Simulação de escoamentos de fluidos em tubos e avaliação dos efeitos de vórtices de Dean

Abstract

Elbows play a key role in piping systems by redirecting the fluid flow. The present work carries out a numerical investigation of a characteristic phenomenon in curved-pipe flows the Dean vorti- ces-which appear as counter-rotating recirculations induced by the centrifugal force associated with tube curvature. The problem is modelled with the mass-conservation and linear-momentum equations, discretised in space and time with second-order schemes through the finite-volume method, using the open-source software OpenFOAM. The study considers an incompressible, steady flow of a Newtonian fluid at moderate Reynolds numbers. Results are presented and interpreted, both quantitatively and qualitatively, for four simulations whose different mean velo- cities correspond to Reynolds numbers of 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000. The values obtained are in good agreement with those reported in the literature.