Suction inlet vortex investigation at low Reynolds numbers

• 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: Inlet vortex; Low Reynolds numbers
• 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
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

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.