Hydrodynamic structure of the boundary layers in a rotating cylindrical cavity with radial inflow

A flow model is formulated to investigate the hydrodynamic structure of the boundary layers of incompressible fluid in a rotating cylindrical cavity with steady radial inflow. The model considers mass and momentum transfer coupled between boundary layers and an inviscid core region. Dimensionless eq...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysics of fluids (1994) Vol. 28; no. 3
Main Authors Herrmann-Priesnitz, Benjamín, Calderón-Muñoz, Williams R., Salas, Eduardo A., Vargas-Uscategui, Alejandro, Duarte-Mermoud, Manuel A., Torres, Diego A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Melville American Institute of Physics 01.03.2016
Subjects
Boundary layer
BOUNDARY LAYERS
CAVITIES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
Computational fluid dynamics
COMPUTER CODES
Computer simulation
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CYLINDRICAL CONFIGURATION
Dimensionless numbers
ENGINEERING
Entrainment
EQUATIONS OF MOTION
FLOW MODELS
Fluid dynamics
Fluid flow
FLUIDS
HEAT
Heat exchange
Incompressible flow
Incompressible fluids
Inflow
Mathematical models
MOMENTUM TRANSFER
Numerical prediction
Physics
RADIAL VELOCITY
REYNOLDS NUMBER
Rotating fluids
Rotation
TURBOMACHINERY
Velocity distribution
Wall shear stresses
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Summary:A flow model is formulated to investigate the hydrodynamic structure of the boundary layers of incompressible fluid in a rotating cylindrical cavity with steady radial inflow. The model considers mass and momentum transfer coupled between boundary layers and an inviscid core region. Dimensionless equations of motion are solved using integral methods and a space-marching technique. As the fluid moves radially inward, entraining boundary layers develop which can either meet or become non-entraining. Pressure and wall shear stress distributions, as well as velocity profiles predicted by the model, are compared to numerical simulations using the software OpenFOAM. Hydrodynamic structure of the boundary layers is governed by a Reynolds number, Re, a Rossby number, Ro, and the dimensionless radial velocity component at the periphery of the cavity, Uo . Results show that boundary layers merge for Re < < 10 and Ro > > 0.1, and boundary layers become predominantly non-entraining for low Ro, low Re, and high Uo . Results may contribute to improve the design of technology, such as heat exchange devices, and turbomachinery.
ISSN:1070-6631
1089-7666
DOI:10.1063/1.4943860