Flow Structures in a U-Shaped Fuel Cell Flow Channel: Quantitative Visualization Using Particle Image Velocimetry,”

Flow through an experimental model of a U-shaped fuel cell channel is used to invest

Flow Tones in a Pipeline-Cavity System: Effect of Pipe Asymmetry

Flow tones in a pipeline-cavity system are characterized in terms of unsteady pressure within the cavity and along the pipe. The reference case corresponds to equal lengths of pipe connected to the inlet and outlet ends of the cavity. Varying degrees of asymmetry of this pipe arrangement are investigated. The asymmetry is achieved by an extension of variable length, which is added to the pipe at the cavity outlet. An extension length as small as a few percent of the acoustic wavelength of the resonant mode can yield a substantial reduction in the pressure amplitude of the flow tone. This amplitude decrease occurs in a similar fashion within both the cavity and the pipe resonator, which indicates that it is a global phenomenon. Furthermore, the decrease of pressure amplitude is closely correlated with a decrease of the Q (quality)-factor of the predominant spectral component of pressure. At a sufficiently large value of extension length, however, the overall form of the pressure spectrum recovers to the form that exists at zero length of the extension. Further insight is provided by variation of the inflow velocity at selected values of extension length. Irrespective of its value, both the magnitude and frequency of the peak pressure exhibit a sequence of resonant-like states. Moreover, the maximum attainable magnitude of the peak pressure decreases with increasing extension length

Imaging of Acoustically Coupled Oscillations Due to Flow Past a Shallow Cavity: Effect of Cavity Length Scale

Flow-acoustic interactions due to fully turbulent inflow past a shallow axisymmetric cavity mounted in a pipe are investigated using a technique of high-image-density particle image velocimetry in conjunction with unsteady pressure measurements. This imaging leads to patterns of velocity, vorticity, streamline topology, and hydrodynamic contributions to the acoustic power integral. Global instantaneous images, as well as time-averaged images, are evaluated to provide insight into the flow physics during tone generation. Emphasis is on the manner in which the streamwise length scale of the cavity alters the major features of the flow structure. These image-based approaches allow identification of regions of the unsteady shear layer that contribute to the instantaneous hydrodynamic component of the acoustic power, which is necessary to maintain a flow tone. In addition, combined image analysis and pressure measurements allow categorization of the instantaneous flow patterns that are associated with types of time traces and spectra of the fluctuating pressure. In contrast to consideration based solely on pressure spectra, it is demonstrated that locked-on tones may actually exhibit intermittent, non-phase-locked images, apparently due to low damping of the acoustic resonator. Locked-on flow tones (without modulation or intermittency), locked-on flow tones with modulation, and non-locked-on oscillations with short-term, highly coherent fluctuations are defined and represented by selected cases. Depending on which of,these regimes occur, the time-averaged Q (quality)-factor and the dimensionless peak pressure are substantially altered

Shallow Cavity Flow Tone Experiments: Onset of Locked-On States

Fully turbulent inflow past a shallow cavity is investigated for the configuration of an axisymmetric cavity mounted in a pipe. Emphasis is on conditions giving rise to coherent oscillations, which can lead to locked-on states of flow tones in the pipe-cavity system. Unsteady surface pressure measurements are interpreted using three-dimensional representations of amplitude-frequency-inflow velocity; these representations are constructed for a range of cavity depth. Assessment of these data involves a variety of approaches. Evaluation of pressure gradients on plan views of the three-dimensional representations allows extraction of the frequencies of the instability (Strouhal) modes of the cavity oscillation. These frequency components are correlated with traditional models originally formulated for cavities in a free-stream. In addition, they are normalized using two length scales; inflow boundary-layer thickness and pipe diameter. These scales are consistent with those employed for the hydrodynamic instability of the separated shear layer, and are linked to the large-scale mode of the shear layer oscillation, which occurs at relatively long cavity length. In fact, a simple scaling based on pipe diameter can correlate the frequencies of the dominant peaks over a range of cavity depth. The foregoing considerations provide evidence that pronounced flow tones can be generated from a fully-turbulent inflow at very low Mach number, including the limiting case of fully-developed turbulent flow in a pipe. These tones can arise even for the extreme case of a cavity having a length over an order of magnitude longer than its depth. Suppression of tones is generally achieved if the cavity is sufficiently shallow

Imaging of the Self-Excited Oscillation of Flow Past a Cavity During Generation of a Flow Tone

Flow through a pipeline-cavity system can give rise to pronounced flow tones, even when the inflow boundary layer is fully turbulent. Such tones arise from the coupling between the inherent instability of the shear flow past the cavity and a resonant acoustic mode of the system. A technique of high-image-density particle image velocimetry is employed in conjunction with a special test section, which allows effective laser illumination and digital acquisition of patterns of particle images. This approach leads to patterns of velocity, vorticity, streamline topology and hydrodynamic contributions to the acoustic power integral. Comparison of global, instantaneous images with time- and phase-averaged representations provides insight into the small-scale and large-scale concentrations of vorticity, and their consequences on the topological features of Streamline patterns, as well as the streamwise and transverse projections of the hydrodynamic contribution to the acoustic power integral. Furthermore, these global approaches allow the definition of effective wavelengths and phase speeds of the vortical structures, which can lead to guidance for physical models of the dimensionless frequency of oscillation

Imaging of Acoustically Coupled Oscillations Due to Flow Past a Shallow Cavity: Effect of Cavity Length Scale

Flow-acoustic interactions due to fully turbulent inflow past a shallow axisymmetric cavity mounted in a pipe, which give rise to flow tones, are investigated using a technique of high-image-density particle image velocimetry in conjunction with unsteady pressure measurements. This imaging leads to patterns of velocity, vorticity, streamline topology, and hydrodynamic contributions to the acoustic power integral. Global instantaneous images, as well as time-averaged images, are evaluated to provide insight into the flow physics during tone generation. Emphasis is on the manner in which the streamwise length scale of the cavity alters the major features of the flow structure. These image-based approaches allow identification of regions of the unsteady shear layer that contribute to the instantaneous hydrodynamic component of the acoustic power, which is necessary to maintain a flow tone. In addition, combined image analysis and pressure measurements allow categorization of the instantaneous flow patterns that are associated with types of time traces and spectra of the fluctuating pressure. In contrast to consideration based solely on pressure spectra, it is demonstrated that locked-on tones may actually exhibit intermittent, non-phase-locked images, apparently due to low damping of the acoustic resonator. Locked-on flow tones (without modulation or intermittency), locked-on flow tones with modulation, and non-locked-on oscillations with short-term, highly coherent fluctuations are defined and represented by selected cases. Depending on which of these regimes occur, the time-averaged Q (quality)-factor and the dimensionless peak pressure are substantially altered

Experimental investigation of flat plates with transverse perforations at zero incidence

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and direct force measurements are used to investigate the effect of transverse perforations on the flow-induced loading on and the associated flow structure around flat plates that are aligned with the oncoming flow. Plates with different characteristic diameter of the perforations, as well as a reference configuration without perforations are compared in terms of the spectra of the flow-induced forces, frequencies of the trailing edge vortex shedding and boundary layer profiles at the trailing edge at different planes across the perforation patterns for a range of inflow velocities. At high inflow velocities, boundary layer thickness increased as the diameter of the perforations increased and the distance from the perforation to the trailing edge of the plate decreased