Publications Details
Numerical simulation of laminar flow in a curved duct
This paper describes numerical simulations that were performed to study laminar flow through a square duct with a 90° bend. The purpose of this work was two fold. First, an improved understanding was desired of the flow physics involved in the generation of secondary vortical flows in three-dimensions. Second, adaptive gridding techniques for structured grids in three-dimensions were investigated for die purpose of determining their utility in low Reynolds number, incompressible flows. It was also of interest to provide additional validation of the commercial computer code CFD-ACE. Velocity predictions for both non-adaptive and adaptive grids are compared with experimental data. Flow visualization was used to examine the characteristics of the flow though the curved duct in order to better understand the viscous flow physics of this problem. Generally fair agreement with the experimental data was found, but questions were raised concerning the accuracy of the experimental data. The adaptive grids did not significantly improve the accuracy of the results beyond the non-adaptive grid solution with a similar number of points.