Sharif Digital Repository

Flapping wings are promising lift and thrust generators, especially for very low Reynolds numbers. To investigate aeroelastic effects of flexible wings (specifically, wing's twisting stiffness) on hovering and cruising aerodynamic performance, a flapping-wing system and an experimental setup were designed and built. This system measures the unsteady aerodynamic and inertial forces, power usage, and angular speed of the flapping wing motion for different flapping frequencies and for various wings with different chordwise flexibility. Aerodynamic performance of the vehicle for both no wind (hovering) and cruise condition was investigated. Results show how elastic deformations caused by... 

We show that in a microfluidic network with low Reynolds numbers, a system can be irreversible due to hysteresis effects. We simulated a network of pipes that was used in a recent experiment. The network consists of one loop connected to input and output pipes. A train of droplets enters the system at a uniform rate, but the droplets may leave the system in a periodic or even a chaotic pattern. The output pattern depends on the time interval between incoming droplets as well as the network geometry. For some parameters, the system is not reversible  

Mixing has become a challenge in micro-fluidic systems because of the low Reynolds number in micro-channels. The method which is implemented in this paper is to use freely-swimming bacteria to enhance the mixing process. Accordingly, the Serratia marcescens bacteria were used for this matter. The mixing performance of the system is quantified by measuring the diffusion rate of Rhodamine B in a particular section of a channel connected to a chamber with varying Rhodamine B concentration. The concentration of Rhodamine B was measured using the Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) technique. The channel is in the form of a pipe and is closed on the extending side. In this paper, it is demonstrated... 

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... 

In this article a comprehensive numerical study is performed to compare the effect of fluid flow across a duct with various cross sectional shapes and with different velocities of the flow. Circular, elliptical and rectangular cross sections have been chosen for the ducts and air flows across them with four values of low Reynolds numbers in the range of Re = 1 to Re = 1000. Continuity and momentum equations with proper boundary conditions are solved in two dimensions. Streamlines, pressure distribution and Velocity profiles are obtained and creation of vortices, boundary layers, separation region, wake region, reattachment point and stagnation points are studied in detail and the results are... 

An experimental test bed based on single particle tracking techniques is employed in order to investigate the velocity domain, slip velocity, and settling distribution of micro-particles in low-Reynolds number poiseuille flow in converging–diverging microchannel. Three-dimensional velocity domain of particles are studied in the presence of walls and compared with the particle-free fluid. The results show that the velocity of particles moving near the side walls of microchannel decreases about 30 % compared to those moving at the centerline. Furthermore, the effects of converging–diverging geometry on sedimentation of micro-particles are considered. The results show an average decrease of... 

An experimental and numerical study has been carried out to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of a horizontal circular cylinder exposed to a slot jet impingement of air. A square-edged nozzle is mounted parallel with the cylinder axis and jet flow impinges on the bottom of the cylinder. The study is focused on low Reynolds numbers ranging from 120 to 1,210, Grashof numbers up to Gr = 10Re2 and slot-to-cylinder spacing from 2 to 8 of the slot width. The flow field is greatly influenced by the slot exit velocity and the buoyancy force due to density change. A Mach-Zehnder Interferometer is used for measurement of local Nusselt number around the cylinder at 10° interval. It is... 

An experimental test bed based on single particle tracking techniques is employed in order to investigate the velocity domain, slip velocity, and settling distribution of micro-particles in low-Reynolds number poiseuille flow in converging–diverging microchannel. Three-dimensional velocity domain of particles are studied in the presence of walls and compared with the particle-free fluid. The results show that the velocity of particles moving near the side walls of microchannel decreases about 30 % compared to those moving at the centerline. Furthermore, the effects of converging–diverging geometry on sedimentation of micro-particles are considered. The results show an average decrease of... 

In this article, the flow field around NACA0024 airfoil with step at lower and upper surfaces is experimentally investigated. For this purpose, particle image velocimetry technique based on the instantaneous flow structures is used to investigate the flow field around the airfoil at different times. All the experimental measurements in current study are conducted at very low Reynolds number condition based on the chord of the airfoil (Re=2000) and at angles of attack at 0° and 5° where the flow around airfoils is separated. The differences between vortical structures, mean streamlines, sizes of the wake regions, and vortex shedding of the stepped airfoils compared to unmodified airfoil are... 

Surface tension driven passive micro-pumping relies mainly on the surface tension properties. To have control over surface tension driven passive micro-pumps (STD-PMPs), it is essential to understand the physical background of the fluid flow in these pumps. Hence, the purpose of this work is to give an exploration of the flow physics of a STD-PMP. In this regard, computer simulation is used to give detailed information about the flow pattern and physical phenomena at different conditions. To this end, a droplet of water, with a specified diameter, is placed onto an entry port connected to another droplet at the exit port via a microchannel. The results indicate that the pumping process, in... 

In this article, we propose a three-dimensional model of a low-Reynolds-number swimmer that consists of three small spheres connected to a larger sphere via three perpendicular adjustable rods which enable the micro robot to swim along arbitrary trajectories. Then we focus on dynamic modelling of the swimmer and propose a control method to control the position of the micro swimmer in a low Reynolds number flow. The control aim intended in this article is that the middle sphere to follow a desired trajectory and respective simulation results from control indicates successful accomplishment in application. © 2018 IEEE  

In this work, the capability and performance of the vorticity confinement (VC) implemented in a high-order accurate flow solver in predicting two-dimensional (2D) compressible mixing layer flows on coarse grids are investigated. Here, the system of governing equations with incorporation of the VC in the formulation is numerically solved by the fourth-order compact finite difference scheme. To stabilize the numerical solution, a low-pass high-order filter is applied, and the nonreflective boundary conditions are used at the farfield and outflow boundaries to minimize the reflections. At first, the numerical results without applying the VC are validated by available direct numerical... 

Dense underflows are continuous currents that move downslope due to their density being heavier than that of the ambient water. In this work, a steady density current with a uniform velocity and concentration from a narrow sluice gate enters into a wide channel of lighter ambient fluid and moves forward downslope. Experiments varying inlet velocity and concentration and hence inlet Richardson numbers were conducted. Numerical simulations were also performed with a low-Reynolds number k-ε model. The results of numerical simulation agree well with the experimental data. © 2009 ASCE  

This experimental study investigated the patterns and characteristics of the liquid sheet formed by two axial misaligned colliding jets and two colliding jets with different velocities. The tests were limited to the low Reynolds number region, 100