Suction inlet vortex investigation at low Reynolds numbers

Under certain flow conditions, when an inlet is aspirated in close proximity to a solid boundary, a vortex will form between the surface and the inlet. The formation and ingestion of such vortices could potentially lead to inefficient fluid suction by pumps or catastrophic damages in high-speed jet...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ho, Wei Hua, Bin Idris, Omar Faruq, New, Tze How
Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/81513
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/40845
https://unisa.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/suction-inlet-vortex-investigation-at-low-reynolds-numbers
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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Summary:Under certain flow conditions, when an inlet is aspirated in close proximity to a solid boundary, a vortex will form between the surface and the inlet. The formation and ingestion of such vortices could potentially lead to inefficient fluid suction by pumps or catastrophic damages in high-speed jet engines. Previous studies established the basic relationship of such inlet vortices formation threshold and geometry and flow conditions, though they were typically considered at significantly high Reynolds numbers. It remains unclear if there is a lower limit to the Reynolds number at which this phenomenon ceases to exist. This study shows that this phenomenon exists even at low Reynolds number of Re = 160. In particular, the results are generally in agreement with the previously established relationships at much higher Reynolds numbers but certain correlations are not as significant. This suggests that formation of inlet vortices may be less sensitive to Reynolds numbers effects than previously thought.