2012 journal article

Analytical solutions of laminar swirl decay in a straight pipe

COMMUNICATIONS IN NONLINEAR SCIENCE AND NUMERICAL SIMULATION, 17(8), 3235–3246.

By: S. Yao n & T. Fang n 

co-author countries: United States of America πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ
author keywords: Laminar swirl flow; Pipe flow; Swirl nozzle; Analytical solutions; Developed flow
Source: Web Of Science
Added: August 6, 2018

Abstract In this work, the laminar swirl flow in a straight pipe is revisited and solved analytically by using prescribed axial flow velocity profiles. Based on two axial velocity profiles, namely a slug flow and a developed parabolic velocity profiles, the swirl velocity equation is solved by the separation of variable technique for a rather general inlet swirl velocity distribution, which includes a forced vortex in the core and a free vortex near the wall. The solutions are expressed by the Bessel function for the slug flow and by the generalized Laguerre function for the developed parabolic velocity. Numerical examples are calculated and plotted for different combinations of influential parameters. The effects of the Reynolds number, the pipe axial distance, and the inlet swirl profiles on the swirl velocity distribution and the swirl decay are analyzed. The current results offer analytical equations to estimate the decay rate and the outlet swirl intensity and velocity distribution for the design of swirl flow devices.