Numerical Simulation of Laminar Flow in Curved Ducts of Rectangular Cross Section

Abstract

Laminar flow in the bends of a rectangular cross section is numerically simulated by a direct integration of the full Navier-Stokes equations. A detailed description of the flow near the entrance and the exit of the curved section is given based on t he numerical results for a strongly curved 90-degree square bend. The discrepancy between the experimentally visualized flow pattern and the actual flow field is also demonstrated, and the inclusion of the upstream history in the experiments is suggested. The numerical result of a 180-degree of aspect ratio 2 is compared with the recent LDV measurement. The agreement is quite reasonable.