Effect of deflected inflow on flows in a strongly-curved 90 degree elbow

Abstract

Wall pressure measurements and flow visualization were conducted for a 90 degree elbow with an axis curvature radius the same as its inner diameter (125 mm). Reynolds numbers 320,000 and 500,000, based on the inner diameter and bulk velocity, were examined. A deflected inflow, having an almost constant velocity slope and a faster velocity at the inside, was introduced. Ensemble averaged pressure distributions showed that no difference of normalized pressure could be found in both the Reynolds number cases. Power spectral density functions of pressures exhibited that the fluctuation having the Strouhal number (based on the inner diameter and bulk velocity) of 0.6 existed in the downstream region of the elbow, which was 0.1 larger than that of the uniform inflow case [1]. Results of numerical calculations qualitatively coincided with the experimental ones.