Comparisons of different bluff bodies in vortex wake transit time measurements

This paper investigates the effects of different types of bluff body on the ultrasonic vortex wake transit time measurement technique for flow metering. Comparisons are made between results obtained from three different bluff bodies of low blockage ratio.     

Numerical investigation of wake flow control by a splitter plate

Unsteady separated flow around a square cylinder is simulated by using vortex tracing method to investigate the wake flow control by a splitter plate attached to the base of a bluff body. The numerical method is evaluated with selected numerical parameters for the case without the splitter plate. Then the method is applied to computations for different splitter plate lengths. Instantaneous flow patterns are scrutinized to see how the splitter plate affects the vortex formation behind the body and the downstream shedding. It is confirmed that the drag and the frequency are significantly reduced by the splitter plate, suppressing vortex shedding in the wake.     

低含气率气液两相流涡街特性研究

气液两相涡街现象广泛存在于生产实际中,由于相间作用,研究变得较为复杂。通过数值模拟和实流试验,对水平管低含气率情况下气相对两相涡街的影响进行研究。建立三维计算流体力学（Computational fluid dynamics, CFD）仿真模型,采用VOF多相流模型和RNG k-e 湍流模型,模拟气液两相钝体绕流。仿真与试验结果在定量频率上具有良好的一致性。结合仿真与试验结果,从近尾迹流场与涡拓扑、斯特劳哈尔数两方面,对不同含气率两相涡街特性进行对比研究。结果表明,在稳定涡街范围内,随着气相含率增大,对涡街起重要作用的滞止区长度增大,导致斯特劳哈尔数线性减小;同时,涡街周期性和信号质量变差,涡街能量降低,这是由于涡中心吸入密度小、速度大的气泡,造成涡的旋转能量降低,进而影响涡街的稳定性。     

Response of a dual triangulate bluff body vortex flowmeter to oscillatory flow

In this paper, on an experimental facility, the measurement characteristics of a diameter 50 mm dual triangulate bluff body vortex flowmeter in steady flow and oscillatory flow were investigated. Then, the Hilbert Huang Transformation (HHT) method was used to assess the anti-interference performances and the vortex street stability in oscillatory flow for the dual triangulate bluff body vortex flowmeter and a single bluff body vortex flowmeter. Offline simulation was carried out on the anti-interference performances of the dual triangulate bluff body vortex flowmeter signal noise in oscillatory flow by the method of the EMD-scales filter. The major findings are: (a) in most case, the EMD-scales filter may be as good at de-noising effect for the dual bluff body vortex flowmeter in oscillatory flow than that for the single bluff body vortex flowmeter in oscillatory flow. The vortex street stability in oscillatory flow for the dual bluff body is similar to that for the single bluff body. (b) In some special case, the EMD-scales filter is unable to play a better de-nosing role for the dual bluff body vortex flowmeter in oscillatory flow. The invalid condition of the EMD-scales filter for the dual bluff body vortex flowmeter in oscillatory flow is different to that of the single bluff body vortex flowmeter and it was advanced in this paper. (C) The vortex street stability for the dual bluff body vortex flowmeter is better than that for the single bluff body vortex flowmeter.     

差压式涡街质量流量计取压位置的研究

在涡街流量计中，流体通过涡街发生体后会产生压力损失及由旋涡引起的压力波动，根据这一特点，本文提出利用差压检测技术，通过单路差压传感器同时感受由涡街发生体引起的流体双重变化特性，测量流体质量流量的新方法。本文重点对差压检测取压位置进行研究，利用空气和水两种流体介质进行了一系列实验，得到不同取压位置的差压信号与流量关系，确定了能正确测量质量流量的差压取压位置。结果表明，该测量方法结构简单，是测量质量流量的有效方法。     

双钝体涡街流量计流体振动特性的试验研究

研究了双钝体旋涡脱离的流体动力学特性以及利用双钝体增强流体振动的最佳组合结构。给出了多种钝体组合结构的斯特劳哈尔数的试验结果,表明双钝体结构具有常定的斯特劳哈尔数。用50 mm口径涡街流量计进行的试验证明,双钝体组合在一定的条件下能获得理想的旋涡重叠,从而增强流体的振动。在钝体的轴对称点上,还观察到强度和频率相同,相位相差180°的流体振动点,利用优化的双钝体结构和差动传感技术,研制出小流量灵敏度和抗干扰性能很好的新型旋涡流量计。     

The mapping of vortex fields around single and dual bluff bodies

The development and use of a system to measure important parameters of the vortex field in a coordinate grid around several single bluff bodies and dual bluff body combinations are described. Two hot wire sensors were used: a reference sensor at a fixed position and a moving sensor with position coordinates adjusted by using computer control. The strength, frequency and regularity of the vortex shedding are found from the auto-power spectral density of the moving sensor signal. The phase difference between moving and reference sensor signals is found from the cross-power spectral density function between the signals. The results are presented as maps of vortex parameters plotted as a function of sensor position coordinates. The main features of these maps, including the enhancement of vortex shedding from certain dual bluff body combinations, is then discussed.     

Development of the T-ring vortex meter

A new type of vortex-shedding meter has been developed, in which the bluff body is in the form of an annular ring with a T-shaped cross-section. Because this is axi-symmetric it disturbs the flow much less than a transverse bluff body. This leads to a meter which is considerably more repeatable, and hence potentially more accurate, than a conventional vortex meter. It also has excellent linearity, and an exceptionally low pressure drop. The paper describes the design and performance as well as the current problems with development of a vortex detector.     

Design conditions for optimal dual bluff body vortex flowmeters

Examination of the performance of a large number of dual bluff body combinations leads to the conclusion that optimum repeatability of vortex shedding may be obtained with combinations satisfying certain basic conditions. One possible condition is the coincidence of the positions of maximum vortex strength for the individual bluff bodies which make up the combination. The aim of this paper is to describe the results of a test of the above principle using rectangular bluff bodies. The first stage is to find the mathematical relationship between the position of maximum strength and the depth of a single rectangular bluff body. The next stage is to use this relationship to find which combinations satisfy the above coincidence condition. These ‘optimal’ combinations were then tested against a number of ‘non-optimal’ combinations as controls. The overall conclusion is that the above condition is just one of five conditions underlying the design of optimum dual bluff body vortex flowmeters.     

High accuracy volume flow rate measurement using vortex counting

A prototype device for measuring the volumetric flow-rate by counting vortices has been designed and realized. It consists of a square-section pipe in which a two-dimensional bluff body and a strain gauge force sensor are placed. These two elements are separated from each other, unlike the majority of vortex apparatus currently available. The principle is based on the generation of a separated wake behind the bluff body. The volumetric flow-rate measurement is done by counting vortices using a flat plate placed in the wake and attached to the beam sensor. By optimizing the geometrical arrangement, the search for a significant signal has shown that it was possible to get a quasi-periodic signal, within a good range of flow rates so that its performances are well deduced. The repeatability of the value of the volume of fluid passed for every vortex shed is tested for a given flow and then the accuracy of the measuring device is determined. This quantity is the constant of the device and is called the digital volume (V_p). It has the dimension of a volume and varies with the confinement of the flow and with the Reynolds number. Therefore, a dimensionless quantity is introduced, the reduced digital volume (V_r) that takes into account the average speed in the contracted section downstream of the bluff body. The reduced digital volume is found to be independent of the confinement in a significant range of Reynolds numbers, which gives the device a good accuracy.     

Numerical study of vortex shedding from different shaped bluff bodies

A computer code based on the stream function-vorticity formulation of the unsteady incompressible Navier Stokes equations has been adapted to treat turbulent flows using the Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model. The code was then used to analyse the flows inside vortex flowmeters with the aim of optimizing performance. The computed Strouhal numbers compared well with those acquired experimentally and the computed flow fields indicated how the bluff body shape can influence the size and strength of the shed vortices, with the T-shaped cylinder producing the largest vortices. In addition to the primary vortices shed from the bluff body, the computations gave a clear indication of the formation of secondary vortices near the meter wall and the front face of the bluff body.     

Experimental verification and numerical simulation of a vortex flowmeter at low Reynolds numbers

This study presents experimental verification and numerical simulations of a vortex flow meter in the Reynolds number range between 8300 and 50,000. A custom-designed bluff body with a wedge back shape was used in the flowmeter. A shedding frequency of the flowmeter was measured in an air duct using a hot-film probe. To evaluate the accuracy of the flowmeter, a measurement uncertainty analysis was performed. Numerical simulations of the vortex flowmeter were performed with the open source code OpenFOAM. Transient simulations of periodic vortex shedding behind the bluff body were performed using different simulation methods depending on the pipe Reynolds number, such as Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS), Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (URANS) method. The simulated vortex shedding frequencies matched the experimental data very well. Experiments and simulations demonstrated a clear linear dependence of the shedding frequency on the volumetric flow rate over the entire range of Reynolds numbers. In addition, numerical simulations were used to study the main mechanisms of vortex formation and shedding behind the considered bluff body.     

Influence of blockage and shape of a bluff body on the performance of vortex flowmeter with wall pressure measurement

Experimental and numerical investigations are carried out with various bluff body shapes to identify an appropriate shape which can be used for vortex flowmeter application. In both the cases vortex shedding frequency is inferred from the fluctuation of wall pressure. The numerical simulations are carried out with cylindrical and triangular bluff bodies to understand the vortex shedding phenomenon and to identify an appropriate turbulence model for this class of flows with wall pressure measurement. The simulations reveal that the k-ε RNG model predicts the Strouhal number closer to the experimental results than other models. The experimental investigations are carried out with several bluff body shapes, such as triangular, trapezoidal, conical, cylindrical and ring shapes, with water as the working medium. In this context, the effects of sampling rate, tap location and blockage effects are explored. The results suggest that the axisymmetric tapping is better than differential pressure tapping in terms of signal amplitude. The non-dimensional location of the static pressure tap is found to be 0.714 times diameter of pipe times blockage. The trapezoidal bluff body is found to be the best among all the bluff bodies investigated in terms of signal amplitude and constancy of Strouhal number. The vortex flowmeter performance is also measured under disturbed flow conditions created by using gate valve and bends. These results are significant because they provide an optimum bluff body shape and blockage, and also present the performance of vortex flow meter under disturbed flow conditions which is rather seldom reported in the literature.     

Fluctuant pressure coefficient of the wake behind a bluff body in mist flow

Fluctuant pressure coefficient is presented as an index of vortex energy of the wake behind a bluff body in mist flow. Calculation for vortex energy is obtained from inter-phase force analysis, based on Basset-Boussinesq-Oseen equation and conservation of mechanical energy. Vortex energy is weakened by liquid disturbance, the relationship between the fluctuant pressure coefficient and liquid velocity is set up on theory analysis. An existence criterion for vortex streets is proposed using the relationship. A new algorithm for prediction of liquid velocity is put forward and compared with the method in Higham's patent. The predicted results fit the experimental results well.     

Strategies for the applications of flow control downstream of a bluff body

Flow over a bluff body is a common and significant case for engineering sciences. The well-known problem is the highly unsteady and vortical flow structure developing downstream of the body. The wake of the body has a complex flow dynamics. The chaotic flow structure in the wake causes serious structural deformation on the body; hence the flow is intended to be suppressed downstream of the body. There are numerous research papers for this purpose starting from 1960's. The literature survey points out that the investigations may be mainly classified as theoretical or experimental. Furthermore, the control of flow around bodies arranged as side-by-side or tandem was also studied in the past; however the flow control around a single bluff-body is reviewed in this paper. The investigations are currently continuing due to physical importance of the problem and there are increasing number of papers on flow control downstream of a bluff body which is mostly a circular cylinder. In this study, the recent development on the topic is considered such that the main results presented in papers for the last 15 years are reviewed and recalled in detail. The potential future investigation subjects are also discussed by referring to the major contributing solutions in previous related studies reviewed herein.     

低雷诺数下涡街流量计线性度的试验

在DN25水流量标准装置上对装有梯形漩涡发生体的涡街流量计在低雷诺数下进行试验研究,利用数字信号处理方法(频谱分析方法)得到涡街脱落频率,较传统模拟信号处理方法在保证较好线性度的基础上,有效地扩展了测量下限。绘制雷诺数—仪表系数曲线,发现梯形发生体在低雷诺数下仪表系数K呈递减趋势,当Re>2 000时K趋于常数,这与圆柱发生体在低雷诺数时曲线递增的趋势截然相反。通过分析得知,管道内流速分布的影响、发生体形状的影响和流速与频率关系的影响是导致上述变化趋势的3个主要影响因素。     

Vortex shedding mechanisms in single and dual bluff bodies

This paper presents studies of vortex shedding mechanisms in a single bluff body and two dual bluff body combination. These studies are based on video imaging of vortex shedding in open channel flow. Three thousand frames were analysed for each geometry under specified flow conditions and used to derive statistical distributions for the periods of individual cycle. For each of the combinations, the vortex mechanism for a typical half cycle is presented in six stages. The differences in mechanisms between the three geometries are highlighted and used to explain the differences in the statistical distribution of cycle periods.     

Computationally lean algorithm of novel optimal FIR adaptive filter for vortex signal extraction

In a vortex flowmeter vortices are generated by a bluff body, inserted in the path of flow, which has a piezoelectric sensor embedded in it. This piezosensor develops a signal having a fundamental frequency that is proportional to flow. The flow measurement relies completely on extraction of true vortex signal and estimation of the correct frequency. A novel adaptive FIR filter has been designed and implemented using low power computational resource (8.25 mW), which gives better results than an existing contemporary system when tested on an industrial flow rig. Further more a comparative study of autocorrelation, EMD Scales filter and proposed algorithm is carried on the good and bad vortex signals. From this comparative study it is seen that proposed algorithm is effective for bad vortex signals and low flowrates where vortex signals are weak.     

A new approach to detection of vortices using ultrasound

The measurement principle of vortex flowmeter is based on von Karman vortex shedding phenomenon. Frequency of vortices, behind the bluff body, is proportional to the mean flow velocity. There are different ways of detection of vortices, and different sensors are used (presser sensors, capacitive sensors, thermo-resistance sensors, ultrasonic sensors, etc.). Proposed method to vortex identification, presented in this paper is based on simultaneous detection of pair of vortices with opposite circulation, by means of two pairs of ultrasonic transducers. A beam of ultrasound, from ultrasonic transmitter to ultrasonic receiver is transmitted perpendicularly to the vortex street. The received ultrasonic signal is amplitude and phase modulated. Frequency of demodulated signal is equal to the frequency of vortices. This technique allows a number of advantages comparing to conventional solutions: reduction, or elimination of noises caused by installation vibration and disturbances in the flow, higher sensor sensitivity, which as a result leads to a possibility of a reduction of the bluff body size, i.e. reduction of the pressure drop on the flow meter, increase of the measurement range in the low flow region, the possibility of redundant operation of the flow meter, reduced measurement uncertainty, instrument technology improvements, improved reliability of the instrument, assured improved statement of complete uncertainty contributions, improved metrology of the equipment as such and calibration procedures that contribute to measuring capabilities etc. For experimental testing a prototype vortex flowmeter of a nominal inner diameter (ID) 50 mm is developed. A cylindrical bluff body for vortex shedding is used. Ultrasonic transducers based on piezo-crystal PZT-5A, inserted in the wall of the vortex meter casing are utilized. The testing of prototype ultrasonic vortex flowmeter is realized on the calibration station on the water. The results at the testing point to the possibility of measuring flow of liquid fluids at velocities less than 0.5 m/s, with an uncertainty better than ±1%.     

基于EEMD-Hilbert谱的气液两相流钝体绕流流型识别

为了有效识别气液两相流的流型,以水和空气为实验介质,以涡街流量计为元件诱发钝体绕流,通过管壁差压法获取气液两相流钝体绕流的尾迹波动信号,采用集总经验模态分解对信号进行分解,通过Hilbert变换得到Hilbert边际谱,利用最大互相关系数法对固有模态函数进行筛选,选取特征固有模态函数能量比分别与体积含气率、两相雷诺数构建流型图。结果表明,构建的两类新流型图对单相水、泡状流、塞状流、弹状流等典型流型的识别率分别可达91.67%和88.89%,能较好地满足工程实际应用的需求。