shaped VGs presented previously,in order to highlight the effectiveness of the rough surface presence in the baffled and finned channels.The obtained results indicated that the triangular-shaped rib(type Ⅱ)has the most significant hydrothermal behavior than the other cases.This indicates the necessity of roughness heat transfer surfaces for finned and baffled channels to improve significantly the performance of the air-heat exchangers they contain.

Simulating the Turbulent Hydrothermal Behavior of Oil/MWCNT Nanofluid in a Solar Channel Heat Exchanger Equipped with Vortex Generators

Re-engineering the channel heat exchangers(CHEs)is the goal of many recent studies,due to their great importance in the scope of energy transport in various industrial and environmental fields.Changing the internal geometry of the CHEs by using extended surfaces,i.e.,VGs(vortex generators),is the most common technique to enhance the efficiency of heat exchangers.This work aims to develop a newdesign of solar collectors to improve the overall energy efficiency.The study presents a new channel design by introducing VGs.The FVM(finite volume method)was adopted as a numerical technique to solve the problem,with the use of Oil/MWCNT(oil/multi-walled carbon nano-tubes)nanofluid to raise the thermal conductivity of the flow field.The study is achieved for a Re number ranging from12×10^(3) to 27×10^(3),while the concentration(φ)of solid particles in the fluid(Oil)is set to 4%.The computational results showed that the hydrothermal characteristics depend strongly on the flow patterns with the presence of VGs within the CHE.Increasing the Oil/MWCNT rates with the presence of VGs generates negative turbulent velocities with high amounts,which promotes the good agitation of nanofluid particles,resulting in enhanced great transfer rates.

NUMERICAL STUDY OF FLOW IN CONICAL DIFFUSER WITH VORTEX GENERATOR JETS

To develop vortex generator jet （VGJ） method for flow control, the turbulence flow in a 14° conical diffuser with and without vortex generator jets are simulated by solving Navier-Stokes equations with k-ε turbulence model. The diffuser performance, based on different velocity ratio （ratio of the jet speed to the mainstream velocity）, is investigated and compared with the experimental study. On the basis of the flow characteristics using computation fluid dynamics （CFD） method observed in the conical diffuser and the downstream development of the longitudinal vortices, attempt is made to correlate the pressure recovery coefficient with the behavior of vortices produced by vortex generator jets.

Manipulation of vertical fence wake using passive vortex generators

The effect of streamwise vortices generated from passive vortex generators was investigated to manipulate the separation bubble behind the vertical fence. The experiments were carried out in a circulating water channel and the velocity fields were measured using 2D and stereoscopic PIV method.The distance between the vortex generator and fence and the effect of the Reynolds number were investigated. In addition,the effect of boundary layer thickness was also investigated. The averaged recirculation lengths were compared with that of uncontrolled fence flow. The results showed the oscillatory variation of recirculation region appeared under the existence of vortex generators. The reduction of the separation bubble became larger when the fence was submerged in the thick boundary layer with increasing the distance between the generator and fence. When the boundary layer is thin,vortex generator can only suppress the separation bubble under the specific condition.

Effects of Vortex Generator Jet on Corner Separation/Stall in High-Turning Compressor Cascade

The effects of the vortex generator jet(VGJ)attached at the endwall on the corner separation/stall control are investigated by numerical simulation in a high-turning linear compressor cascade. The results show that the corner separation could be reduced significantly, which results in a wider operation range as well as a more uniform exit flow angle and total pressure profile. At the near-stall operation point, the maximum relative reduction of the total pressure loss is up to 32.5%,, whereas the jet mass ratio is less than 0.4%,. Based on the analysis of the detailed flow structure, three principal effects of the VGJ on the endwall cross flow and corner separation are identified. One is to increase the tangential velocity component opposite to cross flow, thus inhibiting the endwall secondary flow near the jet exit. The second is to suppress the pitchwise extension of the passage vortex as an air fence. The third is to sweep the low energy fluids towards the mainstream on the up-washed side and to transport the mainstream fluids to the endwall to reenergize the boundary layer on the down-washed side.

Application of Vortex Generators to Remove Heat Trapped in Closed Channels

The utilization of vortex generators to increase heat transfer from cylinders installed inside a duct is investigated.In particular,a channel containing eight cylinders with volumetric heat sources is considered for different values of the Reynolds number.The effective possibility to use vortex generators with different sizes to increase heat transfer and,consequently,reduce the surface temperature of the cylinders is examined.Also,the amount of pressure drop inside the channel due to the presence of vortex generators is considered and compared with the cases without vortex generators.The results show that although the addition of generators increases the pressure drop,it strongly contributes to increase the heat transfer coefficient inside the duct(up to 80–90%).

Numerical Investigation on Heat Transfer Enhancement Inside a Rect-angular M icrochannel with Vortex Generator using TiO2,Cuo-water Nanofuids

One of the innovative ways to improve heat transfer properties of heat exchangers,is using nanofluids instead of traditional fluids.Due to presence of metal and oxides of metal particles in nanofluids structure,they have better potential in different environments and conditions than conventional fluids and having higher thermal conductivity causes improvements in heat transfer properties.In this research flow of two different nanofluids through a rectangular microchannel containing a different number of longitudinal vortex generators(Ivgs),has been investigated.Simulations conducted under laminar flow boundary condition and for varied Reynolds numbers of 100 to 250.Considered volumetric concentration in this paper is 1,1/6 and 2/3%Results showed,nanofluids and the LVGs notably improve the heat transtfer rates within the microchannel.havg improved with increasing the nanoparticles volume concentrations and Reynolds number,while the op posite trends recognized for pressure drop.havg improved for4 to 12 and 9 to 18%for TO2 and CuO nanofuids,respectively for different volume concentrations in simple microchannel.For lvg-enhanced microchannel the amount of improvements is about 9-14 and 5-10%for CuO and T0,respectively.Also using vortex generators alone improved havg for 15-25%for different number of Ivgs.

Experimental investigation of vortex generator influences on propeller cavitation and hull pressure fluctuations

In this paper,the transient turbulent cavitating flow around a marine propeller behind a ship was investigated experimentally with emphasis on how vortex generator(VG)influences propeller cavitation and hull pressure fluctuations.The experiments were carried out in China Large Cavitation Channel with the closed test section covering 10.5 m in length and cross-section of 2.2 m^2×2.0m^2.The experiment recorded instantaneous cavitation photos of the propeller and pressure fluctuations on the hull surface.The results demonstrate that without vortex generator,the sheet cavitation inception begins at-50°(310°),and then from-50°(310°)to 30°,the extent and area of sheet cavitation increase.When vortex generator installed on the hull,the sheet cavitation inception occurs in advance at-60°(300°),and the sheet cavitation expands to larger rotation range due to the vortex generator.It is shown that the vortex generator with proper geometry and installed location may contribute the highly nonuniform wake to be more uniform,and can make the change of propeller cavitation to be milder,which decrease the pressure fluctuations in this study.Further analysis indicates that the vortex generator may promote the energy distribution to be more uniform in physical and spectral space in some degree.

Modeling of delta-wing type vortex generators

A numerical model of delta-wing type vortex generator was developed in two steps.The first step was to obtain a parameterized model of the shedding vortex based on delta-wing theory,which relates the geometry parameters and flow field parameters to the strength of shedding vortex which directly decides the source term.In the second step,a method was proposed to add source terms into the flow control equations so that the shedding vortex could be simulated numerically.As soon as the numerical model was completed,two cases:One for a plate and another for an airfoil segment were investigated for test.Comparison showed that the flow field structure and aerodynamic performance agreed well with those obtained from cases with real vortex generators.

An experimental investigation of transient cavitation control on a hydrofoil using hemispherical vortex generators

Unsteady cavitation causes noise,damage,and performance decline in the marine engineering and fluid machinery systems.Therefore,finding a method to control the cavitation and its destructive effects is important for the industrial applications.In this work,we proposed a passive method to control the unsteady behavior of transient cavitation at the medium Reynolds number.For this aim,we performed an experimental study using a high-speed camera to analyze the effects of hemispherical vortex generators(VGs)on the cavitation dynamics around a hydrofoil surface.In addition,the pressure pulsations induced by the collapse of the cavity structures in the wake region of the hydrofoil were captured with a pressure transducer mounted on the wall downstream of the hydrofoil.The results showed that the instability behaviors of the cavity structures on the hydrofoil were mitigated using the proposed cavitation passive control method.In addition,the pressure pulsations in the wake region of the hydrofoil were reduced significantly.It can be concluded that the suppression of cavitation instabilities can improve the operating life and reliability of the marine and hydraulic systems.

Investigation of micro vortex generators on controlling flow separation over SCCH high-lift configuration

For the problem that the flow separation on the flap lowers the aerodynamic performance of high lift system,an investigation was carried out on using micro vortex generators(VGs) to control the separation on flap of the swept constant chord half-model(SCCH) high-lift configuration,at a small to medium angle of attack,by experimental and numerical methods.The basic flow characteristics of SCCH landing configuration were analyzed by using numerical method to provide required information for the design of micro VGs.Then,by keeping the cruise configuration intact,the preliminary design procedure and design methods of micro VGs were established.In addition,the micro VGs were designed.The effects of VG's arrangement and geometric parameters,such as the arrangement mode,chordwise position,arrangement angle,height and spanwise distance,on controlling efficiency were investigated by using numerical method.Then the parameters of preliminary VGs were adjusted as the basis configuration for wind tunnel test.The experiments were accomplished in NH-2 wind tunnel for validating the numerical method,as well as obtaining the design principles and methods of micro VGs.The parameters of VGs were also optimized based on the experiments.The experimental results showed that the numerical design method can serve as an efficient and accurate design tool.The lift and drag were increased by 10% and 14%,respectively in landing state,which satisfied the requirements for landing.Finally,it was concluded that the established design principles and methods for micro VGs in this investigation can be used in engineering application.

Influence of sub boundary layer vortex generator height and attack angle on cross-flows in the hub region of compressors

It has been recently shown that Sub Boundary layer Vortex Generator(SBVG,abbreviated as VG hereafter)can suppress the Cross-Flow(CF),and therefore,can eliminate corner separation and increase aerodynamic loading when installed on the end wall inside middle-load compressor passages.However,when VGs are applied in high-load compressors,it is difficult to achieve ideal results.This is because the definition of the VG attack angle in the presence of CF in existing research is confusing,and the stronger CF in high-load compressors worsens the problem and results in an improper design and optimization range of VG attack angle.Therefore,this paper clarifies the definition of the VG attack angle in the presence of CF and reveals the CF controlling mechanism of VG on a flat plate.The differences in the flow phenomena around a VG both with and without CF are also studied.The numerical results show that a larger height or attack angle of the VG generates a greater CF suppression effect.However,the cross velocity increases when surmounting the primary vortex induced by the VG,except that this enhanced CF is less conspicuous for larger VG heights.Compared to the cases without CF,the VG suffers an additional loss because of the stronger separation and primary vortex loss caused by the CF.

Imaging of the Space-time Structure of a Vortex Generator in Supersonic Flow

The fine space-time structure of a vortex generator （VG） in supersonic flow is studied with the nanoparticle-based planar laser scattering （NPLS） method in a quiet supersonic wind tunnel. The fine coherent structure at the symmetrical plane of the flow field around the VG is imaged with NPLS. The spatial structure and temporal evolution characteristics of the vortical structure are analyzed, which demonstrate periodic evolution and similar geometry, and the characteristics of rapid movement and slow change. Because the NPLS system yields the flow images at high temporal and spatial resolutions, from these images the position of a large scale structure can be extracted precisely. The position and velocity of the large scale structures can be evaluated with edge detection and correlation algorithms. The shocklet structures induced by vortices are imaged, from which the generation and development of shocklets are discussed in this paper.

Experimental investigation of flow and distortion mitigation by mechanical vortex generators in a coupled serpentine inlet-turbofan engine system

The performance of compact,aggressive ducts in advanced propulsion systems is limited by the internal flow separation coupled with the formation of secondary counter-rotating vortices that give rise to intensive flow distortions at the duct exit.An experimental investigation was conducted to study the flow field and passive suppression of flow separation and Aerodynamic Interface Plane (AIP) distortion in a serpentine air inlet duct.Tests were performed by a turbofan engine at several Engine Operating Points (EOPs) from 56%(idle) to 100%(max).A large total pressure deficit region arose at the upper part of the AIP,which was associated with the upper surface flow separation.Using the new mechanical S-type vortex generators in two longitudinal positions (VGl and VG2),separation and loss were diminished at the upper part of the duct and AIP.The VG2 arrangement attained the maximum reductions in distortion coefficients which were 73.72%,60.7% and 37.8% in DC(90°),DC(60°) and△P_C/P metrics,respectively.In the next step of the study,some unsteady aspects of the flow field were analyzed inside the duct.The separation onset and reattachment points were determined by the standard deviation of static pressure on the upper surface.The AIP spectral distribution showed that the boundary of low pressure and high pressure recovery regions was dominated by the maximum fluctuations.Furthermore,the PSD diagram of several probes at AIP revealed the vortex shedding frequency and its higher harmonics at separation region.The energy content of distinct unsteady spectral features in the bare configuration was significantly reduced using VGs,which showed the improvement of flow at the duct exit.

Influence of Air-Jet Vortex Generator Diameter on Separation Region

Control of shock wave and boundary layer interaction continues to attract a lot of attention. In recent decades several methods of interaction control have been investigated. The research has mostly concerned solid (vane type) vortex generators and transpiration methods of suction and blowing. This investigation concerns interaction control using air-jets to generate streamwise vortices. The effectiveness of air-jet vortex generators in controlling separation has been proved in a previous research. The present paper focuses on the influence of the vortex generator diameter on the separation region. It presents the results of experimental investigations and provides new guidelines for the design of air-jet vortex generators to obtain more effective separation control.

Thermal Performance of Elliptical Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers with Vortex Generator under Various Inclination Angles

Elliptical fin-and-tube heat exchangers are commonly used in air conditioning,heating,refrigeration industries,and ventilation.This study numerically investigates the effect of vortex generators on the performance of elliptical fin-and-tube heat exchanger under different inclination angles.In this study,air flow that is in the transitional regime is selected as the working fluid.Reynolds numbers at the inlet are varied in a range of 1300 to 2100,and the shear stress transport k-ωturbulence model is selected to solve the non-closure of basic turbulence equations.The ellipticity ratios of the tubes which are used for the analysis are between 0.6 and 1.0,and the inclination angles are varied from 15°to 75°.The effects of different inclination angles of vortex generators on the Colburn factor j,friction factor f,and efficiency index j/f are analyzed.The friction and Colburn factors are observed to increase with increasing vortex generator inclination angles.It is found that the efficiency factors for a 15°vortex generator inclination angle at 0.6,0.7,0.8,and 0.9 ellipticity ratios improve compared to the corresponding cases with no vortex generator.However,the vortex generator cannot improve the efficiency factor of the circular tube heat exchanger.The 3 D CFD method employed by this study has great potential for use in optimally designing the arrangement of the vortex generators to enhance the performance of heat exchangers.

Effects of Rectangular Wing Vortex Generators on the Thermal-Hydraulic Performance of Louvered Fin and Flat Tube Heat Exchanger

In this paper,a novel composite heat transfer enhancement technique comprised of louvered fins(LFs)and rectangular wing vortex generators(RWVGs)is proposed to improve the LF side thermal-hydraulic performance of louvered fin and flat tube heat exchangers(LFHEs).After validation of the LF side pressure dropΔP and heat transfer coefficient hLFof the baseline by experiments,the numerical method is applied to investigate the influential mechanisms of the RWVG parameters(the number N(7 to 15),attack angleβ(30°to 90°),height H_(VG)(0.8 mm to 2 mm)and width W_(VG)(0.8 mm to 1.2 mm))on the performance of the LFHE in the velocity range of 3 m/s to 10 m/s.Results show that thermal-hydraulic performance of the LFHE is significantly impacted by the RWVGs,and according to the performance evaluation criteria(PEC),the LFHE achieves its optimal thermal-hydraulic performance when N=7,β=45°,H_(VG)=1.8 mm and W_(VG)=1 mm.Compared to the baseline,the maximum,minimum and average increments of PEC for the optimal case are 13.85%,4.67%and 8.39%,respectively.

Numerical investigation of the influence of vortex generator on propeller cavitation and hull pressure fluctuation by DDES

In this study,the delayed detached eddy simulation(DDES)is coupled with a homogenous cavitation model to simulate the cavitating turbulent flow around a propeller behind a full body ship with special emphasis on the influence of the vortex generator(VG)on the propeller cavitation and the hull pressure fluctuation.The small calculation uncertainty as evaluated by the DDES verification and validation(V&V)method indicates that the present simulation can accurately reproduce the propeller performance and cavitation,and the predicted hull pressure fluctuation is in a fairly good agreement with the available experimental data.The mechanism is explored through the current numerical results how the VG affects the local velocity distribution,along with the influences of the VG on the propeller cavitation and the hull pressure fluctuation.It is shown that the streamwise vortex is induced by the VG near the hull boundary layer.The very low velocity region in the hull wake is reduced due to the effect of the streamwise vortex.Besides,the propeller cavitation develops more mildly and the hull pressure fluctuation decreases due to the influence of the VG.