Análise numérico/computacional de um escoamento em contração abrupta

Abstract

In this work, a numerical/computational analysis is presented on a flow of a Newtonian fluid (water) in a region of abrupt axissimetric contraction with contraction ratio of β = 1,97 and two Reynolds numbers upstream of the contraction, at the values of 5300 and 10000. The method of discretization used was the finite volumes method with the aid of free software OpenFOAM. Flow in contraction are very common in extrusion processes, heat exchangers, liquid na gas coolers, oil extraction, among others. For the accomplishment of the work three stages of study were separated, first the preprocessing related to the generation of computational mesh, then the processing related to the stage of the simulation itself and finally the postprocessing related to the extraction of the simulated results, with the Vislt software help. The velocity profiles evaluated along the tubing presented good agreement when compared with results found in the literature. It was also observed the presence of recirculation upstream of contraction and vein contracted downstream. Thus, this work aims to complemente data and information on the effects of contraction in this type of flow for more complex future studies.