Sharif Digital Repository

Using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the effects of nanotube size, mean flow velocity, ion concentration and temperature of an electrolyte water solution on shearing stress and nominal viscosity. It is shown that the distributed electric field arising from the electrolyte water solution has significant influences on fluid properties. Also, the temperature of the solution, which causes thermal movement, affects nanofluidic transport in nanoenvironments. The nominal viscosity and shearing stress increases as the tube diameter increases. When the temperature of solution increases or ion concentration decreases, the shearing stress and nominal viscosity increase.... 

Performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) at high current densities is limited to transport reactants and products. Furthermore, large amounts of water are generated and may be condensed due to the low temperature of the PEMFC. Development of a two-phase flow model is necessary in order to predict water flooding and its effects on the PEMFC performance. In this paper, a multiphase mixture model (M2) is used, accurately, to model two-phase transport in porous media of a PEMFC. The cathode side, which includes channel, gas diffusion layer (GDL), microporous layer (MPL), and catalyst layer (CL), is considered as the computational domain. A multidomain approach has been used... 

Mixing in droplets is an essential task in a variety of microfluidic systems. Inspired by electrokinetic mixing, electric field-induced hydrodynamic flow inside a charged droplet embedded in an unbounded polyelectrolyte hydrogel is investigated theoretically. In this study, the polyelectrolyte hydrogel is modeled as a soft, and electrically charged porous solid saturated with a salted Newtonian fluid, and the droplet is considered an incompressible Newtonian fluid. The droplet-hydrogel interface is modeled as a surface, which is located at the plane of shear, with the electrostatic potential ζ. The fluid inside the droplet attains a finite velocity owing to hydrodynamic coupling with the... 

In this research, mathematical modelling of an anaerobic hybrid bioreactor for effluent treatment of a Poly-Ethylene Terephthalate (PET) unit in a petrochemical complex was performed. The developed model included a combination of a biofilm model for describing the substrate kinetics; a fluidized bed model for determination of species profiles along the reactor length and a bioreactor model for particle distribution inside the reactor. The reactions performed in the bioreactor included; i) the polymers hydrolysis; ii) fermentation of the resulting monomers; iii) the volatile fatty acids fermentation to Acetate and Hydrogen and iv) the Methane formation as the final product. The reactor was... 

Acoustically excited lean premixed low-swirl flames were experimentally investigated to gain a better understanding of detrimental thermoacoustic couplings which can occur in applications like low-NOx gas turbines. Propane-air flames were imaged and analyzed at equivalence ratios of 0.6 to 0.8, mean flow velocities of 3.5 to 5.5 m/s and excitation frequencies of 135 Hz to 555 Hz. It was observed that with increasing excitation frequency, mean flame shape gradually became wider up to a Strouhal number of about 2.5 and then slowly reverted back to the unexcited flame shape. Such large changes in mean flame shape and possibly flow field under acoustic excitations can significantly affect flame... 

In this article, the effects of volute cross section shape and centroid profile of a radial ow compressor volute were investigated. The performance characteristics of a turbocharger compressor were obtained experimentally by measuring rotor speed and ow parameters at the inlet and outlet of the compressor. The three-dimensional ow field model of the compressor was obtained numerically solving Navier-Stokes equations with SST turbulence model. The compressor characteristic curves were plotted. For model verification, the results were compared with experimental data, showing good agreement. Modification of a volute was performed by introducing a shape factor for volute cross section geometry.... 

We investigate the stability of the pressure-driven, low-Reynolds-number flow of Brownian suspensions with spherical particles in microchannels. We find two general families of stable/unstable modes: (i) degenerate modes with symmetric and antisymmetric patterns; (ii) single modes that are either symmetric or antisymmetric. The concentration profiles of degenerate modes have strong peaks near the channel walls, while single modes diminish there. Once excited, both families would be detectable through high-speed imaging. We find that unstable modes occur in concentrated suspensions whose velocity profiles are sufficiently flattened near the channel centreline. The patterns of growing unstable... 

This work simulates the turbulent boundary layer of an incompressible viscous swirling flow through a conical chamber. To model the pressure gradient normal to the wall, the radial and tangential velocity components across the boundary layer have been calculated by both the integral and numerical methods. The numerical solution is accomplished by finite difference, based on the finite volume method. The results show that the radial and tangential boundary layer thicknesses depend on the velocity ratios, Reynolds number and nozzle angle. The peak of radial and tangential boundary layer thicknesses are located at zL≈0.2 and zL≈0.8 from the nozzle inlet, respectively. Due to the short length of... 

In this paper, nonlinear vibration of a micro cantilever exposed to a constant velocity flow is studied. In order to obtain vibration frequency and time response of the micro beam the variational iteration method is used as a novel tool for solving nonlinear differential equations. Results of the analytical solution are compared with those obtained by Runge-Kutta method which shows very good agreement between them. Results confirm that frequency of vibration depends on the flow velocity. Also, the high sensitivity of the vibration frequency to the flow velocity means that it can be an effective indicator of velocity  

Electroosmotic flow of power-law fluids in the presence of pressure gradient through a slit is analyzed. After numerically solving the Poisson-Boltzmann equation, the momentum equation with electroosmotic body force is solved through an iterative numerical procedure for both favorable and adverse pressure gradients. The results reveal that, in case of pressure assisted flow, shear-thinning fluids reach higher velocity magnitudes compared with shear-thickening fluids, whereas the opposite is true when an adverse pressure gradient is applied. The Poiseuille number is found to be an increasing function of the dimensionless Debye-Hückel parameter, the wall zeta potential, and the flow behavior... 

The boundary layer integral method is used to investigate the development of the turbulent swirling flow at the entrance region of a conical nozzle. The governing equations in the spherical coordinate system are simplified with the boundary layer assumptions and integrated through the boundary layer. The resulting sets of differential equations are then solved by the fourth-order Adams predictor-corrector method. The free vortex and uniform velocity profiles are applied for the tangential and axial velocities at the inlet region, respectively. Due to the lack of experimental data for swirling flows in converging nozzles, the developed model is validated against the numerical simulations. The... 

Fluid flows generated on soap films by non-uniform alternating electric fields are studied. Two parallel metal rods subjected to an AC voltage are placed perpendicular to the soap film, which is anchored in a dielectric frame. The fluid flow is generated by electrohydrodynamic induction. At very low signal frequencies there is induced surface charge, but there is no tangential electric field at the surface, so there is no force and no flow. Fluid flow is observed increasing the frequency, when there are both surface charge and tangential electric field. The flow velocity increases with decreasing thickness of the soap film  

In this article, 3D modeling and simulation of bubbling fluidized beds has been conducted using various drag models, and the model predictions were validated against reported experimental data and 2D simulation results. In this regard, different drag models reported in the literature including Gidaspow, Syamlal-O'Brien, Hill-Koch-Ladd, and Wen-Yu were applied. A standard Two-Fluid Model (TFM) closed by the Kinetic Theory of Granular Flows (KTGF) was used to simulate bubbling gas-solid fluidized beds. Excellent agreements between the simulation results and experimental data, concerning bed expansion ratio, gas volume fraction, and time-averaged particles velocity, were found over a wide range... 

Studies on two-phase flow in small scale pipes have become more important, because of the application of mini-scale devices in several engineering fields including, high heat-flux compact heat exchangers, and cooling systems of various types of equipment. In a mini pipe the behavior of two phase flow is not the same as flow in conventional pipes. The difference is caused by different effective forces; for e. g. inside a mini pipe capillary forces are more important in comparison with gravitational forces. This paper is devoted to numerical simulation of gas-liquid two phase flow in a vertical mini pipe. Prediction of bubble shape and the effects of gas and liquid velocities on flow... 

High bed-shear stress resulting from secondary flows and velocity increase at a channel junction cause local erosion and deposition in natural rivers and earth-lined channels. Herein, the scour patterns at the junction of two loose bed channels were studied under clear-water conditions. The main dimensionless variables are the angle between the two approach flow branches, the discharge and width ratios of the tributary to the downstream channel branches, and the ratio of the mean downstream velocity to the threshold velocity. The results indicate that the position of the maximum scour depth temporally moves to the outer wall and upstream to the main channel, as affected by the dimensionless... 

The travel time of subsurface flow in complex hillslopes (hillslopes with different plan shape and profile curvature) is an important parameter in predicting the subsurface flow in catchments. This time depends on the hillslopes geometry (plan shape and profile curvature), soil properties and climate conditions. The saturation capacity of hillslopes affect the travel time of subsurface flow. The saturation capacity, and subsurface travel time of compound hillslopes depend on parameters such as soil depth, porosity, soil hydraulic conductivity, plan shape (convergent, parallel or divergent), hillslope length, profile curvature (concave, straight or convex) and recharge rate to the groundwater... 

The effect of an intermediate standing baffle on the flow structure in a rectangular open channel has been investigated by a three-dimensional acoustic Doppler velocimeter. Investigation of time-averaged velocity profiles at different streamwise positions reveals that the approach flow is fully developed upstream of the baffle. By analysing the space-averaged power spectra of streamwise velocity, a peak structure was observed in the upstream baffle region. Downstream of the baffle this peak structure has been alleviated by the baffle. The same analysis for the vertical component indicates the existence of a peak structure both up- and downstream of the baffle. Consequently, a baffle affects... 

In this paper, three-dimensional turbulent flow field around a complex bridge pier placed on a rough fixed bed is experimentally investigated. The complex pier foundation consists of a column, a pile cap, and a 2×4 pile group. All of the elements are exposed to the approaching flow. An acoustic-Doppler velocimeter was used to measure instantaneously the three components of the velocities at different horizontal and vertical planes. Profiles and contours of time-averaged velocity components, turbulent intensity components, turbulent kinetic energy, and Reynolds stresses, as well as velocity vectors are presented and discussed at different vertical and horizontal planes. The approaching... 

In this study, the fundamental problem of unsteady blood flow in a tube with multi-stenosis is studied. An appropriate shape of the time-dependent multi-stenosis which is overlapping in the realm of formation of arterial narrowing is constructed mathematically. Blood is considered as a viscoelastic fluid characterized by the Oldroyd-B model. For the numerical solution of the problem, which is described by a coupled, non-linear system of partial differential equations (PDEs), with appropriate boundary conditions, the finite difference scheme is adopted. The solution is obtained by the development of an efficient numerical methodology based on the predictor-corrector method. The effects of... 

The focus of present numerical study is on assessment of control of laminar separation bubble phenomenon using Micro-scale combustion actuators in an airfoil with low Reynolds number under surface effect and free flows. In this way, the characteristics of laminar separation bubble such as its formation, geometry, and transition from laminar to turbulent around airfoil SD8020 in attack angles of 5 and 8° are investigated. Following that, the new combustion actuators in Micro-scale, cold, and hot air-jet injection are introduced to control boundary layer flow in terms of eliminating the separation bubble. Some mechanisms are identified for improvement of methane-air premixed flame...