An extensive review was made to study the wake characteristics of a backward-facing step. Experimental and numerical studies of the backward-facing step suggest that the wake of a separated shear layer to be dependent on parameters such as: expansion ratio, aspect ratio, free stream turbulence intensity, boundary layer state and thickness at separation. The individual and combined effects of these parameters on the reattachment length are investigated and discussed in detail in this thesis. A new scaling parameter, sum of step height and boundary layer thickness at separation is proposed, which yields significant collapse of the available data. Based on the literature review, an axisymmetric model is designed for further investigating the dynamics of the flow independent of aforementioned parameters. Additionally, porous suction strips are incorporated to study the step wake characteristics independent of Reynolds number. This model has been built and will be tested extensively at UTIAS.

An extensive review was made to study the wake characteristics of a backward-facing step. Experimental and numerical studies of the backward-facing step suggest that the wake of a separated shear layer to be dependent on parameters such as: expansion ratio, aspect ratio, free stream turbulence intensity, boundary layer state and thickness at separation. The individual and combined effects of these parameters on the reattachment length are investigated and discussed in detail in this thesis. A new scaling parameter, sum of step height and boundary layer thickness at separation is proposed, which yields significant collapse of the available data. Based on the literature review, an axisymmetric model is designed for further investigating the dynamics of the flow independent of aforementioned parameters. Additionally, porous suction strips are incorporated to study the step wake characteristics independent of Reynolds number. This model has been built and will be tested extensively at UTIAS.

A FORTRAN code was developed to numerically simulate the mixed convective flow over a three-dimensional horizontal backward-facing step. The momentum and energy equations under the assumption of the Boussinesq approximation were discretized by means of a finite volume technique. The SIMPLE algorithm scheme was applied to link the pressure and velocity fields inside the domain while an OpenMP parallel implementation was proposed to improve the numerical performance and to accelerate the numerical solution. The heating process corresponds to a channel heated from below at constant temperature keeping insulated all the other channel walls. In addition, the back-step was considered as a thermally conducting block and its influence in the heating process was explored by holding different solid to fluid thermal conductivity ratios. The effects over the velocity and temperature distribution of buoyancy forces, acting perpendicular to the mainstream flow, are studied for three different Richardson numbers Ri=3, 2, and 1 and the results are compared against those of pure forced convection Ri=0. In these simulations the Reynolds number is fixed at 200 while the bottom wall temperature is adjusted to fulfill the conditions for the different Ri. Under this assumption, as Ri increases the buoyancy effects are the dominant effects in the mixed convective process. The numerical results indicate that the velocity field and the temperature distribution for pure forced convection are highly distorted if compared with the mixed convective flow. If the Ri parameter is increased, then the primary re-circulation zone is reduced. Similarly, as the buoyancy forces become predominant in the flow, the convective rolls, in the form of spiral-flow structures, become curlier and then higher velocity components are found inside the domain. The temperature field distribution showed that as the Ri is increased a thicker layer of high temperature flow is located at the channel??s top wall as a result of the higher rates of low-density flow moving to the top wall. The flow is ascending by the channel sidewalls, while descending by the channel span-wise central plane. The parallel numerical strategy is presented and some results for the performance of the OpenMP implementation are included. In this sense, linear speedup was obtained when using 16 possessors in parallel.

This dissertation presents a numerical simulation of three-dimensional flow and heat transfer in a channel with a backward-facing step. Flow was considered to be steady, incompressible, and laminar. The flow medium was treated to be radiatively participating. Governing momentum equations, energy equation, and the radiative equation were solved by a finite volume method. Extensive validation studies were carried out. As part of the validation study, three-dimensional combined convection and radiation in a rectangular channel without a backward-facing step was studied. The SIMPLE algorithm was used to link pressure and velocity fields. The combined convective-radiative heat transfer were studied by varying three parameters, i.e. optical thickness ( H τ =0.1, 0.2, and 0.4) and scattering albedo ( ω=0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1). Variation of thermophysical properties with temperature was considered in this study. In this work consideration was given only to cooling. Effects of those radiative parameters on velocity, bulk temperature, and Nusselt number are presented in detail. The fluid with a hot inlet compared to a cold wall was cooled in a relatively short distance from the channel inlet because of the radiation effect. The thermal penetration decreased with a decrease in optical thickness and an increase in scattering albedo. Thermal penetration increased with increasing optical thickness and decreasing scattering albedo. The reattachment length varied with temperature due to variation of thermophysical properties with temperature.

No description available.

Flow with separation and reattachment has been encountered in many thermo-fluidic devices. Although it causes energy loss due to pressure drops, it is sometimes intentionally used for heat transfer enhancement. To improve the performance of heat exchangers, understanding the details of such complicated flow and thermal structures is very important. Therefore, attention was paid in this study to a representative typical simple model that can generate separating and reattaching flow called backward-facing step (BFS) flow, the fundamental flow and thermal characteristics of a 3-D BFS flow have been investigated experimentally and a flow modification was also made by numerical simulation aimed to promote the heat transfer enhancement. / 博士(工学) / Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

No description available.

The present work addresses the fundamental question involving the modeling of subgrid-scale turbulence as a function of resolved field. A new-nonlinear model has been developed from the constitutive equation of subgrid stresses extending the Reynolds stress model proposed by Warsi. The time scale is expressed in terms of subgrid scale kinetic energy as opposed to strain rate tensor. Effort has been made to identify the terms appearing in the modeled subgrid stresses with "Reynolds term", "Leonard's term" and "cross term". The physical nature of these terms can be best understood from the triadic interactions in wave number space. Understanding these three terms leads to decouple the complex nature of the subgrid stresses. Modeling of these terms separately helps to capture the physics of the problem accurately. The turbulent field is assumed to be isotropic and Kolmogrov's hypothesis is used. The model coefficients are expressed as universal constants for Gaussian filter so as to satisfy the dissipation criteria in inertial subrange. Further dissipation term is assumed to be isotropic and equilibrium condition is used. Although the definition of the subgrid stress terms becomes less clear and separate for smooth filter, an attempt has been made to compare the stress terms with the exact definition obtained for sharp cut-off filter. An estimate of the backscatter of energy can be obtained from the Eddy-Damped Quasi Normal Markovian (EDQNM) theory. The model coefficients thus obtained are tested with results of plain homogeneous shear layer. The model results have been compared with the mixed-nonlinear model and Smagorinsky model. A priori test shows that new-nonlinear model has a good correlation with Smagorinsky model, which in turn has good correlation with experimental results, and has the behavior of the mixed-nonlinear model. The above model has been used for solving two-dimensional flow over backward facing step as a test case. The numerical model solves the vertically hydrostatic boundary layer equation. The top boundary is assumed to be a free surface. Terrain following coordinate system has been used. Because of the non-negativity of the subgrid scale dissipation term i.e. backscatter of energy, the nature of the solution is stochastic. The deterministic solution is obtained by clipping the dissipation term. The results are compared with the experimental data of Kim et al. Good agreement with the experimental data is obtained for the velocity profile and SGS kinetic energy. The reattachment point obtained is at 5.2h (h is the step height), which is less compared to 6h as suggested by other authors. This discrepancy may be due to the assumptions involved in the equations, which is being solved. The model is further extended for the diffusion of scalar variables and to include the buoyancy effect. It is implemented to explore the hydrostatic flow over three dimensional elliptical mountain ridges, where Boussinesq approximation is used for variable density. The flow characteristics have been studied for the various aspect ratios of the mountain and Froude?s number (Nh/U) based on Brunt-Vaisala frequency (N). The phenomenon of upstream blocking and Lee-vortices generation has been studied.

The effect of direct, small-scale excitation on the evolution of a plane shear layer which forms at the edge of a backward facing step is investigated experimentally using high resolution particle image velocimetry and hot-wire anemometry. Actuation is effected at frequencies that are over an order of magnitude higher than the characteristic (or natural) formation frequency of the layer by a spanwise array of piezoelectrically-driven synthetic jet actuators that are placed near the edge of the step. The actuation has significant effects on the evolution of both large- and small-scale motions within the shear layer inducing an increase in small-scale dissipation and simultaneous suppression of turbulence production. While the fundamental instabilities that lead to the formation of large scale motions are typically suppressed, low-frequency amplitude-modulation of the actuation signal allows the formation of large scale motions and entrainment which, in concert with the small-scale actuation, lead to enhancement of the turbulent shear stresses throughout the shear layer. Amplitude modulation is also used to assess the effect of flow transients that are induced by step or low duty cycle actuation. The present findings suggest strategies for controlled suppression or enhancement of mixing in the near field of the shear layer.

No description available.