Large Eddy Simulations of Flow Instabilities in a Stirred Tank Gen-erated by a Rushton Turbine

The aim of this work is to investigate the flow instabilities in a baffled, stirred tank generated by a single Rushton turbine by means of large eddy simulation （LES）. The sliding mesh method was used for the coupling between the rotating and the stationary frame of references. The calculations were carried out on the ＂Shengcao-21C＂ supercomputer using a computational fluid dynamics （CFD） code CFX5. The flow fields predicted by the LES simulation and the simulation using standard κ-ε model were compared to the results from particle image velocimetry （PIV） measurements. It is shown that the CFD simulations using the LES approach and the standard κ-ε model agree well with the PIV measurements. Fluctuations of the radial and axial velocity are predicted at different frequencies by the LES simulation. Velocity fluctuations of high frequencies are seen in the impeller region, while low frequencies velocity fluctuations are observed in the bulk flow. A low frequency velocity fluctuation with a nondimensional frequency of 0.027Hz is predicted by the LES simulation, which agrees with experimental investigations in the literature. Flow circulation patterns predicted by the LES simulation are asymmetric, stochastic and complex, spanning a large portion of the tanks and varying with time, while circulation patterns calculated by the simulation using the standard κ-ε model are symmetric. The results of the present work give better understanding to the flow instabilities in the mechanically agitated tank. However, further analysis of the LES calculated velocity series by means of fast Fourier transform （FFT） and/or spectra analysis are recommended in future work in order to gain more knowledge of the complicated flow phenomena.

Identification of Backflow Vortex Instability in Rocket Engine Inducers

Bayesian estimation is applied to the analysis of backflow vortex instabilities in typical three-and four bladed liquid propellant rocket(LPR)engine inducers.The flow in the impeller eye is modeled as a set of equally intense and evenly spaced 2D axial vortices,located at the same radial distance from the axis and rotating at a fraction of the impeller speed.The circle theorem and the Bernoulli’s equation are used to predict the flow pressure in terms of the vortex number,intensity,rotational speed,and radial position.The theoretical spectra so obtained are frequency broadened to mimic the dispersion of the experimental data and parametrically fitted to the measured pressure spectra by maximum likelihood estimation with equal and independent Gaussian errors.The method is applied to three inducers,tested in water at room temperature and different loads and cavitation conditions.It successfully characterizes backflow instabilities using the signals of a single pressure transducer flush-mounted on the casing of the impeller eye,effectively by-passing the aliasing and data acquisition/reduction complexities of traditional multiple-sensor cross correlation methods.The identification returns the estimates of the model parameters and their standard errors,providing the information necessary for assessing the accuracy and statistical significance of the results.The flowrate is found to be the major factor affecting the backflow vortex instability,which,on the other hand,is rather insensitive to the occurrence of cavitation.The results are consistent with the data reported in the literature,as well as with those generated by the auxiliary models specifically developed for initializing the maximum likelihood searches and supporting the identification procedure.

Numerical Simulation of Flow Instabilities in HighSpeed Multistage Compressors

In the present paper, a nonlinear multi 'actuator disk' model is proposed to analyze the dynamicbehavior of flow instabilities, including rotating stall and surge, in high speed multistage axial compressors. The model describes the duct flow fields using two dimensional, compressible and unsteadyEuler equations, and accounts for the influences of downstream plenum and throttle in the system aswell. It replaces each blade row of multistage compressors with a disk. For numerical calculations,the time marching procedure, using MacCormack two steps scheme, is used. The main purpose of thispaper is to predict the mechanism of two dimensional short wavelength rotating stall inception and theinteraction between blade rows in high speed multistage compressors. It has been demonstrated thatthe model has the ability to predict those phenomena, and the results show that some system parameters have a strong effect on the stall features as well. Results for a five stage high speed compressorare analyzed in detail, and comparison with the experimental data demonstrates that the model andcalculating results are reliable.

INVESTIGATING MULTISTAGE AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSOR INSTABILITIES

A numerical methodology for investigating compressor instabilities in a multistage environment is presented. The method is based on a stage-by-stage dynamic compression model and considers air compressibility explicitly throughout the compressor. It involves discretizing the compression system into distinct elements and a use of the local elemental characteristic of mean performance. The models are presented in both nonlinear and linearized forms. The linearised form permits well surge condition prediction for multistage axial compressors, while the non-linear form is able to investigate the growth of local flow disturbances, and helps to develop practical control strategy. Validations were carried out using the data from several aircraft engine compressors. A good experiment-model consistency is achieved.

Flow instability criteria in processing map of superalloy GH79

Hot compression tests were conducted on a Gleeble-1500D thermal simulating tester.Based on the deformation behavior and microstructural evolution of superalloy GH79,different types of instability criteria of PRASAD,GEGEL,MALAS,MURTY and SEMIATIN were compared,and the physical significance of parameters was analyzed.Meanwhile,the processing maps with different instability criteria were obtained.It is shown that instability did not occur when average power dissipation rate was larger than 60%in the temperature range of 900-930°C and 960-1080°C,corresponding to the strain rate range of 5×10 -4 -1.8×10 -1 s -1 and 5×10 -4 -1.5×10 -1 s -1 ,respectively.The two domains are appropriate for the processing deformation of superalloy GH79.

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS OF LATE TRANSITION PROCESSES IN CROSSFLOW INSTABILITY EXPERIMENT

The experiments of primary and secondary instabilities with controlled excitation are carried out on a swept flat plate to study the process leading to the final breakdown of laminar flow. Two types of high frequency secondary instabilities are identified. The most amplified mode is centered about the inflection point of the crosswise profile of the boundary layer and is interpreted as inflectional instability, the other occurs in the one third of the boundary layer from the wall. The high frequency disturbances are highly amplified but they also saturate similarly to the primary and nonlinearly generated disturbances. Their main effect in the final breakdown seems interact with the disturbances is developed and thus widens the frequency spectrum to turbulent state.

Numerical Simulation and Control of Two-Phase Flow with Evaporation in a Vertical Tube Submitted to a Conjugate Heat Transfer

A better understanding of two-phase flows with evaporation allows leading to an optimal design of evaporators. For that purpose, numerical simulations are very useful. In this paper, a numerical study has been carried out in order to model and simulate the combination of a two-phase flow with evaporation in a vertical tube. The VOF （volume-of-fluid） multiphase flow method and a phase-change model for the mass transfer have been used. For an accurate modeling, the effect of axial conduction has been also taken into account using a conjugate heat transfer model. Since thermal oscillations are undesirable as they can lead to the failure of the tube, flow instabilities have also been analyzed, using FFT （fast Fourier transforms）, in order to comprehend their behavior and influence. A control study of the flow instabilities in the tube is also presented. For that purpose tube inlet temperature has been varied using a gain control parameter.

Startup scheme optimization and flow instability of natural circulation lead-cooled fast reactor SNCLFR-100

Owing to the inherent instability of the natural circulation system,flow instability can easily occur during the operation of a natural circulation lead-cooled fast reactor,especially during the startup phase.A comprehensive startup scheme for SNCLFR-100,including primary and secondary circuits,is proposed in this paper.It references existing more mature startup schemes in various reactor types.It additionally considers the restriction conditions on the power increase in other schemes and the characteristics of lead-based coolant.On this basis,the multi-scale coupling code ATHLET-OpenFOAM was used to study the flow instability in the startup phase under different power-step amplitudes and power duration times.The results showed that obvious flow instability phenomena were found in the different startup schemes,such as the short-term backflow phenomenon of the core at the initial time of the startup.Moreover,an obvious increase in the flow rate and temperature to the peak value at the later stage of a continuous power rise was observed,as well as continuous oscillations before reaching a steady state.It was determined that the scheme with smaller power-step amplitude and a longer power duration time requires more time to start the reactor.Nevertheless,it will be more conducive to the safe and stable startup of the reactor.

Linear stability of plane creeping Couette flow for Burgers fluid

It is well known that plane creeping Couette flow of UCM and Oldroy-B fluids are linearly stable. However, for Burges fluid, which includes UCM and Oldroyd-B fluids as special cases, unstable modes are detected in the present work. The wave speed, critical parameters and perturbation mode are studied for neutral waves. Energy analysis shows that the sustaining of perturbation energy in Poiseuille flow and Couette flow is completely different. At low Reynolds number limit, analytical solutions are obtained for simpli- fied perturbation equations. The essential difference between Burgers fluid and Oldroyd-B fluid is revealed to be the fact that neutral mode exists only in the former.

Experimental investigation on flow modes of electrospinning

Electrospinning experiments are performed by using a set of experimental apparatus, a stroboscopic system is adopted for capturing instantaneous images of the cone- jet configuration. The cone and the jet of aqueous solutions of polyethylene oxide （PEO） are formed from an orifice of a capillary tube under the electric field. The viscoelastic con- stitutive relationship of the PEO solution is measured and discussed. The phenomena owing to the jet instability are described, five flow modes and corresponding structures are obtained with variations of the fluid flow rate Q, the electric potential U and the distance h from the orifice of the cap- illary tube to the collector. The flow modes of the cone-jet configuration involves the steady bending mode, the rotat- ing bending mode, the swinging rotating mode, the blurring bending mode and the branching mode. Regimes in the Q-U plane of the flow modes are also obtained. These results may provide the fundamentals to predict the operating conditions expected in practical applications.

NUMERICAL STUDY OF BUOUNCY- AND THERMOCAPILLARY-DRIVEN FLOWS IN A CAVITY

Thermocapillary-and buoyancy-driven convection in open cavities with differentially heated endwalls is investigated by numerical solutions of the two- dimensional Navier-Stokes equations coupled with the energy equation. We studied the thermocapillary and buoyancy convection in the cavities, filled with low-Prandtl- number fluids, with two aspect-ratios A=1 and 4, Grashof number up to 10~5 and Reynolds number |Re|≤10~4. Our results show that thermocapillary can have a quite significant effect on the stability of a primarily buoyancy-driven flow, as well as on the flow structures and dynamic behavior for both additive effect (i.e., positive Re) and opposing effect (i.e., negative Re).

Cold Flow Experiments and Acoustic Investigation on Pressure Oscillation Induced by Flow Instability

Pressure oscillation in solid rocket motor is believed to be the results of the interaction between the flow instability and the acoustics of combustion chamber.Several reasonable and necessary hypothesizes are given to establish an equation to describe this coupling.A cold flow motor called CVS60D(corner vortex shedding 60°)was designed to study the flow-acoustic coupling based on theoretical analysis.Experimental investigations were carried out to determine the acoustics of CVS60D.Corner vortex shedding is generated at the backward facing step which is designed similar to the geometry of the motor with finocyl propellant after the burnout of its fins.A pintle was used to modify the velocity in the duct to change the frequency of vortex shedding.It is found that large amplitude pressure oscillation occurs when the pintle moves to a range of specific position,which indicates that the frequency of vortex shedding is close to one order of acoustic modes of combustion chamber.The amplitude of pressure oscillation changes as the pintle moves.

Electromagnetic control of the instability in the liquid metal flow over a backward-facing step

The tile-type electromagnetic actuator(TEA)and stripe-type electromagnetic actuator(SEA)are applied to the active control of the perturbation energy in the liquid metal flow over a backward-facing step(BFS).Three control strategies consisting of base flow control(BFC),linear model control(LMC)and combined model control(CMC)are considered to change the amplification rate of the perturbation energy.CMC is the combination of BFC and LMC.SEA is utilized in BFC to produce the streamwise Lorentz force thus adjusting the amplification rate via modifying the flow structures,and the magnitude of the maximum amplification rate could reach to 6 orders.TEA is used in LMC to reduce the magnitude of the amplification rate via the wall-normalwise Lorentz force,and the magnitude could be decreased by 2 orders.Both TEA and SEA are employed in CMC where the magnitude of the amplification rate could be diminished by 3 orders.In other words,the control strategy of CMC could capably alter the flow instability of the liquid metal flow.

INSTABILITY OF HAGEN-POISEUILLE FLOW FOR NON-AXISYMMETRIC MODE

An investigation is described for instability problem of flow through a pipe of circular cross section. As a disturbance motion, we consider a general non-axisym-metric mode. An associated amplitude or modulation equation has been derived for this disturbance motion. This equation belongs to a diffusion type.The coefficient of it can be negative while Reynolds number increases, because of the complex interaction between molecular diffusion and convection. The negative diffusivity, when it occurs, causes a concentration and focussing of energy within decaying slugs, acting as a role of reversing natural decays.

Linear and Non-Linear Dynamics of Inertial Waves in a Rotating Cylinder with Antiparallel Inclined Ends

This work is devoted to the experimental study of inertial wave regimes in a non-uniform rotating cylinder with antiparallel inclined ends.In this setting,the cross-section of the cylinder is divided into two regions where the fluid depth increases or decreases with radius.Three different regimes are found:inertial wave attractor,global oscillations(the cavity’s resonant modes)and regime of symmetric reflection of wave beams.In linear wave regimes,a steady single vortex elongated along the rotation axis is generated.The location of the wave’s interaction with the sloping ends determines the vortex position and the vorticity sign.In non-linear regimes several pairs of the triadic resonance subharmonics are detected simultaneously.The instability of triadic resonance is accompanied by the periodic generation of mean vortices drifting in the azimuthal direction.Moreover,the appearance frequency of the vortices is consistent with the low-frequency subharmonic of the triadic resonance.The experimental results shed light on the mechanisms of the inertial wave interaction with zonal flow and may be useful for the development of new methods of mixing.

Experimental Investigation of Forced Convective Boiling Flow Instabilities in Horizontal Helically Coiled Tubes

An experimental investigation is described for the characteristics of convective boiling flow instabilities in horizontally helically coiled tubes using a steam-water two-phase closed circulation test loop at pressure from 0.5 MPa to 3.5 MPa. Three kinds of oscillation are reported: density waves; pressure drop excursions; thermal fluctuations. We describe their dependence on main system parameters such as system pressure, mass flowrate, inlet subcooling, compressible volume and heat flux. Utilizing the experimental data together with conservation constraints, a dimensionless correlation is proposed for the occurrence of density waves.

Hot Deformation Behavior of 2124 Al Alloy

The mechanical behavior of 2124 Al alloy produced by powder metallurgy was investigated with compression test at different temperatures and strain rates. The tests were performed in the temperature range of 300℃～500℃ and at strain rates from 0.001 s^-1 to 1.0 s^-1. The compression flow curves exhibited an initial sharp increase with strain, followed by monotonous hardening. The maximum stress decreased with decreasing strain rate and increasing temperature. The hot deformation characteristics of the material were studied using processing maps. The domain of safety and unsafe regime were identified and validated through microstructural examination.

Processing map for hot working of SiC_p/7075 Al composites

The hot deformation behaviour of 7075 aluminium alloy reinforced with 10%of SiC particles was studied by employing both"processing maps"and microstructural observations.The composite was characterized by employing optical microscope to evaluate the microstructural transformations and instability phenomena.The material investigated was deformed by compression in the temperature and strain rate ranges of 300-500℃and 0.001-1.0 s-1,respectively.The deformation efficiency was calculated by strain rate sensitivity(m)values obtained by hot compression tests.The power dissipation efficiency and instability parameters were evaluated and processing maps were constructed for strain of 0.5.The optimum domains and instability zone were obtained for the composites.The optimum processing conditions are obtained in the strain rate range of 0.1-0.9 s-1and temperature range of 390-440 ℃with the efficiency of 30%.

Reduced power consumption in stirred vessel with high solid loading by equipping punched baffles

Solid-liquid suspension in stirred tank is a common operation in the chemical industry. The power consumption, flow pattern and flow field instability of three systems named as unbaffled stirred tank, traditional baffled stirred tank and punched baffled stirred tank(Pun-BST) were studied by using the computational fluid dynamic analysis. Results showed that perforating holes in the baffles could reduce power consumption of mixing. Meanwhile, the punched baffle system could maintain the solids in suspension as traditional baffle system. The results also showed that the baffles could increase the “effective flow” of stirred tank even though the whole velocity of the vessel is lower than un-baffled vessel. In addition, both the solid-liquid suspension and “effective flow” were related to instability of the flow field.Perfect solid-liquid suspension results always along with obvious instability of the flow field. But, the strengthening effect of punched baffle on flow field instability mainly happened in the near-wall area.It's because the collision and aggregation among sub-streams induced by holes intensified the unstable fluid flow. On the whole, the Pun-BST system provided much better mixing characteristics and recommended to apply in the industrial process.

EFFECT OF INSTABILITIES OF FLOW ON MESOSCALE PREDICTABILITY OF WEATHER SYSTEMS

The numerical solution of Boussinesq equations is worked out as an initial-value problem to study the effect of the instabilities of flow on the initial error growth and mesoscale predictability. The development of weather systems depends on different dynamic instability mechanisms according to the spatial scales of the system and the development of mesoscale systems is determined by symmetric instability. Since symmetric instability dominates among the three types of dynamic instability, it makes the prediction of the associated mesoscale systems more sensitive to initial uncertainties. This indicates that the stronger instability leads to faster initial error growth and thus limits the mesoscale predictability. Besides dynamic instability, the impact of thermodynamic instability is also explored. The evolvement of convective instability manifests as dramatic variation in small spatial scale and short temporal scale, and furthermore, it exhibits the upscale growth. Since these features determine the initial error growth, the mesoscale systems arising from convective instability are less predictable and the upscale error growth limits the predictability of larger scales. The latent heating is responsible for changing the stability of flow and subsequently influencing the error growth and the predictability.